This blog post covers the key elements you must consider when preparing your International Trade major academic plan and provides practical writing strategies. It introduces methods to increase your chances of acceptance by demonstrating your understanding of the major, connecting your experiences, and clearly stating your goals.

Writing About Academic Experience and Reflections

“Studying with a plan makes it much easier and more fun!”
I’ve always loved fun things, and I’m a huge fan of games. There was even a time in my childhood when I thought it would be great to just live playing games alone. Thinking about it now, I probably loved games because I enjoyed the thrill of ‘acquisition’. The thrill of working hard and gradually achieving things bit by bit was incredibly satisfying. Everything starts out easy, but gradually getting harder seemed to be a unique charm only games possess. I played games so hard because I found that charm fun. But that fun could actually be found elsewhere too. It all depended on my mindset. It seems like everything in the world is really no different from a game. A prime example was ‘studying’.
I believe studying is actually the field burdened with the greatest prejudice. Because everyone nags about how you must study, how you should study, it ends up feeling like something to dread, something devoid of fun. But in truth, studying was just like a game. At first, there are many easy levels, but at some point, it gets harder. In other words, it shows its resolve to never reveal itself to ordinary people. So, those who want to excel at studying must change their strategy at some point. If you feel your current approach isn’t working, you need to quickly switch genres. By trying various things, you can gradually advance to higher levels.
I realized this when I found my dream and properly began studying to achieve it. I wanted to become someone who resolves international conflicts and someone who can promote improved international relations. That’s when I began dreaming of majoring in International Trade and started studying for that dream. Unexpectedly, the studying turned out to be much more interesting than I had imagined. Once I realized that, studying was no longer a hindrance. It was fun and enjoyable. So I could study without stress, and my grades gradually improved.

Major School Activities and Reflections

“How Joining the English Drama Club Changed My Personality!”

I wasn’t a child who dreamed of majoring in International Trade from the start or harbored ambitions to grow into a global talent. In fact, I was a child who couldn’t even imagine such things. I was a kid who only liked games and preferred being alone over hanging out with friends, so speaking in front of many people was unimaginable. Presentations were my absolute worst nightmare; stepping up to speak in front of people was something I dreaded most. But it was my high school’s English Drama Club that completely transformed that part of me and made me realize I wasn’t actually that timid.
My initial reason for joining was simple: I figured since I’d be using English more than my friends, my skills would improve faster. And since I wasn’t tall or particularly good-looking anyway, I figured I wouldn’t be cast as an actor, so I shouldn’t stress about it. But as soon as I joined, I was given the lead role. I tried to refuse, but there weren’t many male members, and there weren’t any lighting or technical roles I could handle, so I had to act. At first, it was overwhelming. I panicked, wondering if someone like me—who didn’t know English well, wasn’t good-looking, and wasn’t a good speaker—could really do this. But I had a strong sense of responsibility and didn’t want to let down the people I was working with. So, I started working hard, even though it felt like swallowing bitter medicine.
And then, I realized for the first time that I enjoyed speaking with English pronunciation and standing on stage to speak loudly. Some people crave attention desperately but never get it. Standing on stage inevitably means receiving attention from the audience who came to see you. And through my acting, those people cried and laughed. I thought that would be embarrassing, but it turned out to be incredibly fun. That’s how, after finishing my first play by sheer accident, I started wanting more roles. And from that moment on, I stopped being afraid of stepping out in front of people.

“I want to be the one who speaks!”

There’s a saying that the quiet cat is the first to jump onto the stove. That was me. As I found late-night presentations increasingly fun and enjoyable, I unknowingly became the one who volunteered to present first. When team members gathered for group presentations, I stepped forward to present. Before I knew it, I was running for class president and then student council president, starting to take on roles. What I realized through this was that having the ‘right to speak’ means you simultaneously wield great responsibility and power. First, having that right means representing others in meetings, which carries the responsibility of the group, so you must be careful and articulate at every meeting. On the other hand, having that right inevitably means you gain more information than others. These two subtle pleasures kept drawing me back to the podium. And finally, I began dreaming of becoming an international trade expert.

Examples of Consideration, Sharing, and Cooperation, and My Reflections

“For unity and cooperation, let us be people who challenge what must be challenged and let go of what must be let go.”
Having earned my friends’ trust through the class president election and secured re-election, I decided to run for student council president. Many friends saw my leadership and wrote recommendation letters for me. I received a total of 50 recommendations, qualifying me to run for president. Then, I launched my campaign. To cut to the chase, I lost by 13 votes. But I had no regrets. Because I gave it my all.
During the campaign, I didn’t take a single break during recess. I worked passionately and communicated diligently with my friends. Every morning, I went out early to tell my friends about my campaign, observing which messages resonated with them and recording my findings daily. Yet, I failed to secure the votes of 14 people. Analyzing the reasons for my failure, I believe it stemmed from my lack of concrete promises. I couldn’t pledge tangible benefits students could hold in their hands because I lacked the confidence to raise the necessary funds. Later, when I saw the friend who became president actively working, I realized it was already too late to learn that money could have been raised through the board of directors or other alumni associations. So I gave up cleanly. Now, as a class representative, I began participating in meetings and helping my president friend. Some friends thought I might harbor ill will toward the president friend because I had worked so passionately, but I didn’t. I believed it was better to focus on what I could do now rather than stake my life on a game I’d already lost.
So I passionately failed, and then passionately supported my friend as a member. I joined and helped with everything my friend took the lead on, and as a result, we built an unbreakable friendship. Together, we raised significant funds to help struggling friends and gained opportunities to experience new endeavors.

Select two books read in high school that had the greatest impact, including the reason for reading them, your evaluation of the books, and their influence on you

“Conversations with Ban Ki-moon, Tom Plate”

The reason I read this book was pure ‘curiosity’. How could a Korean person—not someone raised abroad, but a true Korean—become the UN Secretary-General? I was curious. Truthfully, there are many other great figures. Yet, for some reason, those figures felt distant to me. I was curious about the story of Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who grew up eating rice just like me since childhood. I wanted to know the secret of how one could become like that. So, I began reading the book, which gave me a lot. What struck me most was how different his ‘perspective’ was. No, it would be more accurate to say his ‘vision’ was broad. The UN is where international relief efforts are conducted and where world leaders gather for meetings. Serving as Secretary-General there meant handling far more responsibilities than one might imagine, and as it involves managing money, it was a position demanding unwavering composure. And the efforts Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon made to perform his duties properly in that position were truly immense. Reading that book, I felt like I was witnessing someone who never stopped thinking. It made me reflect on how I had lived without much thought until then, and I resolved to live more thoughtfully from now on.

“Obama: Turning Inferiority into Hope, Heather Lare Wagner”

I like the series from the publisher that released this book. This book was edited with a lower perspective so that young people can easily read stories about the world’s great figures. This makes it a book I can read. Additionally, it details how these great figures spent their youth. I found that truly valuable. Because, as someone going through adolescence, I didn’t know how to navigate this period. It was my first time experiencing it, so I couldn’t tell what was right. Teachers and parents were expecting more and more from me, and I found myself facing moments where I had to make decisions for the first time in my life. I was at a loss about how to decide. This book helped calm that confusion. Before reading this book, I believed I had to choose a safe major. I thought people born into the world who traveled abroad and did amazing things were all born with special gifts, and that I simply wasn’t cut out to even attempt such things. But after reading Obama’s book, I encountered someone who shattered prejudices through countless anecdotes of his journey to run for president as a black man. Seeing him taught me that impossibility only exists when you think it does. So I resolved not to set limits for myself, and this is why I decided to pursue my dream.