An Unforgettable Journey in Korea University Past Review
By Tang Yu Kiu Yuki (Hong Kong University of Science and Technology) - abroad from 06/26/2017 to 08/02/2017 with
Korea University: Seoul - International Summer Campus
There was a lecture that I attended held by the president, Jaeho Yeom The topic is KU & Innovation in Fostering Global Education. Overall, the whole speech mainly focuses on how education should reform in order to keep up with the global change and what KU will do to improve its education in the future. The speech was divided into three parts: In the first part of the speech, he discussed how the future society would be different from the past and present. Human civilization developed from industrial revolution to mass production and now the internet/knowledge information society. Our future would highly rely on artificial intelligence and robots, and only 10% of labor is needed in the whole production process. Youth unemployment and other social problems might be resulted if the education system does not continuously change to keep up with the global pace. In the second part, he explained his thoughts on changing the present education mode in KU, for instance emphasize more on students’ problem-solving skills instead of remembering concrete knowledge, and pointed out the importance of students being creative and innovative in the future. In the third part, he projected the future plans of KU to increase its competitiveness and how the school would support its students’ future development in terms of both hard and software. After attending this lecture, I want to suggest the following two thoughts that helps KU to remain competitive: Firstly, it is mentioned that only 10% of labor is needed for the whole production process in the future, meaning that we need to train up students with skills that can hardly be replaced by robots or any technologies. Skills that are harder to be replaced by robots might be jobs related to education, healthcare, services, arts, management and creativity. If students are equipped with skills that are higher than robots, for instance creativity and sociability, then they will be able to win in the job market. As I am an insurance agent, there are two examples in my personal experience that could illustrate this idea: My clients would not choose a robot as their agent. In many circumstances, people buy insurance not because they feel like they need protection(We call it as ‘need to buy’). They only buy it because the insurance agent established relationship with his clients and they believe in what he said or simply wanting to help him(We call it as ‘nice to buy’). It should be hard for a robot to establish connection with a human. This is why we cannot ignore the importance of training up students’ ability to earn social capital. I would not listen to a boss which is a robot. Robots are without emotion and they are only an object. We can easily ignore the instruction from robots so it is less possibly that robots work as a manager. Successful managers show understanding and focus on interaction. Human are more precious than robots in terms of their emotion and we should put more emphasize to make good use of our emotion. Secondly, encourage students to dream big but also look into small details. I especially agree on the president’s point on changing the course focus from concrete knowledge to problem-solving. In order to stand out in the society, students need to be social innovators that think of ways to solve complicated social problems. As mentioned in the lecture, environmental problems are resulted from mass production. Another example that I can think of is the problem arise from they city being too convenient. Convenience might be good, but also bad to the society, this is why we should not only think big but also detail-minded. It is said that KU would like to turn the street beside Anam station into an intelligent city, with many escalator to make the street more convenient to people. Imagine that everywhere are very convenient in the city and people barely need to walk in the future? Healthcare problems might be resulted and students can think of ways to balance convenience and health of citizens. The one who think of the solution to society wins, this is why KU should continue to put more focus on students’ problem solving skills.
Personal Information
| How much international exposure did you have prior to this program? | 1 month - 6 months |
Review Your Program
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* Overall educational experience
Academic rigor, intensity, resources, etc. |
The overall experience of the exchange was fruitful, but less challenging than I expected. Since I did not know much Korean, I thought it would be hard to communicate with local people. In turn I found many Korean language are similar to the words in Cantonese and English. If I listen slowly or read slowly, sometimes I can guess the meaning. Also, Seoul is a tourist spot so there are English and Chinese translation in the subway stations and I can easily understand. This has already solved the biggest problem of transportation. I managed to ride a few times of bus as bus does not provide any translation and I used my minimal Korean pinyin to comprehend the bus stops. Because of the experience in successfully taking bus, I gained confidence and went to Jeonju and Busan to travel. I felt satisfied that I could understand part of the Korean and I am now continuing to learn Korean as I fell interested in it. One big positive aspect of the exchange is to broaden my horizon. I went to Korean DMZ (Demilitarised Zone) during my stay, where was served as a buffer zone between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (North Korea) and the Republic of Korea (South Korea). I walked into the third tunnel and that was the first time I come into contact with places related to war. I was impressed that soldiers walked back and forth in this 1,600 m tunnel in a high speed and I could not even walk for more than 400 m. If I were a soldier, I must feel worried and scared in such a dark tunnel, cold and dangerous. A deep lesson learnt is to wish for world peace all the time. Personally, I think studying in Korea is relatively easier than in Hong Kong. Even though the lesson format in this university is more interactive, the learning mode are more or less the same. |
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* Host Country Program Administration
On-site administration of your program |
We registered our course before we arrived the school. They asked our preference on courses when we applied for the program on the KUISC website. One thing that is good about the school is that they did not limit the number of students in the course, that means even though many students chose the same course or the course had very few people study, they would still let you study the course. The maximum number course choices are 3. If you get an A or above in the all three subjects, you can get a scholarship. The overall administration of program is clear and easy. |
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* Housing:
How satisfied were you with your living arrangements? |
The school would ask about whether you want a dormitory during your application for the program, in the same website KUISC. I lived in CJ International House which was 15 minutes away from the main campus and 18 minutes away from Anam railway station. It is located up on a hill so it took me around 10 minutes to walk up the hill. I live in a double room with another Hong Kong girl, and my neighbours are from mainland and Singapore. It was a decent place to live in, the room is big and hygienic. There are two kitchens in every floor and a gym room in the second floor. There were meal plans but it was not advised to buy because the food outside are cheaper and tastier. |
| * Food: |
Korean cuisine is mainly made of rice, vegetables and meat. Food in Korea is suitable for me and I got used to eating Korean food very quickly. Usually, I eat kimbap, ramen and dobogii. Almost every meal would be provided with kimchi(the national dish), but fresh vegetables are rarely seen. It is hard to find meat in simple meals as well, often we eat starchy food and kimchi only. In the weekend we usually eat fried chicken or barbecue pork as dinner, this is also a Korean culture that eating fried chicken and drinking beer in weekends with colleagues. Cafe culture is strong in Korea. Coffee shops are so common that there must be a cafe few steps away from you. |
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* Social & Cultural Integration:
How integrated did you feel with the local culture? |
I really appreciate the buddy program of the school. I met a Korean buddy in there called Min-jung and she was very nice. Since she lived near the campus during the summer, we always meet at night to dinner or sing karaoke together. In the same buddy group I met an American girl from UCLA and a Japanese girl called Hannah. Since the lecture we had was interactive, I also met a good friend from mainland called Sophie studying in Boston University. |
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* Health Care:
How well were health issues addressed during the program? |
The food in Seoul is commonly clean. I was lucky enough not having the chance of visiting hospitals in there. But there is a hospital near the dormitory, in case of any sickness, you can get access to health care very easily. |
| * Safety: |
Seoul is one of the safest cities in the world, and I think they have less pickpockets than Hong Kong. It is even safe to put down a bag in the restaurant and go to order food in the counter! |
| If you could do it all over again would you choose the same program? |
Yes
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Finances
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* Money: How easily were you able to live on a student's budget?
(1 = not very easy/$200+ on food & personal expenses/week, 2.5 = $100/week, 5 = very easily/minimal cost) |
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| Not including program expenses, about how much money did you spend on food and other expenses each week? | HKD 500 |
| Do you have any general money-saving tips for future study abroad participants? | Eat around the Anam station will save you a lot of money. |
Language
| * Did your program have a foreign language component? | No |
Direct Enrollment/Exchange
| * Did you study abroad through an exchange program or did you directly enroll in the foreign university? | Exchange |
Other Program Information
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* Where did you live?
Select all that apply |
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* Who did you live with?
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* Who did you take classes with?
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| About how many local friends did you make that you will likely keep in touch with? |
A Look Back
| * What did you like most about the program? |
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| * What could be improved? |
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| * What do you know now that you wish you knew before going on this program? | No, everything are well explained |
Reasons For Studying Abroad
| To help future students find programs attended by like-minded individuals, please choose the profile that most closely represents you. |
The Avid AdventurerThe wardrobe you packed was better suited for a semester of camping than club hopping. Outdoorsy, you might forgo a crazy night out for an early all-day adventure. You'd rather take in the rich culture of an old town than the metropolis of a modern city, but for you getting off the grid is ideal. |
