In this blog post, I’ll explore how my high school clothing production experience naturally connects to my goal of majoring in textile engineering, summarizing the significance of this hands-on growth process in choosing my major.
Academic Experience and Reflections
“Watching documentaries to improve English usage”
Until my first year of high school, I aimed to major in Business Administration and began studying the necessary subjects from my first year. I focused on social studies subjects like economics, of course, but I especially concentrated on English learning. I believed English was essential for a student dreaming of a future in global business management. Furthermore, having set the goal of operating a sports brand store, I felt strong English conversation skills were crucial. Therefore, I not only selected conversation classes offered by the school as electives but also participated enthusiastically in the school’s English classes.
The conversation class, led by a native English teacher, primarily utilized documentaries. The teacher purchased popular foreign documentary programs and showed them to us. Through this class, I watched environmental documentaries focusing on oceans, nature, and ecosystems of plants and animals. I also watched documentaries exploring the psychology of people living in society and documentaries examining groups like families or schools. These documentaries were inherently interesting, provided opportunities to encounter cultures different from ours, and simultaneously improved both listening and reading comprehension skills by viewing English and Korean subtitles together.
Therefore, to properly watch documentaries, I requested materials directly from my teacher and used the resources provided to advance my English learning. While rewatching a documentary might have been tedious, I focused more on the dialogue and explanations than the content itself. Documentaries, much like educational materials, feature clear pronunciation and precise explanations, making the content easy to absorb. Listening without subtitles and taking dictation was also easier than with other materials. When difficult words appeared, I could check the subtitles and simultaneously look them up in a dictionary. Repeatedly listening to the same content also improved my ability to understand dialogue within its context.
Writing about major school activities and reflections
“Creating Clothing in the Fashion Apparel Club”
I started club activities in the Fashion Apparel Club and dedicated myself to club activities for three years. During the club’s practical sessions, I experienced the entire process: brainstorming meetings, sketching, creating design drafts, fittings, garment production, and photo shoots. All garment production activities began with idea meetings. Establishing the purpose of the product—why it was being produced—was crucial. Without this clear purpose, problems would arise midway, so careful initial planning was essential. Once the purpose and direction were set through meetings, we sketched and designed according to that direction. We primarily used design tools to create drafts and then held further meetings to review the results.
Club members served as both excellent collaborators and occasional evaluators. During meetings, they offered valuable ideas that improved my work. When producing pieces, they provided evaluations and feedback, pointing out areas needing revision. This allowed us to progress smoothly to the next stage without creating problems midway. Particularly during fittings, if adjustments were needed, we would return to the sketching phase and restart the work. When revisiting work, I made a conscious effort to incorporate my friends’ opinions rather than relying solely on my own decisions. This collaborative support enabled us to create meaningful pieces, which was deeply rewarding. We never left our finished products as-is; we photographed them for documentation and shared these records online through community platforms.
Through our online activities, we even received requests from other external clubs to create custom costumes for their stage performances. For example, a classical instrument club organizing a traditional percussion troupe for a festival stage asked us to make their performance attire, which also allowed us to generate some income. So, after a full club meeting, we began creating stage costumes that preserved the elegance of hanbok while considering practicality for movement. During this process, we received a request to make the traditional spinning hats (sangmo) needed for sangmo-dori, which led us to carefully consider new designs. Honestly, traditional garments like hanbok or sangmo were uncharted territory for us, requiring a lot of information. But by pooling our collective wisdom, we made it possible.
On one occasion, the school cheerleading squad needed uniforms, so we made them. Unlike stage costumes worn just once, cheer uniforms are often worn daily for dance practice, so we prioritized mobility and functionality. We designed them to resist dust buildup even when dancing in white and used lightweight materials for ease of movement. For the pants, I used breathable mesh material. For the long sleeves, while they had lace trim, I finished the lace part lightly to avoid hindering movement. I also paid close attention to the neckline and knot areas, designing them so the clothes wouldn’t get damaged when putting them on or taking them off. Through these efforts, I received great satisfaction from the club.
Examples of Consideration, Sharing, and Cooperation, and Reflections
“Operating a Clothing Swap Shop at the Festival”
Since my first year of high school, I’ve been active in the fashion clothing club and participated in sharing events hosted by fashion-related companies. These events involved donating or exchanging unused brand-name clothing. Inspired by this, I planned a new activity for our school festival. Our school festival had never featured clothing-related stores or booths before. Our club had only ever helped other clubs with their presentations; this was our first time planning a booth activity ourselves.
As the planning chair for the festival booth, my vision wasn’t simply to sell clothing products. I didn’t believe there was much meaning in just selling clothes we made to students. Instead, we opened an ‘Ana Bada Store’ to foster community interaction and embody the spirit of sharing. We kept the store open consistently throughout the festival’s three days. We sorted donated clothes and items we brought ourselves, managed them hygienically, and displayed them after refashioning or repurposing them. We then distributed posters and promotional materials explaining the Ana Bada movement and displayed them at the booth. As word spread about our activities, many friends came to purchase clothes directly, paying a small fee.
Especially popular were the clothes we had reformed ourselves, which sold like hotcakes. Though the individual amounts were small, the total sum added up to significant revenue. Beyond this, some students also came to donate clothes directly or to exchange items. We paid friends who donated clothes and received them, and during exchanges, we adjusted the value of each item to ensure equal worth. Operating the festival booth for at least five hours a day over three days, with many friends participating in the event, made it a rewarding time. Furthermore, the proceeds from running the festival booth were donated to an external Anabada event we had previously participated in, allowing us to further enhance the event’s meaning.
Efforts and Preparation Related to Motivation for Application and Career Plans
“Interest in Sports Brand Apparel”
Since high school, I’ve had a strong interest in functional sports apparel from brands like Nike, Adidas, and New Balance. I frequently purchased clothing products, apparel accessories, sports socks, and walking shoes from these brands, and whenever I got pocket money, rushing to the store was practically a hobby. Honestly, I had no other interests besides this hobby. So, I decided to pursue what I loved and was good at, setting my goal to work for a sports brand company. Initially, I thought it would be great to become a store manager running a brand outlet directly, so I considered applying to a business administration program.
However, after much deliberation, I resolved to become someone who directly develops and produces the apparel and accessories I love. Specifically, I decided to become an expert in developing and applying functional materials. Therefore, I decided to major in textile engineering, focusing on material development and functional innovation. This commitment directly shaped my future career plan, leading me to set Konkuk University’s Department of Textile Engineering as my target for enrollment. Textile engineering interests me because it offers the chance to gain specialized knowledge about functional materials and fibers, which have always fascinated me, and to gain hands-on experience producing functional garments.
During high school, I was active in a fashion design club related to this field. While there is a slight difference between fashion design and textile engineering, my school days provided valuable experience in acquiring fundamental knowledge through garment production. For instance, I participated in practical sessions creating everyday clothing, stage costumes, and theatrical costumes using common fabrics and textiles, though not functional materials. Back then, I made various efforts to source fabrics, like scouring places like Dongdaemun Market to buy bolts of fabric, and sometimes purchasing special materials when needed to create garments. As a result, I even made money by directly producing group uniforms needed by other clubs within the school. This experience allowed me to deeply appreciate the appeal of working with textiles to create clothing.
