In this blog post, I’ll summarize what I learned through my academic experiences, school activities, and examples of compassion, sharing, and collaboration during my high school years.

Academic Experiences and Reflections

While taking Korean language classes, I realized I lacked the background knowledge needed to fully understand literary works. Although I had some fragmented knowledge of famous authors and works, I lacked the connections that linked those works together.
For example, I knew that the 1920s were part of the Japanese colonial period and that KAPF literature emerged during that time, but I found it difficult to explain how that connected to the literature of Han Yong-un or Yoon Dong-ju. It was confusing because even works from the same era sometimes lacked a clear connection, while others were grouped together as part of a single literary movement.
When I entered my sophomore year of high school, I realized that without a solid understanding of the literary history section of the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT), it would be difficult to fully grasp the meaning of literary works. So, I decided to take another careful look at literary history. I focused primarily on novels. While poetry is also important, novels often provided clearer clues to the characteristics of each era.
For example, when studying the “New Novel” era—which covers the period of cultural openness—I connected the literary context of that era with subsequent works. When explaining the 1920s, I studied by linking the New Novel movement with works such as Choi In-hoon’s ‘The Square’. By weaving these eras together into a coherent narrative, the works took on a more three-dimensional quality.
I organized literary history into ten-year periods. I systematically reviewed the 1910s, the 1920s, the Japanese colonial period, the war years, and the postwar era in sequence, carefully examining the representative authors and works of each period. When discussing the postwar era, I focused on Son Chang-seop as a representative figure, and when reading works, I strove to identify keywords and character types that reflected the era rather than trying to memorize the entire plot.
For example, when examining works from the postwar era, I focused on words and characters that reflected the historical context, and when discussing the 1960s, I gathered Kim Seung-ok’s ‘A Journey to Mujin’, ‘Seoul, Winter 1964’, and ‘Night Journey’ to identify the core themes running through these works. By organizing literary history around the differences between eras and the commonalities among works, I found it much easier to solve the Korean language section of the College Scholastic Ability Test (CSAT).

Writing about major school activities and reflections

With the introduction of the five-day school week, Saturdays became days off spent at home. At first, simply because it was the weekend, I often slept through the entire day on Saturdays. While the policy intended for Saturdays to be days for self-directed study or activities, in practice, I would end up cramming all my assigned tasks before Monday, leaving me with nothing but rest on Saturday itself.
Then, when I entered my sophomore year of high school, I felt a desire to use my Saturdays more meaningfully. Realizing that my school days were passing by faster than I expected, I felt it was a waste to just let a day slip away. At school, we were assigned independent study and asked to submit a portfolio of our self-directed activities. I resolved to fill that portfolio well and set a goal: “Just go out and see what happens.”
“Just go out” meant I was going to experience everything firsthand. By going out instead of staying home and gathering new experiences, I was able to gain unexpected insights. I visited travel destinations and museums I’d always wanted to see, and I even made friends with people I met for the first time while traveling.
I signed up for hands-on learning programs open to teenagers and volunteered for community service. Through volunteering at various places—such as orphanages, Kkotdongne, community centers, and senior centers—I gradually began to understand aspects of society I hadn’t known before.

At first, there were times when I participated reluctantly with friends, but once I started signing up for and participating in activities on my own, I gained the confidence to realize I could handle more than I thought.
The process of handling meals on my own and finding my way through unfamiliar streets using a map helped me develop a sense of independence. I also always carried a camera, a notebook, and my smartphone to document my travels and activities. I used the camera to capture my experiences visually, the notebook to jot down schedules and ideas, and my smartphone to organize and share my thoughts in real time.
In particular, using my smartphone to post real-time activity updates on social media proved very useful. Instead of writing formal reports, I recorded my experiences in a free-form style—much like the illustrated diaries I used to keep in elementary school—which made it easier to reflect on my experiences and summarize their significance later when creating my portfolio.

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

I joined a club called “Peer Counseling Through Music.” At first, both peer counseling itself and the idea of using music for counseling were unfamiliar to me, but my curiosity led me to participate. The most significant insight I gained through these activities was that the power of empathy is greater than I had imagined.
The club activities were conducted like a radio listening program. Each week, we took turns bringing up a topic or concern we wanted to discuss, and the other members would guide the conversation like radio hosts. When one person shared their story, the others naturally stepped into the role of counselors, creating a comfortable atmosphere.
Through this process, the friend who became the “radio guest” was able to unburden their heart by opening up about their story and receiving empathy from others. I also talked mainly about the stress I felt from studying. I honestly confessed that studying all day at school felt like being in prison and that sometimes I wanted to escape.
Once I actually opened up to my club friends, I realized I wasn’t the only one feeling this way, and we shared a deep sense of empathy with one another. One friend said they were suffering from a chronic illness due to academic stress, while another shared that they sometimes lied to skip self-study sessions. As we empathized with each other’s stories, we experienced a sense of relief as our individual emotional burdens were shared.
Club activities went beyond simple counseling; they became an opportunity for me to reflect on myself and think about how I want to live my life moving forward. Through empathy and communication, I learned how to be considerate of others, and I experienced firsthand how small acts of sharing and cooperation can become a source of strength that supports each other’s lives.