In this blog post, I’ll summarize my reflections on the academic efforts I made during high school, my school activities, and my experiences with compassion, sharing, and collaboration.

Academic Experiences and Reflections

Realizing that speed and accuracy are the key factors that determine success on the CSAT English section, I began to explore how to strike a balance between the two to improve my English reading comprehension. This is because no matter how high your reading accuracy is, if your reading speed is slow, you cannot finish the questions within the time limit; conversely, if you focus only on speed, you risk losing points due to mistakes. So, I experimented with different study methods while asking myself, “How accurately and how quickly should I read?”
First, to quantify speed and accuracy, I measured my words per minute (WPM) and accuracy rate. The results of the experiment were interesting. For example, when I read slowly and carefully to grasp the meaning with 100% accuracy, I could process about 20 words per minute. However, when I deliberately lowered my accuracy to 70% or less, I was able to process over 100 words per minute. Seeing this difference, I initially concluded that increasing my exposure volume through the latter method was more efficient. This was because prioritizing accuracy too much led to overly meticulous habits, making it easy to run out of time during actual exams.
Therefore, I first focused on building a “sound circuit” by practicing reading quickly and extensively. I found that as I repeatedly read quickly, my comprehension speed increased, and as my practice accumulated, my accuracy naturally improved. Later, I combined speed practice with accuracy training, gradually raising my target accuracy from 70% to 80% and then to over 90%. As my vocabulary and knowledge of idioms grew, I reached a level where I could read quickly with my eyes while instantly recalling the meanings of words in my mind, and eventually, I was able to solve problems quickly and accurately even in test situations.

Major School Activities and Reflections

Although I tend to be indecisive and often hesitate when making decisions, I decided to take on even a small challenge, believing that “the first step is half the battle,” and joined the English conversation club. My parents told me to focus solely on my studies instead of joining clubs or participating in extracurricular activities, which made me even more hesitant. Nevertheless, there was a desire for club activities in the back of my mind, and the encouragement of close upperclassmen became the catalyst that finally led me to join.
The club I joined was a relatively new one with a strong focus on simply enjoying getting together rather than following a rigid schedule. There were only about ten members, and our activities mainly involved watching foreign films and having free-flowing conversations. The focus was on gathering naturally, laughing, chatting, and spending time comfortably without any set rules or structured plans. This kind of free-flowing communication was a great comfort amidst my daily life, which was often drained by academic stress.
At first, I tried to take notes on important sentences or expressions even while watching movies. This was because I was so used to participating as if I were studying. However, the other members encouraged me to just relax and enjoy myself, and as I gradually accepted their advice, I naturally began to enjoy the movies and the conversations. When I mimicked movie lines with my friends, imitated the actors’ pronunciations, and playfully tried out different expressions, I felt the joy of enjoying the language beyond mere study.
We would sometimes imitate swear words, colloquialisms, African-American English, or Spanish and British accents, accepting and embracing each other’s expressions. Through this process, I realized that English is not merely a subject for grades or sentence interpretation, but a means of sharing culture and emotions, and my interest in and confidence with English grew significantly. Above all, the greatest reward was that this club activity, which began with a small resolution, made me a bit more proactive.

Writing about examples of consideration, sharing, and cooperation, and my reflections

In the second year since the club was founded, we decided to run a booth at the school festival. Since we hadn’t had any exhibits or items to sell in the past and had gone unnoticed during previous festivals, we brainstormed ways to showcase our unique identity while attracting a large turnout. Instead of selling merchandise, we opted for a game format designed to foster interaction among people, and our planning meetings proceeded as usual—casually, with everyone freely sharing their ideas.
The programs we planned were participatory games, such as an English vocabulary contest, an English word chain game, and a pronunciation contest. The English vocabulary contest offered a cash prize to participants who could correctly identify the meaning of a word or spell it correctly. On the day of the festival, the atmosphere was electric, with not only students from our school but also students from other schools and members of the general public participating. It was a unique experience to actually feel a sense of thrill when people got the questions I had created wrong.
The English word chain game and the Pronunciation King contest also received a better response than expected. Since the word chain game didn’t have set rules, our club members and participants sat in a circle and played it on the spot with lots of laughter; we added fun elements like having the person who couldn’t continue perform a penalty. In the Pronunciation King contest, an unexpected elementary school participant showed off excellent pronunciation, surprising everyone, and moments like these encouraged us to communicate more actively with people.
Through this activity, I learned how crucial cooperation is in planning and execution. There were disagreements during the preparation process, and while the event was underway, there were many situations where we had to make on-the-spot decisions and divide up responsibilities. However, thanks to our ability to complement each other’s strengths and weaknesses and work with consideration for one another, we were able to successfully conclude the event. Above all, I felt the joy of communicating naturally with strangers and truly realized that a sense of responsibility and accomplishment grows when we collaborate toward a common goal.