This blog post explores the journey from discovering the appeal of environmental landscape design to how artistic and scientific experiences crystallized into career plans, presenting a real-life case study that helps understand the flow of choosing a major.
Academic Experience and Reflections
“Fostering Interest in Science as a Science Mentor”
During high school, my favorite subject was science. However, despite my strong interest in the subject, I struggled to grasp the content well, resulting in poor grades. To pursue my dream of becoming a designer, I entered the science track. To improve in science, which I had previously struggled with, I decided to study it step by step from the beginning. I focused on understanding principles and concepts by solving many problems myself and refining my study methods. Rather than focusing solely on textbooks, I enhanced my understanding by drawing diagrams to visualize concepts around a central theme. I created my own science notebook to organize fundamental concepts and solved problems of varying difficulty levels, prioritizing comprehension. As I began solving problems one by one, my interest in science naturally grew. This increased confidence and passion motivated me to study even harder. Through this process, I realized that no matter how difficult the task, anything can be achieved with the determination to succeed. I also learned that a diligent attitude is the fundamental approach to everything. Recognized by my peers for my science skills, I served as a science mentor in my sophomore year of high school, specifically helping my partner study chemistry. Seeing my friend struggle with chemistry, who didn’t like the subject, felt like seeing my past self, and it was heartbreaking. I worried about how to help this friend understand science easily without giving up. So, I summarized key points and explained principles using the style of speech my friend liked. My friend found the content fascinating and easy to understand, and developed an interest in science. They started getting better grades on every test. Seeing this, other friends began coming to me during breaks to ask about problems they didn’t understand. While explaining problems to my friends, I studied various learning methods late into the night to deepen my own understanding of scientific principles and problem-solving. My science skills improved day by day. Through this experience, I discovered learning methods that suited me and felt the joy of teaching others.
Major School Activities and Reflections
“Expanding My Dream of Becoming a Designer Through Art, Video, and Design Activities”
Having always been interested in video and art, I learned the fundamentals of video production by personally filming and editing videos as the leader of the video club. After building this foundational knowledge, I developed a passion for video production and began creating videos needed for school events. This experience taught me that video production, which I had previously viewed as merely fun, was actually a very difficult and demanding task. It was the moment the saying “Nothing in this world comes easy” hit home. Yet, I developed a strong desire to see any task I took on through to the end and create high-quality work. I dedicated myself to video editing, sacrificing breaks, meal times, and even staying up late at home after school.
On my first day handling editing, I researched various design samples from well-known YouTube videos, analyzing their strengths and weaknesses. I identified suitable methods and precautions for our videos, shared this information with other club members, and worked hard to create better content. As club president, I oversaw all video production. The immense responsibility drove me to self-study video editing software. By referencing well-made videos, I developed a sense for visuals and learned how to effectively utilize design.
Our club also managed a Facebook page at the time. One of our most popular videos achieved tens of thousands of views within a single day of posting, making our club widely known throughout the school. When I first joined, competition was fierce due to the many video clubs on campus. However, as the excellence of our club’s videos became known, we rose to become the top video club in the school. Our skills were recognized, leading to invitations from other high schools to academic conferences. The videos I created were well-received by both students and teachers, and through all my efforts, I gained courage, confidence, and a sense of accomplishment. This success fueled my desire to create even better videos. I dedicated myself to constantly seeking feedback from fellow members and brainstorming ways to add effects that perfectly suited each project. This period in the video club was a time when I poured immense passion into a field I loved. I learned that when you engage in something you find truly interesting, your focus and efficiency improve, leading to greater accomplishments.
After the success of the video club, my confidence grew, and I poured my passion into design, another area of interest. I participated in the ‘School Design Competition,’ conceptualizing design ideas I wanted to develop. Preparing for the ‘School Art Exhibition,’ I personally designed a mosaic pencil holder and explored mosaic techniques, learning artistic sensibilities and design fundamentals. Wanting to explore diverse design applications, I sought out specialized books and materials on foundational design, fashion design, and product design to study design principles. I also spent time studying outstanding designs, contemplating what kinds of designs could capture consumers’ attention. These varied creative activities and conceptual explorations became opportunities to enhance my creativity and concentration, further expanding my dream of becoming a designer.
Examples of Consideration, Sharing, and Cooperation and My Reflections
“Learning Consideration, Cooperation, and Conflict Management as an Environmental Steward and Club Leader”
My experience as an Environmental Steward during my first year of high school was a pivotal moment in realizing the importance of consideration, sharing, and cooperation. As an environmental helper, I spent every cleaning period during my freshman year—right after entering high school—arriving early to organize the recycling stations and collect trash from the entire student body. It was incredibly demanding, often causing significant stress. It was also common for me to be late for class because finishing the cleanup took so long. At first, the strong smell of trash and seeing improperly sorted waste made me wonder, ‘Did I take on this environmental guardian role for nothing?’ However, through mutual consideration and cooperation with my fellow environmental guardians, our bonds grew stronger. We understood and helped each other through difficult situations, working hard to complete the task. On days of major events like sports festivals or the college entrance exam, we also took charge of managing the school environment—tidying up the surroundings, setting up exam rooms, and so on. Seeing the school become cleaner was a great joy. Through this activity, I learned to try to think positively about every situation, no matter how unpleasant or difficult the task, rather than viewing it negatively. I also developed a mature attitude of pooling our strength to help each other, cooperating, and understanding others’ situations during tough times. While many things were incredibly hard and difficult at the time, looking back, I felt a sense of fulfillment knowing I did something for the school. The experience was all the more memorable precisely because the work was so challenging. On the other hand, an example of conflict management comes from my time as the video club president, coordinating members’ opinions. The video production process involved many decisions requiring consensus on scenarios, filming, and editing, but differing personal tastes led to varied opinions. Therefore, I made decisions through voting, striving to incorporate multiple perspectives and find the optimal solution. Fortunately, club activities concluded without major conflicts, and through this, I learned to read others’ emotions and adopt an empathetic attitude.
Efforts and Preparation Related to Motivation and Career Plans
“Interest in Environmental Landscape Design Incorporating Eco-Friendly Design”
I have always been deeply interested in art and aesthetics, frequently visiting art exhibitions and fairs. I enjoy artistic expression, observing objects, and drawing. While contemplating how to utilize my talents, I became fascinated by ‘design’ – creating new products and finding diverse applications for them in daily life. Wanting to learn design, I pursued a science major. While studying science, which I love, I contemplated ways to integrate science and design. I became particularly interested in space design that combines knowledge of ecosystems with design to make daily life more pleasant and convenient. I believe the Department of Living Design at Kangwon National University is the perfect place for me, as it offers the learning opportunities I seek, especially given my strong interest in eco-friendly space design. Recently, there’s been a surge in demand for environmental landscape design, driven by more people wanting spaces—even small ones—that reflect their personality while blending beautifully with nature. After admission, I want to deeply study eco-friendly design, combining my longstanding interests in science and design. Until now, I’ve had limited opportunities to formally study design at school, so I’ve learned on my own by participating in campus design competitions and art exhibitions. I’ve actively worked to enhance my design literacy by researching various designs myself and attending design-related exhibitions and fairs to observe outstanding design works firsthand. I particularly believe environmental landscape design is the most essential field of study at this moment, as resources are increasingly depleted and environmental awareness grows. As a designer, I too am eager to create something new that merges environment and space. This anticipation drives my desire to study design in greater depth at Kangwon National University’s Department of Living Design. Furthermore, I aspire to become a designer who conceptualizes environmental landscape design where nature and human life harmonize, applies it to everyday life, and communicates the necessity of environmental conservation and the value of eco-friendly design to many people.
