A Journey to College

Attending colleges are considered to be “normal” in today’s society. As colleges started to receive much consideration, college system has high evolved in the past few decades. Likewise, preparation for colleges dramatically evolved as well. Here are interviews with a parent who has a daughter currently enrolling in a college, a current college student, and a senior in high school. Different aspects are shown regarding the issue of the college entrance preparation and college life.

Interview #1- Min Jung, my father
As a father, Min has experienced the pain of preparing for college with his daughter. The parent has the responsibility to assist with almost all affiliated matters of the college entrance. For Min, he tried to do everything in his power to help out, ranging from studying world history to teach his daughter for school to giving rides. Thanks for his efforts, his daughter was accepted to the top fine arts school.

Q: How was it like to prepare for their college entrance?
A: Very difficult, helping the first daughter through school work… *pause* It was very time consuming and hard to keep up with.

Q: How did you feel when the she was accepted to a college?
A: Feeling of great relief *laughing*

Q: These days college acceptance is highly competitive. What do you think about that?
A: Well, that’s the way it is. People want good lives and you can’t really do anything about that. However, I believe that is slightly changing due to such poor economy these days.

Q: If you have the ability to change the system of colleges, what would you change?
A: I want to decrease the amount of tuition. It is simply too much and the way it is operated may be, I don’t know… Not the most efficient? I want to have a system that allows semi-degree, attending colleges for two years and have semi-bachelor’s degree, so that you can freely change your schools in your junior year.

Interview #2- Alex Song, current college student
Recently graduating high school and entering college, Alex Song talks about college considering both high school and college experiences. Part of his heart still stuck in high school and the other part thumping for the new life in college, he has a bright future in front of him.

Q: If you can rate your college life out of five, what would you give? Why?
A: 3.5. It would be higher if there wasn’t so much work!

Q: What would you say is the biggest difference compared to high school?
A: Probably the responsibility [because] no one in college [pushes] you to work. You have to motivate yourself.

Q: If you have the ability to change the system of colleges, what would you change?
A: I would make it so [that] colleges don’t accept people who can’t speak English. They should learn proper English before going anywhere.


Interview #3- Andy Chung, current senior in high school
Unlike the Min and Alex, Andy Chung is still a senior in high school eager to enter college. After the rigorous 3 years of high school, writing applications, and taking S.A.T.s, Andy is just about ready for a new chapter of his life. He talks about college with some what of a clueless, yet curious mind as he is incredibly close to the beginning of a new experience.

Q: Are you excited to go to college?
A: Yes, I’m excited to go and learn something new in a new environment for once

Q: What are your concerns regarding college life?
A: My concerns? Whether if I can stay up late at night working my butt off to finish certain things. I hate staying up, I love sleeping.

Q: If you had the choice to choose between attending a college in the United States or in any other countries, which one would you choose? Why?
A: I would say England. I want to be at a place where I can speak English and also enjoy the nice British environment. The college system [would be] expensive, but I heard the programs in England are very good, [actually being] one of the best

College List

Johns Hopkins University
Cornell University
Columbia University
New York University
Washington University in St.Louis

University of Rochester
Case Western Reserve University
College of William and Mary
University of Michigan
Vanderbilt University

Syracuse University
Indiana University
Univeristy of California--Irvine
Boston University
Rutgers

Cast Your Vote...

If I could have participated in the U.S. presidential election, I would have voted for Obama. Not only he possesses excellent background, speech skills, intelligence, and experience, but also his skin color will mark a historical time period. I do not want to be considered a racist here, because I am not, but the black population deserve to be compensated and recognized through Obama's election. However, the primary reason will be because of his inspirational spirit. He has the power of grabbing attention and wittly inspire the crowd. While watching a debate he was present in, it made me say "wow... he is indeed a president-worth person." Also, he has the right motivation and purpose to help guide the United States in the right direction.

This I Believe Rewrite

I came across a quote in a magazine I picked up at Target on an ordinary day in 2006, when I was in Rhode Island spending one year with my dad who was on a sabbatical leave at Brown University. The quote was said by the headmaster of Rhode Island School of Design. It made me think for a while, and somehow it lingered in my head. “Study hard, play harder”… Yes, indeed! You have to work hard to be successful, but it is more important to enjoy moments of your life while you may. Over the next few weeks, it slowly became clear to me that I should live my life based on the quote. I believe that I should study hard and play hard to aspire to a satisfying life.
The world today is very competitive; I mean super competitive just like a jungle where animals fight each other for survival. Have you seen Mean Girls? Yeah, I’m talking about the scene at a mall where Lindsay Lohan imagines people as mean and aggressive as animals: explosive, destructive, and savage-like. People these days do whatever it takes to become successful. I swear, if SIS students are given guns and weapons saying that they will be granted 4.0 GPA, they will start shooting each other. Well, they may not. But my point is that SIS students are that desperate to get good grades. In Korea, private institutions hagwons are flourishing throughout the nation. Parents literally make their kids live there whenever they get a bit of break from school. Even my parents signed me up for a full week program of hagwon during the Korean thanksgiving break from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. I am still a teenager whose brain is still fresh and malleable. I need a lot of experiences and fun for proper maturation of my brain. However, teenagers like me are under enormous pressure to study hard and get good grades. Of course, studying hard is a given to have a successful life in the future. Yet, experience also plays a huge role in making a life successful.
On that week of the Korean Thanksgiving break, regardless of the stressful schedule, I met up with my friends for dinner, shopping, and relaxation, managing the stress level. I would suffer through the first half of the day and run to Apgujung Rodeo to meet my friends, then complain and gossip away my stress. My point is, for motivation, it is important to relieve stress by having fun. Hence, while studying there must be a balance in enjoying life. However, enjoying too much will disrupt studying. The balance between studying and having fun, as I like to put it, should be aware of.
So, study HARD during the school days and release stress on Friday nights. That way, there will be no regrets when looking back to the past. If the balance does not maintain, there will be disappointments and discontents. I guess another way to state this quote is "live life to the fullest, without regrets." To me, two important things for high school students are “studying” and "enriching." In such a critical time period that will shape our future, grades and experience will pave the way of lives and determine personalities. I am going to study hard, in order to seek success and not to disappoint my parents, while seeking every excitement I can get from my life.

Why Dress?

Sadly, appearance is a big part of what and how people define each other. Even if one may have the nicest personality, if he or she has a rough appearance, most people will be reluctant to speak to him or her. Following this topic is the standardized mind sets of the people in the society. One is expected to dress appropriately according to the events; one is expected to have “quiet” appearance to school, formal appearance at work, “fun” appearance at concerts, and so on. Hence, because society has created what is called “normal looks,” or narrow views of the people, people live each day modifying their appearances.
As a product of the society, even I gasp at people who dress “outrageously.” I would think to myself, ‘is that person not afraid of what other will say?’ Because appearance delivers strong impressions and messages, people often judge each other based on it; appearance speaks one’s identity. I dress not only because I simply enjoy it, but also because I do not want extra attention that may cause others to think or judge my identity incorrectly. Although one may claim that he or she is not afraid of what others think of them, in the end everyone is ought to care about it since it will provide as the source of his or her perceived views of identity. Why is it such a big deal to impress the correct identity? It is because of how people treat each other based upon it. Identity greatly influences how one is going to behave.
People modify appearances to reflect accurate identity they want to portray. As the society evolved, it became a place where people choose how to treat each other based on appearances and identities. Also, as the range of “acceptance” became narrow, people adjusted to be treated as what they deserve.

This I Believe: Study Hard, Play Harder

I came across this quote in a magazine I picked up at Target on an ordinary day in 2006, when I was in Rhode Island spending one year with my dad who was on a sabbatical leave at Brown University. The quote was said by the headmaster of Rhode Island School of Design. It made me think for a while, and somehow it lingered in my head. “Study hard, play harder”… Yes, indeed! You have to work hard to be successful, but it is more important to enjoy moments of your life while you may. Over the next few weeks, it slowly became clear to me that I should live my life based on the quote. From then, I believed that I should study hard, and play harder to seek a satisfying life.
The world today is very competitive; I mean super competitive just like a jungle where animals fight each other for survival. Have you seen Mean Girls? Yeah, I’m talking about the scene at a mall where Lindsay Lohan imagines people as mean and aggressive as animals: explosive, destructive, and savage-like. People these days would do whatever it takes to become successful. I swear, if SIS students were given guns and weapons with the words that we will be granted 4.0 GPA, they will start shooting each other. Well, they may not. But my point is that SIS students are that desperate to get good grades. In Korea, private institutions, so called hagwons, are flourishing throughout the nation. Parents would literally make their kids live there whenever they get a bit of break from school. Even my parents signed me up for a full week program of hakwon during the Korean thanksgiving break from 9 A.M. until 4 P.M. We are little teenagers whose brains are still fresh and malleable. We need a lot of experiences and fun for proper maturation of our brains. However, we are under enormous pressure to study hard and get good grades. Of course, one better study hard to have a successful life in the future. Yet, experience also plays a huge role in making one’s life successful. Additionally, for one to be motivated, it is important to relieve stress by having fun. Hence, whilst studying, one should know how to enjoy life. Enjoying too much will disrupt your studying nonetheless. One should know how to balance between studying and having fun, as I like to put it.
So, study HARD during the school days and play CRAZY on Friday nights. That way, you will have no regrets when looking back to your past. If you do not study hard, you will definitely be disappointed and discontent. But if you only study alienating yourself from the wonderful land of excitement, your life will be miserable. I guess another way to state this quote is "live life to the fullest, without regrets." To me, two important things for high school students are “studying” and "enrichments." We are in the critical time period that will shape our future; our grades and experience will pave the pathway of our lives and set our personalities. I am going to study hard, in order to seek success and not to disappoint my parents, whilst seeking every excitement I can get from my life.

44% of Korean Ivy League Students Quit Course Halfway

1. I was not surprised by the article at all. My parents and I often talk about how rigorous and blind Korean parents are. They work their children like machines, sending them to hagwons at every chance they get.
2. I never heard of such case where students drop out However, I did hear a lot of cases where students were not doing so good. Usually they had hard time managing the work load since they’ve been trained to do everything so perfect, they couldn’t handle all the work given.
3. I believe the problem is the mind sets of the Korean parents. They OVER work them to the point where they wear out by the time they reach college. Also, because they send their children to hagwons makes the children’s studying habits very dependable; they can not manage to understand and study independently in a given time. However, the fact that they are too worn out is indeed the biggest problem.
4. Participating in extracurricular activities enriches one’s mind and allows one to have a well circulating social life. It broadens one’s point of view and reduces stress. Overall,
having some time off from studying helps one to take a step back and open up for other aspects of life.
5. Likewise as I mentioned in number 4, studying can interfere with the one’s views on other aspects of life. He/she will have poor socializing skills and will have high level of stress which will definitely affect his/her behavior.
6. Whilst studying hard, one should know how to get out of the studying mode. He/she should have experiences in diverse activities which will ensure them to have an open mind and views. Studying too hard may be the longest way to reach success. Hence, Korean parents should learn to know the balance of studying and other activities that will lead them to success.