In this blog post, I’ll summarize my academic efforts, school activities, examples of consideration and cooperation, and my preparations for college during my high school years.

Academic Experiences and Reflections

I tend to react emotionally, so people around me often described me as hot-tempered. To change this tendency and think and act more rationally, I not only examined my own attitude but also tried to control my emotions and cultivate rational thinking through reading. Reading helped me improve my weaknesses and, at the same time, contributed to enhancing my comprehension and critical thinking skills.
I primarily chose books that dealt with logic and critical thinking. Among the books I read were ‘The Art of Logic’ by Barbara Minto, ‘Nice to Meet You, Logic’ by writer Wi Ki-cheol, and works by Wittgenstein on logic and philosophy. For particularly lengthy books, I read excerpts, and for chapters that were difficult to understand, I skipped them initially and revisited them later once I had built up more background knowledge.
Barbara Minto’s book, in particular, was a great help in changing my speaking and writing habits. I had struggled with a lack of persuasiveness in essays and conversations due to relying too much on emotional expressions, but this book taught me how to logically organize and present my arguments through pyramid-structured reasoning, logic trees, and issue analysis. Thanks to this, I became accustomed to organizing my thoughts in a logical sequence and calmly putting them into action.
At first, however, I felt some resistance to the very act of constantly striving to be logical. I wondered how a person—who is, after all, an emotional being—could always respond solely with reason. So, I also read books on managing one’s emotions. As I came to understand that people tend to become more emotional when they feel anxious or are deeply troubled, I began to accept the existence of emotions as an integral part of rational thinking.
In this way, reading went beyond the simple acquisition of knowledge to become a catalyst for changing my daily habits and attitude toward learning, and through this process, I gradually developed a balanced way of thinking and behaving.

Major School Activities and Reflections

Since my freshman year of high school, I have been a member of the school’s webzine editorial team. The activity, which originally involved producing a print newspaper, transitioned to an online webzine, shifting our focus toward utilizing an online platform to quickly deliver school news. This change aligned with broader media trends, leading us to recruit staff to manage social media accounts such as Facebook and Twitter and update the webzine on the school website.
I was already an active user of social media and was accustomed to uploading and editing content. After joining the editorial team, we divided roles among the members, and I was responsible for managing the Facebook page, which I ran together with another classmate. Since the Facebook feed was linked to the webzine on the school website, I always kept in mind that the articles I posted would be visible to the entire school community.
Our management strategy wasn’t simply to post only important news. After discussing it with my co-manager, we decided that one of us would handle official announcements—such as external events or media coverage—while the other, myself, would share stories about everyday life at school. As small stories—such as club presentations, street campaigns by the environmental club, and examples of class cooperation to help a sick classmate—were posted on Facebook, they attracted the attention of faculty, students, and parents.
We also tracked and analyzed the views and reactions to our posts. By identifying which content received the most “likes” and “reactions” and which topics generated the highest view counts, we strove to provide the information our readers wanted. Thanks to these efforts, the webzine club received positive evaluations, and we even achieved the distinction of being selected as the “Outstanding School for Empathy and Communication” in a newsletter competition among local schools. This experience not only brought the satisfaction of external recognition but also served as an opportunity to develop my content planning and management skills.

Examples of Consideration, Sharing, and Cooperation, and My Reflections

While balancing my studies, reading, and reporting activities, I also made an effort to participate in physical education activities to support my physical development and maintain a healthy balance.

I discovered the boxing club among the school’s extracurricular groups, joined, and consistently participated in everything from basic footwork drills to sparring sessions to build my skills. It was a time to learn not only physical exercise but also how to follow rules and manage my emotions.
The school had a variety of sports clubs, including foot volleyball, jazz dance, traditional Korean wrestling, and taekwondo, and we showcased performances and matches at club presentations. Just two semesters after joining the boxing club, I was selected to participate in a boxing exhibition match at the school festival, where we decided to compete in pairs. Together with my partner, I made sure to check our safety gear and practice schedules to ensure our stage rehearsal went smoothly.
There were three teams in total, and the participants were friends who had a high attendance rate and proven skills. My opponent and I were in the same weight class, which minimized risks, and we had built good chemistry through regular practice together. We made every effort to play fair by adhering to the rules and not letting our emotions get the better of us. Although I won the match, what mattered more was that we successfully completed the performance by showing consideration for one another and working together. Through this experience, I reaffirmed the value of cooperation, responsibility, and respect for my opponent.

Efforts and Preparation Related to Motivation for Application and Career Plans

Through my work with the webzine, where I experienced the entire process of planning, reporting, and editing, I naturally developed an interest in media and journalism. I learned responsibility and prudence through the process of posting articles on the school website to reach a wide audience, and from that point on, I set my sights on becoming a broadcast journalist.
Specifically, rather than becoming a traditional television-focused broadcast reporter, I aspire to work as an online broadcast reporter who delivers timely, everyday news through web media. Considering the growing trend in the online content market and the increasing demand for web news, I plan to major in journalism and media studies in college and gain expertise by completing internships or gaining practical experience at online broadcast stations while I am a student. By preparing in this way, my goal is to become a reporter equipped with the competencies required in today’s rapidly changing media environment.