In this blog post, I will discuss the efforts I put into my studies during high school, my experience organizing and leading the economics club, and the compassion and teamwork I learned through volunteer work.

Overcoming Difficulties in Math Through My Own Efforts

I struggled a lot with math during high school. I generally enjoy languages, so I didn’t have much trouble studying Korean or English. I also really liked social studies and found them enjoyable; I focused particularly hard on economics because I was considering a career in taxation. However, mathematics was the one subject that was particularly difficult for me. While I could understand topics like sets, propositions, and equations relatively well, I found functions, geometry, calculus, and integration somewhat challenging. Since I was planning to major in tax accounting, I realized I would need a certain level of mathematical proficiency. Therefore, I decided I needed to improve my math skills and put a lot of effort into raising my grades in the subject. First, I made full use of spare moments to increase the time I spent studying math. I solved math problems whenever I had a break. Although breaks were only 10 minutes long, by solving problems during every break, I was able to invest over an hour a day in math study. At first, I just wanted to rest during breaks, but eventually, studying math during breaks became second nature. Additionally, I made a point of never looking at the answer key while solving math problems, no matter what. No matter how difficult the problem was, I tried my best to solve it using my own method, and I didn’t look at the solution process just because I got a little stuck. There were times when I spent three hours struggling with a single problem. I believe my math skills improved significantly through this process of figuring out the solution steps on my own and trying to solve the problems. Meanwhile, after solving a problem, I always made sure to meticulously organize a notebook of my mistakes. I recorded the solution process I had thought of and the parts where I went wrong, and later corrected them while reviewing. Through these efforts, my math skills improved significantly. Through this experience, I deeply realized that when studying, it is important to think for myself and put in the effort.

Founding and Leading an Economics Club

I was active in the economics club during high school. Actually, when I first entered the school, there was no economics club. I was a student who enjoyed economics, and I wanted to study the subject not only during class but also set aside extra time to delve deeper into it. So, I decided to start an economics club and even asked a teacher to serve as our advisor. The teacher readily agreed to help if the club was established. The problem was that members weren’t joining. In reality, there weren’t many students who actually enjoyed studying economics. Economics was one of those subjects that students didn’t particularly like. I walked around the school every day promoting the club, but almost no students came; it was mostly just a few close friends who said they’d join if the club was formed. I realized I needed an incentive to attract members. After much deliberation, I concluded that anything related to grades or academic performance would be a good incentive for students. So, I decided to emphasize that joining the economics club would allow them to consistently study economics and improve their grades. I also promoted the club by setting the goal of studying together to compete in economics competitions. As a result of this promotion, a significant number of students, interested in improving their grades or winning awards in competitions, began joining the club. Consequently, we gathered a substantial number of members and were able to formally apply to the school to establish the club. Although we succeeded in forming the club through our efforts, the real challenge began afterward. Most of the students who joined did so primarily to improve their grades or win awards. Therefore, it was obvious that they would leave the club if they didn’t see results—such as improved grades or awards—before they developed a genuine interest in economics.
This meant the club would eventually lose its official recognition, and it would become difficult to continue our activities. So, we decided to focus on preparing for the National High School Economics Competition, which was approaching soon. Although the level was quite high, we had everyone purchase a copy of Mankiw’s Economics and began studying together from the very beginning. We mainly studied by attending relevant lectures together and received guidance from our advisor. Mankiw’s Economics was quite difficult, so at first, club members who had no interest in economics complained. However, as we slowly worked our way through the basics, the students’ skills improved significantly. I, too, felt frustrated at first because the members lacked interest, but later I was able to feel the reward of that difficult process. Once each member had acquired a certain level of proficiency, we obtained past exam questions from the competition and began solving them intensively. We solved past exam questions from various competitions and the TESAT together, comparing our answers, providing feedback, and discussing them. Through this preparation process, the members’ proficiency in economics—including my own—improved remarkably. Furthermore, the members developed an interest in the subject itself, and eventually, they continued to participate enthusiastically in club activities regardless of grades or awards.

Building camaraderie among members through volunteer work

As the saying goes, “No pain, no gain.” Before significant changes and achievements can be made, there is inevitably a period of bitter patience and hardship. Our club was no exception. Since the members who joined the economics club I founded were not a pre-formed group from the start, we faced many difficulties before reaching a certain level of proficiency. It was a challenge to unite the members as one. The friends who joined the new club seemed to think that it might simply disappear someday. However, since I had created this club with such care, I wanted to keep it going until the end, meet future members, and see it thrive. That is why I chose volunteer activities to foster camaraderie. I thought it would be especially good if the volunteer work was related to what we were studying in the club. So, I planned a one-day educational volunteer program for fifth-grade elementary school students. The one-day volunteer program involved teams of four high school students conducting economics lessons for elementary school students. Club members formed teams of four to prepare lessons, and we organized the schedule so that everyone could participate over several days. In particular, we designed the process—from brainstorming lesson ideas as a team to creating and preparing teaching materials—to foster camaraderie. My vision actually came to fruition. I could see that members who hadn’t gotten along well before gradually grew closer as they worked together on team projects. Furthermore, I observed that teaching elementary school students sparked a renewed motivation to study economics more diligently. I also planned a very simple mock investment activity for the volunteer program; creating product cards and role cards felt like returning to my childhood and enjoying an art class. My teammates also said that they actually learned more themselves while teaching the younger students. Through this experience, we grew even closer and created an opportunity to redouble our efforts in our studies to become better role models for the children.