In this blog post, I’ll summarize what I learned through my academic experiences, school activities, and community life at the alternative school, as well as my preparations for a career in child welfare.
Academic Experiences and Reflections
I graduated from a nature-oriented Christian alternative school located on the outskirts of the Seoul metropolitan area. Grounded in Christian values, the school placed great importance on fostering a sense of community, and indeed, various experiential activities and community life were deeply integrated into the curriculum. In addition to the regular curriculum, many practical courses were offered, and in this environment, I strove to develop myself by gaining diverse experiences in nature and society.
The school’s “one student, one instrument” program allowed each student to receive individual music lessons. Since I had been playing the acoustic guitar for some time, I consistently practiced during free periods to improve my skills; as my ability grew, I began composing my own songs and writing lyrics. I mainly composed children’s songs and acoustic pieces, and I even held concerts for children during local volunteer activities. I also took cooking classes through pastry and baking workshops. As someone who wasn’t accustomed to cooking, I learned to cultivate attention to detail and planning skills through the process of making pastries and bread. The experience of giving the bread I baked myself to the elderly residents at a nursing home made the practical training even more meaningful.
In terms of academic studies, conversation classes with native English speakers and current affairs classes using newspapers were particularly helpful. Since our school had many resident native English-speaking teachers, I had plenty of opportunities to converse in English naturally as part of my daily life; thanks to this, English became a language for everyday communication rather than just for exams. The current affairs classes involved reading the latest news articles or newspapers and discussing topics chosen by each group, which helped me develop the habit of thinking and speaking through topics that anyone could relate to in real life, rather than focusing on complex philosophical or political issues.
Major School Activities and Reflections
The greatest strength of an alternative school lies in its diverse experiential activities. While regular high schools with a humanities curriculum follow a set curriculum and focus primarily on classroom instruction, the school I attended offered more experiential activities and self-directed practice time than regular classes. Living in the dormitory in a relaxed atmosphere gave me many opportunities to naturally bond with friends, and I gradually transformed from the somewhat reserved student I was at the beginning of my enrollment into a student confident in self-expression.
One of the experiences that helped me grow significantly was the school’s “Themed Trip” program. With the school’s approval, we could set learning objectives and go on group or independent trips; I formed a team with like-minded friends and prepared for the trip by writing the itinerary myself. The themed trips I participated in included an artificial rock climbing experience, a trek across the entire length of Jirisan Mountain, and a fair-trade trip to Thailand. These experiences went beyond mere sightseeing; they were a process of putting our learning objectives into practice.
In particular, the fair-trade trip to Thailand was my first overseas trip and an experience of great educational significance. Rather than just sightseeing, we visited a local school to attend a collaborative class, watched the Loy Krathong Festival, and participated in making sky lanterns and the parade. While on a bike tour of Chiang Mai with local high school students, I was able to bond with them using simple English and gestures, even though we couldn’t speak the same language. Through fair trade shopping at the Bangkok night market and strolling through the local streets, I learned how to experience authentic local culture. This experience reinforced my belief that the true meaning of travel lies not in expensive accommodations or the journey itself, but in directly experiencing the lives and culture of the local people.
The trek across Jirisan Mountain was an opportunity to cultivate patience and teamwork. My team set a destination and promised not to leave anyone behind. If someone slipped, we held hands to help each other up; if a friend was tired, we adjusted our pace together, aiming for everyone to reach the summit. The grueling half-day climb and descent were physically challenging, but they deepened the camaraderie among my friends and left me with precious memories of learning in nature—an experience hard to come by at school.
Examples of Consideration, Sharing, and Cooperation, and My Reflections
The school encouraged students to develop a sense of community through mandatory boarding for the entire student body. When I first left home to live away from my family, I was very afraid, but meeting friends in the same situation soon turned that fear into joy. The dormitory was structured so that four students shared a room; although it wasn’t spacious and didn’t have any special amenities, the time we spent together provided many opportunities to grow closer. My roommates became true comrades over the course of the year as we lived together and planned experiential activities and themed trips.
Of course, there were also conflicts in our communal living. Clashes arose due to different living habits and varying bedtimes; for example, one friend had a habit of staying up until the early hours of the morning, which caused inconvenience for those who went to bed late. Because they kept the lights on to read or played music loudly, friends who wanted quiet had trouble falling asleep. To resolve these issues, we all gathered for a meeting and agreed on rules such as turning off the main lights and using desk lamps instead, and using headphones when listening to music.
Beyond that, minor daily issues—such as scheduling shared cleaning times, assigning recycling duties, and establishing rules for splitting the cost of late-night snacks—often caused conflicts. However, the process of resolving these conflicts itself became an opportunity to shape our own living culture and taught us how to understand and care for one another. We learned to help each other not only by establishing rules but also through small acts of consideration, such as checking in on friends who missed roll call or waking up those who overslept to make sure they got to school on time. Life in the dormitory was a precious time that allowed me to truly internalize the value of community.
Efforts and Preparation Related to Motivation for Application and Career Plans
While attending an alternative school, I frequently participated in local volunteer activities, and my experiences meeting young children at a children’s center made me keenly aware of the importance of child welfare. There were many children around me who struggled to adapt to school life due to difficult family circumstances, and children from multicultural families, in particular, faced challenges in the educational setting due to language and cultural differences. I resolved to become an educator who helps these children and set a goal to become a teacher dedicated to language education and daily life support for multicultural children.
With my interest and talent in language education, I intend to focus on resolving the communication difficulties faced by children from multicultural families. First, I plan to help them build a solid foundation in spoken and written Korean. Second, through English instruction, I aim to support them in keeping up with their coursework and ensuring they face no difficulties in college entrance exams. This goal stems from my experience in high school, where I naturally developed my conversational skills by living with a native English-speaking teacher. Having personally experienced how learning centered on everyday English greatly aided my academic performance and adaptation to daily life, I want to support children in need of similar assistance in the same way.
Beyond language education, I also wish to serve as a life mentor, broadening children’s growth opportunities through various experiential activities. I learned songwriting and lyric composition through acoustic guitar lessons, acquired relevant skills and certifications through pastry and baking workshops, and developed my skills in artificial rock climbing as a hobby to the point where I can teach others. Furthermore, drawing on my extensive travel experience, I aim to become a versatile educator who can organize these activities into a cohesive educational program, guiding and personally teaching multicultural children through these hands-on experiences.
