Stephanie Lin – Content Producer and Reporter

New York, NY

Who are you?

Born in San Jose, CA, I am a 2nd generation Taiwanese American. I currently work as a Content Producer for NBC in New York City. I graduated UC Berkeley with dual degrees in Mass Communications and Chinese. I am also an alumni of the NBC Page Program and a former News Trainee with Taiwan’s cable channel, TTV.

I owe much of my success to my parents, whom immigrated to the US in the early 1980s. They left family and good jobs behind to venture into the great unknown – jetting and driving from California to Tennessee to Mississippi and back – to pursue higher education and secure a better lifestyle for their children. I can only imagine the difficulties they encountered and overcame. I am incredibly grateful for their sacrifice and support.

I have two younger siblings, both in college, and lots of pets – a dog, a turtle, a fish, and yes, even pigeons. I speak Mandarin Chinese fluently and am seeking a good Taiwanese language course!

What do you do?

Journalism plays a prominent role in my day to day activities. I was bitten by the news bug early, and landed my first opportunity at TTV in 2006. I have practiced video journalism ever since, shooting, writing, and editing stories for broadcast.

As a Content Producer in a major news market, I have the opportunity to tell stories of great importance to a large audience via multiple platforms – TV, the web, mobile phones and even taxicabs. Eventually I hope to work as a foreign correspondent in Asia for a major network, or as a news reader for a cable channel in Taiwan.

I am always on the lookout for a good story. I hope to understand and convey the views of minorities and Taiwanese Americans to educate and diversify perspectives in the United States.

Why are you proud to be of Taiwanese heritage?

I grew up snacking on Suncakes and Ba-wan. My mom played Minnan cassette tapes in the car when she picked me up from school. Though I am American, there is a part of me that will always be uniquely and undeniably Taiwanese.

I recently returned from a trip to Taiwan, where I began to piece together my family’s past in Taichung. I am so proud to have come from people who saved and sacrificed so much to provide better opportunities for those who came after.

There is truly no place on Earth like Formosa. We can build hundreds of Tapioca Express and Ten Ren Tea stores here in the US, but you won’t be able to find another Xi Men Ding or Taipei 101 anywhere else.

What does the future of Taiwanese America look like to you?

In the future, I hope Taiwanese Americans will utilize the education they obtained from American institutions to improve not only the socioeconomic and political facets of the US, but of Taiwan. I strongly believe that Taiwan’s economy, political system and news media will benefit from our knowledge and support.

Secondly, I hope those of the younger Taiwanese American generation will embrace learning their cultural backgrounds and understand the importance of learning the stories and language of their roots. Knowing how to speak Mandarin Chinese and Taiwanese, for example is useful and essential in preserving and promoting our culture in America.

Finally, I hope to see Taiwanese Americans successful in fields not traditionally expected of them – while we will continue to excel in healthcare, business and computer engineering, we will also flourish in the music, news and entertainment industries here in the United States.