In this blog post, I will summarize my academic experiences and school activities during high school, my efforts to practice kindness and generosity, and the process I went through to decide on my future career path.
Academic Experiences and Reflections
In the early part of my freshman year of high school, I transferred to Seoul and had a hard time adjusting to the new environment. I was somewhat disappointed with my average grade of a B on my first midterm exams, and I was particularly worried about my math grades, which had dropped sharply compared to middle school. My parents were concerned, and I, too, felt anxious about the situation.
So, I spoke with my homeroom teacher and began participating in evening self-study sessions. I stayed at school late five times a week to develop the habit of studying on my own. The routine of sitting at my desk for a set period of time naturally cultivated good study habits and concentration, and helped me establish a routine of consistently reviewing and previewing the next day’s material. As a result, my comprehension during class improved, and I was able to participate in class with confidence.
My efforts paid off. My grades improved significantly on the first-semester final exams, placing me in the top grade bracket on average. I ranked first in my class and third in the entire school. In particular, while I had scored in the 80s on previous math exams, I earned a perfect score of 100 on the final exam, earning praise from my teacher. Because I achieved this on my own, I felt a greater sense of fulfillment and was able to regain my confidence.
As I gained momentum through evening self-study, I naturally began to enjoy that time, and even outside of exam periods, I stayed behind every day to study and found it enjoyable. With this newfound flexibility, I began exploring materials beyond the textbook scope, such as related books, news, and newspaper articles. This helped broaden my overall academic understanding and led to further improvements in my grades. Ultimately, I ranked first in the school on my sophomore final exams and have consistently maintained good grades ever since.
Major School Activities and Reflections
During my sophomore year of high school, our class operated a flexible morning study period, allowing students who wished to do so to arrive early and start their day. Some classmates meditated, while others planned their day’s studies; each engaged in activities that suited their needs. I primarily used that time to read the newspaper.
I felt that focusing solely on college entrance exam preparation and regular coursework all day long could narrow one’s perspective, and I believed that keeping up with current events through newspapers would help me maintain a balanced outlook. I would bring the paper delivered to my home to school, skim the major headlines in the classroom first, and then calmly read the articles from the front page onward to summarize the day’s key issues.
I would cut out articles worth pondering and paste them into my “Reading the World” notebook. I underlined key points and jotted down my thoughts and questions to organize my own perspective. I also searched for related content online and read discussion threads and comments to encounter diverse viewpoints. Sometimes I would cautiously leave comments to share my opinions; I remember being surprised when a comment I left on a finance-related article received many upvotes.
Whenever difficult economic terms or complex phenomena came up, I would often visit my economics teacher to ask for an explanation. My teacher, who called me his favorite student, taught me kindly and helped me greatly in understanding the background and ripple effects of policies like tapering and quantitative easing. Reading the morning newspaper and talking with my teacher helped me develop a deeper understanding of the world and led to a broader form of learning that went beyond simply memorizing facts.
Writing About Examples of Consideration, Sharing, and Cooperation, and My Reflections
During the first semester of my third year, while leading a class meeting as class president, I had the opportunity to decide on a class activity and discussed various ideas. Suggestions ranged from watching a movie to visiting an amusement park, but I cautiously proposed volunteering at a nursing home. This idea came after I heard that a nursing home near our school was short on volunteers.
At first, some classmates reacted jokingly, but when I explained the importance of volunteering, most agreed, and we finally set a date for the event. The news that started in our class spread to other classes, and we received invitations to join them, so several classes went together to the nursing home for volunteer work.
At the nursing home, we did small but meaningful things, such as taking the elderly residents who had difficulty moving for walks, reading books to them, and giving them massages. Above all, the time spent listening intently to their stories will stay with me for a long time. Even the few friends who had initially opposed the idea participated actively in the volunteer work and felt a sense of pride, and everyone spent a rewarding day.
Through this experience, I personally realized that “the more you share, the more it grows.” When one person took the initiative, classmates followed suit, and the class’s decision spread to other classes, creating a greater impact. I learned that even a small suggestion can have a positive effect on a community, and I truly felt the power of cooperation and consideration.
Efforts and Preparation Related to Motivation for Application and Career Plans
During high school, I didn’t dislike any particular subject and maintained generally balanced grades. As a result, unlike my peers, I couldn’t decide on a major or career path early on, and it took me some time to make that choice. During a career counseling session with my homeroom teacher in my senior year, I was unable to provide a clear answer. After being reminded of the risks of studying without a goal, I was tasked with finding the answer on my own.
Feeling lost, I began brainstorming by writing down the things I was good at and enjoyed on a blank sheet of paper. Through this process, I realized that the subjects I excelled at were math and economics, and the activities I enjoyed were reading newspapers and watching the news. As I expanded my thoughts along these connections, the career path of “economics” naturally came to mind.
Once I decided on economics as my career path, I felt at ease, and my goals for school life became clear. From then on, I focused more on my studies, searched for relevant materials, and continued my usual practice of clipping newspaper articles to develop a keen sense of social phenomena. When I shared my career aspirations with my economics teacher, he reacted with surprise but encouraged me, saying it suited me well.
With a clear goal in mind, I began to manage my time more systematically and had no room to neglect my studies. To expand on what I learned in class, I actively prepared by seeking out and reading related articles and books, and going to my teachers to ask questions whenever I didn’t understand something. This consistent preparation gave me confidence in my career choice, and I plan to continue pursuing my interest in and study of economics in the future.
