by Kevin Au

So I’m sure most people already know you are a college student at UCSD. What are you studying?

My major officially is Molecular Bio, but I’m following the track for Human Bio. I initially came in as Bioengineering. It was one of those subjects that I really liked in high school, and I figured, since I was coming to UCSD, I might as well do Bio. I made the switch to Human Biology because I know that being in Bio E wouldn’t really help my GPA, might as well just do Human Bio because it’s more applicable in going to Med School anyways.

Has Med School always been your ambition?

Always? No, I’m still not really completely sure. There are a lot of things you can do with a degree in medicine, and considering other fields like business or law, I felt like I would be less in a position of moral compromise with medicine…Plus, I have Asian parents, you know?

Yeah, I figured…Any siblings?

Yeah, I have 2 brothers. One, my older brother is 3 years older in Med School on the East Coast. My younger brother is going into his second year at UC Davis.

Ah, I see. So where are you from?

Its kinda complicated. I was born in New Jersey, then moved to Taiwan when I was five, then back to New Jersey when I was twelve, then back to Taiwan. I finished my junior and senior years of high school in San Jose, and came to San Diego for college.

Wow, so is Taiwanese your first language?

I actually don’t know Taiwanese. My first languages were concurrently Mandarin and English. I also have more recently been learning Japanese. Taking a class helps. I would really like to study abroad in Japan, but I just don’t really have the time. It wouldn’t help me fulfill my major, it wouldn’t help my grades; it would be just for language.

I think you should go. Anyways, what about your hobbies? What do you enjoy doing?

Well, back when I had a life….Video games, anime, manga, board games. I still keep up with manga, I don’t play video games because I don’t have a TV, anime takes too much time. I stopped mostly because I need to study.

So how has God been teaching you lately?

I have been learning much in terms of trusting God with my future, and having faith that God is in control. I had always known it in my head, but as things have gotten difficult, it has really forced me to re-evaluate what I stand for. He was able to strengthen me in terms of my place in His plan. Different circumstances and books have taught me and stressed the importance of humility, godly character, and God-centered focus.

Awesome. So how did you end up here at Lighthouse anyways?

Some people from my home church have come to Lighthouse. When I first got here, Cindy Tsau offered to take me and some friends to visit different churches, and at the end we stuck with Lighthouse. I decided to stay because of Pastor John’s sermons. They were very different from what I’ve heard, and maybe more than anything else, my curiosity kept me coming back.

How long have you been a Christian?

I’d say I became a Christian sometime between the second half of my first year and the first half of my second year. That’s when I really came to an understanding of the gospel. I was baptized in high school, but I really want to be baptized again. I put it off for a while because I was unsure of my salvation, but after I really understood the gospel, and was assured that Jesus is Lord, things got busier, but I don’t want to put it off much longer.

Cool, so tell me something interesting or weird about yourself that not a whole lot of people know.

Umm…well, when I was in 3rd grade I was skating down a hill. I fell, face planted, and ground my teeth into the asphalt. So a portion of my front two teeth are fake (smiles).