A glance at my CV might give you the sense that things went relatively smoothly. But my journey to becoming a sociologist, to be where I am right now has its fair share of twists and turns, and challenges.

 

Similar to Singapore’s A-levels, as a Taiwanese, I had to take a one-time high-stakes national entrance examination which determined what subjects I could take and the universities I could enrol in. My scores were not high enough to enter the best universities, so I was thinking a lot about my options then. My high school teacher recommended that I try studying the field of special education, which was a growing field mainly targeting children with special needs. I guess she felt that I was patient and had a kind heart for people. When I entered university and began participating in small classes that involved both special needs children and their parents, I began to see first-hand how both parties were very aware of their social identities. They would tell me about how society generally finds them weird, strange, and radically different from “everyone else”. Parents especially, as would any parent, often expressed concern over the futures of their children; what jobs they can get, and whether they could take care of themselves when their parents inevitably get older and are less able to take care of them. I started to almost go through a philosophical phase of questioning society: why did parents of abled children, often apply stereotypes to special needs students and families with special needs children? It’s not fair now, is it? Even just considering the field of learning, we know for a fact that everyone has different needs, abled or not. Just because some students require specially designed courses does not justify society treating them like problems or diseases. 

 

And it’s not just about this particular social group: the list is enormous when we consider the issue of ageism and discrimination against older folks. We, as society, often have misunderstandings and misinformed assumptions that entrench existing stigmas. These experiences would form just a portion of an important period of my life where I was searching for myself and a subject that would speak to me at a deep and personal level.

 

My musings and desire to find myself would lead me to take up multiple courses and participate in a multitude of activities, so much to the point where my peers from my special education department thought I was going way overboard. On top of my special education classes, I added modules from geography, history, and many branches of social science. I would go on to spend an additional year on top of the usual four years during my undergraduate years! While my major would equip me with skills in designing courses and teaching special students, I felt like I was missing the root explanation of why society is the way it is; why we treat certain groups differently.

 

I guess I was searching for something, a calling, or some kind of an answer that could help change society or help me make better sense of life in general. Because at a personal level, I guess I must have known what it felt like to be conscious of being different, to have people label and see you a particular way that you’re not necessarily comfortable with. The faithful semester would arrive when I took my first introduction to sociology module. 

 

The sociology module introduced me to ways of understanding how there were different and emerging forms of families that populated society. I started to gain more awareness of my positionality while growing up in a single-parent family. I was mainly raised by my grandparents and have always felt that people looked at me differently whenever I mentioned that I was a single-parent child; the lived experiences really contributed to my feelings of low self-esteem. But the course gave me perspective on the different diversities of family forms and relationships and the associated problems. I started to realise that differences should not be judged and that it can be embraced. My mother is hardworking and has provided for my brother and me. My grandparents too are very kind and have contributed to a safe environment within which I could develop academically and as a person. I realised that there’s no need to be ashamed because of my different background. We can still be like everyone and chase after our dreams and form meaningful relationships. The understanding that sociology gave me empowers me to spread awareness to deepen my understanding of different social groups to help lessen various stigmas in society. In many ways, my personal story has influenced my present research interests. 

 

Like many PhD students, I too experienced periods of self-doubt and struggle. Besides working hard to secure scholarships and dealing with drastic transitions when studying in different overseas universities, I had to deal with the loss of my grandfather while I was pursuing my master's. In many ways, my graduation from the PhD programme was very cathartic. One, I was just so grateful for the opportunities given to me and for the sacrifices my grandparents made by taking me in after the divorce and raising my brother and me for six years. Two, I had properly proven to myself and my grandparents that they have raised a capable granddaughter and that their efforts, love, care, and attention were not wasted. I still remember how I flew from Germany to Taiwan to visit my grandmother. I showed her pictures and everything. We were so happy. I think…my grandfather, if he were still here, would also be proud and happy for me.

 

Maybe that is why one of my research interests also revolves around ageism and dispelling the misconception that older people are simply “frail”, “vulnerable” or “dependents” of society. Older people have in the context of the family, helped and still are helping their adult children and grandchildren. These social stereotypes do not help at all. I am living proof that these stereotypes are not necessarily true: my grandparents really saved my life during my childhood years. 

 

- Dr Ko Pei-Chun, Lecturer in Sociology, Monash University, CFPR Alumni

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