Born in Los Angeles, sophomore Herrick Tsao later moved to Taiwan, as traveling seems to be first nature to him.

Living in Taiwan for 14 years, Tsao has now lived in the United States for two years, coming to SHS in his freshman year.

Tsao has traveled with different school, choir, and family trips to places such as Norway, the Czech Republic, Austria, Germany, and Italy.

While traveling, Tsao enjoys diving into the community and meeting new people.

“[It is] important to be engaged with the country… it is good to actually live with and talk to locals,” Tsao said.

He believes it is important to hang out with the people you meet in that country, especially those who are around the same age.

Sometimes, Tsao stays in touch with the people he meets through social media.

One reason Tsao enjoys traveling is because of the new perspectives or views he gains. Traveling to about 20 countries, Tsao has learned a lot about the world through his travels.

“[You can] look at the world from a lot of different views and see what it is actually like versus stereotypes,” Tsao said.

One hobby Tsao enjoys is photography. Although he occasionally takes photos at home, most of Tsao’s photos are taken while traveling.

Upon moving to the United States, Tsao noticed how people here are extremely reliable on cars for transportation.

In other places Tsao has lived, he did not always rely on cars. Rather, he took advantage of public transportation.

“I found [driving everywhere] very weird when I first came here,” Tsao said.

In places like Asia, Tsao says people live closer together, and there is more interaction. Furthermore, Asia is not as car dominant.

Since moving here, Tsao misses things such as playing table tennis, as he played it for ten years but cannot find a team to play on here, and the convenient public transportation.

Tsao has adjusted well to SHS, joining in activities such as swimming on the JV team and playing soccer with his friends.

As far as schooling, SHS is much less competitive and has shorter school days, allowing Tsao to like the education here better than his previous school. There is much less pressure, putting nerves at rest.

Tsao still continues his travels, and went on the most recent Europe trip with SHS.

Traveling will always be a part of Tsao as he continues to embark on new adventures, his traveling continuing with his family and other organizations.