In this blog post, I’ll summarize how my academic efforts, school activities, examples of consideration and cooperation, and upbringing during high school influenced my career path.
Academic Experiences and Reflections
Ever since high school, I had set my sights on entering a pre-medical program and focused on science-related subjects. While I devoted a great deal of time to math and science, I was neglecting my humanities education. My homeroom teacher advised me that such a one-sided approach to learning wouldn’t be helpful in the long run. Taking his advice to heart, I joined the school’s “Film Analysis Through Philosophy Club” to cultivate my humanistic thinking.
Learning through films was a familiar yet novel approach for me. Instead of the animated or action movies I usually enjoyed, the club exposed me to works that offered plenty of food for thought, allowing me to naturally pose philosophical questions. Among the films we watched together were ‘The Truman Show’, ‘Dead Poets Society’, and ‘Good Will Hunting’.
Regarding ‘The Truman Show’, we discussed the ethics of mass media and issues of personal identity. By reflecting on the violence and invasion of privacy that occur when the entire world consumes one person’s life as entertainment, I was able to contemplate individual human rights and autonomy.
Through ‘Dead Poets Society’, we discussed the themes of free will and moral responsibility. While discussing the pressure and loss of freedom students experience in an education system centered on college entrance exams, we reflected on the reality of our educational system; we also engaged in in-depth discussions on teachers’ responsibilities and student safety issues using specific examples (e.g., the Sewol ferry disaster).
While watching ‘Good Will Hunting’, I felt that witnessing the protagonist’s journey of overcoming the conflict between himself and the world and growing as a person could serve as an opportunity for me to break free from my narrow perspective and embrace a broader viewpoint. These experiences went beyond the mere accumulation of knowledge; they served as practice in viewing issues from multiple angles and making moral judgments.
Major School Activities and Reflections
During my sophomore year of high school, I joined a newly formed medical club. Since the club was in its early stages, we had to plan its direction ourselves, and we established two main pillars: research activities and journal activities. Our goal was to learn how to plan and conduct experiments through research activities and to develop the ability to organize and convey medical knowledge through journal activities.
Research activities proceeded in the following order: planning experiments, giving presentations, producing outputs, and documenting the activities with photos. During meetings, we agreed that each member would propose at least one experiment idea, and I made an effort to suggest creative experiment topics through research and reading. I believed that attempting new topics, rather than repeating common, run-of-the-mill experiments, was more in line with the club’s identity.
The experiments we conducted over the course of a year and a half were diverse, ranging from dissections to model-making, chemical reaction experiments, and biology experiments. Specifically, we conducted frog dissections, made tooth models (using paper cups and alginate), performed water droplet microscopy experiments, created magnetic fluorescent fingerprints, determined blood types, built a model of a breathing lung, conducted marble air freshener experiments, made eco-friendly batteries, performed luminol reaction experiments, extracted DNA, constructed mouse skeletons, and conducted planarian experiments. Through this process, I became familiar with designing experiments and writing reports, and the experiments involving living organisms were valuable experiences that satisfied my curiosity about medicine.
For the tooth model-making activity, we applied alginate paste to real teeth, let it harden, and then cast a plaster mold to create the model. The magnetic fluorescent fingerprint experiment involved pressing a fingerprint onto a smooth surface, sprinkling fluorescent powder over it, lifting the print with a lifter, and observing it under a fluorescent light in a dark room. By carrying out these detailed experimental procedures ourselves, we developed our experimental skills and observational abilities.
Our journal activities consisted of producing a web-based club newsletter and writing articles based on our experimental results. Under the name “Medicus Magazine,” we researched major issues and the latest trends in the medical field and turned them into articles. We utilized medical journals, articles from the healthcare sector, news headlines, and recently published medical books as reference materials.
The topics covered were wide-ranging, including Alzheimer’s disease, viruses, stomatitis, Ménière’s disease, the immune system, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, and the human skeletal system. Through this activity, we broadened our medical knowledge and significantly improved our ability to organize and convey complex information.
Examples of Compassion, Sharing, and Collaboration, and My Reflections
The hiking trail on Gwanak Mountain behind our school was relatively well-maintained, but there were frequent reports of accidents due to steep sections and deteriorating structures. Our school recruited volunteers to repair the trail for the benefit of students and the local community, and I participated as a student volunteer because I believed it was a way to contribute to the community.
A total of ten students gathered for a meeting in the woodworking classroom, then hiked to the summit ourselves to inspect areas in need of repair. We replaced broken planks, replaced or securely tied loose ropes, drove new stakes into the ground where needed, and used shovels to compact uneven soil. It was rewarding to hear passing seniors praise us.
After identifying five areas in need of repair during our site survey, we held another meeting while reviewing the photos. These locations were heavily trafficked but had steep slopes and lacked stairs, making them prone to slipping. We prepared the appropriate carpentry materials, ropes, and stakes for each site, measured and cut them to size, and then formed pairs to carry out the repairs.
Since some team members were experienced in carpentry, the work went much more smoothly. As we designed, crafted, and assembled the structures on-site together, I truly felt the importance of cooperation and experienced the joy of contributing to the community through sharing and volunteer work.
Efforts and Preparation Related to Motivation for Application and Career Plans
Growing up with parents who were educators, I was exposed to the importance of education and various learning opportunities from an early age. My parents took a keen interest in my career path and helped me explore my career plans through many conversations. At my parents’ suggestion, I enrolled in an alternative school, where I prepared for college admission through the school’s specialized admissions track.
My parents recommended the alternative school because its flexible curriculum and creative learning environment allowed me to study science and mathematics in a way that wasn’t rigidly standardized. In fact, at our school, I was able to experience a variety of classes, including environmental field trips, ecological studies, emotional development, science labs, and woodworking workshops, and these experiences provided substantial help as I considered my future career path.
I devoted a great deal of energy to the medical club and actively participated in research and hands-on experiments. The school provided extensive support for clubs and extracurricular activities, and based on my interests, I planned specific experiments and, after receiving school approval, participated in off-campus field trips and group activities.
For example, I planned and carried out a field trip to the Clinical Medicine Research Center at Yonsei University, where I experienced special and immunofluorescent staining processes and toured the laboratories. Based on these extracurricular and external activity experiences, I have been preparing to apply through the specialized high school admissions track, and I balanced my academic studies with these activities with the goal of applying to the Pre-Medical Program at Sungkyunkwan University.
Through my upbringing and diverse educational experiences, I have come to firmly believe that one’s career path should not be determined by the opinions of others or social standards, but rather chosen based on one’s own aptitudes and interests. I have developed the belief that education should be a platform that respects individual interests and helps students prepare for a fulfilling professional life.
