During Professor Fonseca’s undergraduate career, Fonseca had an interest in foreign languages and other cultures. At that time, China was rising and the emergence of China and Asia appeared to be the future. This convinced Fonseca that he needed to know more about China and East Asia. As an International Relations student, in the city of Guadalajara, Mexico, Fonseca was required to do an internship in any embassy or consulate overseas. Fonseca was accepted at the Mexican consulate of Shanghai and spent his Summer there between his Sophomore and Junior year of his undergraduate studies. From that experience, Fonseca knew he wanted to specialize in Asia. When he finished his Bachelor’s, he chose to do his Master’s at a research institution, El Colegio de México (Colmex) in Mexico City. Part of his Master’s study included morning language courses and afternoon history, economics, and politics classes. It was during his Master’s studies that Fonseca began to improve his Chinese language ability.His experience of language learning during his Master’s was what guided him to Taiwan. Searching for an immersive teaching of the language, Taiwan caught his eye. Through his research, he found that Taiwan’s Chinese language centers tended to have smaller class sizes in comparison to centers in China. At NCCU, there were no more than 12 students per class. Fonseca was granted the Huayu Enrichment Scholarship to learn Mandarin in Taiwan for one year. Quickly, by the 9th month in Taiwan, he was able to communicate with great improvement in comparison to when he had first arrived. At the end of the year, Fonseca had a few options. He could return to Mexico or he could remain in Taiwan to do his Ph.D. After a year of an explicit focus on improving his Mandarin ability, there was a fear that returning to Mexico came at the cost of losing his new language ability. While studying at the NCCU Mandarin Center, Fonseca met students from the International Doctoral Program in Asia-Pacific Studies (IDAS). Through conversations with IDAS students and knowing NCCU’s reputation as one of the best universities in Taiwan for International Affairs related studies, he decided to apply to the program.With the publication of his Ph.D. research and his degree in hand, Fonseca was at another crossroads. For international students looking to stay and work in Taiwan after finishing their Ph.D., Fonseca suggests finding the right niche that meets your needs and fits into Taiwan’s academic needs. For Fonseca, he had a clear niche in Latin America studies and East Asian studies and he was fortunate to be present when opportunities arose. After finishing his Ph.D., Fonseca had the opportunity to work as an Assistant Professor at Chihlee University of Technology in New Taipei City at the center of Latin American Economy and Trade Studies. At the end of his first year at Chihlee, Fonseca was granted a position as an Assistant Professor at Tamkang University in their Graduate Institute of Latin American Studies. After three years at Tamkang, a position opened for a professor specializing in Latin American studies in the Department of Diplomacy at NCCU.