In this blog post, I’ll summarize my academic experiences at a specialized high school, my extracurricular activities, examples of consideration and cooperation, and my career preparation process.
Academic Experiences and Reflections
Studying my major subjects while in school was a fresh and enjoyable experience every day. Since I was delving deeper into a field where I already had some basic knowledge and interest, I felt my understanding expand the more I learned. The courses I took included foundational subjects such as Introduction to Agriculture, Agricultural Information Management, Basic Agricultural Technology, and Agricultural Machinery Maintenance, and I often had the opportunity to apply the skills I learned in practical training directly at home.
In particular, while taking the advanced courses “Agricultural Machinery Technology 1” and “Agricultural Machinery Technology 2,” I confirmed my aptitude for this field and decided to pursue a career as an Industrial Engineer specializing in machinery. After finalizing my career path, I completed 45 hours of training per week at the Agricultural Machinery Joint Training Center, where I systematically mastered driving and maintenance skills. I developed practical skills through intensive training and hands-on practice in agricultural, industrial, and construction machinery, and I practiced operating a variety of equipment to master the skills needed to operate heavy machinery such as excavators, loaders, and forklifts.
Major School Activities and Reflections
At school, I dedicated myself to eco-friendly practices and rural volunteer work through my participation in the 4-H Club. Since our school’s agriculture-specialized curriculum was closely integrated with club activities, these activities often involved off-campus fieldwork linked to the regular curriculum. After joining the club, I participated in various hands-on activities and experiences related to topics such as food production, food science, horticulture, and machinery.
Club activities were mainly concentrated on Saturdays, and I actually enjoyed participating because I found it more productive to volunteer outside and help with farm work directly than to just spend time at home. The activities took place every other week; one week we would plant and tend to flowers in the school garden, and the next week we would primarily assist with cultivation in the greenhouses of nearby farms.
In the school garden, we grew various varieties of flowers, vegetables, and grains ourselves, conducting experiments to see which fertilizers or nutrients helped the crops thrive. We participated directly in every step—from sowing seeds to raising seedlings, maintenance, and seasonal cultivation—and learned seasonal care methods, such as planting spring flowers in the spring and tending to wildflowers in the summer. The flowers we grew were packaged into bouquets or potted plants and delivered to local farms and welfare facilities; the wildflower pots were particularly popular, allowing us to generate a modest profit.
While assisting with greenhouse cultivation, I gained hands-on experience with the cultivation processes of various crops, including chili peppers, potatoes, onions, bell peppers, perilla, and Swiss chard. The practical training at a large-scale farm equipped with professional agricultural machinery and facilities provided an ideal setting for students to conduct scientific experiments and hands-on practice in the field; through this experience, I was able to cultivate an interest in eco-friendly agriculture and the natural environment, as well as develop my scientific thinking.
Examples of Consideration, Sharing, and Cooperation, and Reflections
Through my activities with the Agricultural Student Council, I gained firsthand experience in autonomy and cooperation. Since joining the council required a clear commitment to a career in agriculture and consistent participation, I defined my career goals and developed a sense of responsibility while serving as an officer. In our council work, autonomy was essential as each officer took responsibility for planning programs and proposing concrete ideas.
One of the key activities I proposed was holding an exhibition and presentation event to showcase the agricultural technologies developed by our school to the public. To this end, I proposed a plan to open parts of the practical training labs and research labs to the public and have students present the research they conducted during class in a presentation format. My idea was adopted, and the exhibition was successfully held; through the process of organizing the event and managing the participants, I truly realized the importance of autonomy.
On the other hand, teamwork was more important during the process of producing a technical handbook. We divided roles—such as data collection, article writing, and editing—and while each of us diligently performed our assigned tasks, we also had to collaborate to achieve the final result. Furthermore, during the planning and execution of field trips to agricultural demonstration sites, leadership training, and rural volunteer activities, we always collaborated with a sense of belonging as a single team, showing consideration for one another and sharing responsibilities. Through these experiences, I naturally learned the importance of consideration and sharing.
Efforts and Preparation Related to Motivation for Application and Career Plans
After deciding on my career path, I diligently engaged in the regular curriculum while striving to address my own shortcomings. My studies at school solidified my interest and goals in the field of agricultural machinery, and my on-campus experiences—such as serving as an officer in the Agricultural Students’ Association—were of great help in preparing for my career. However, while I was confident in my skills for operating and maintaining agricultural machinery, I felt I lacked knowledge in areas requiring an engineering background, such as machine design.
Consequently, I concluded that I needed to prepare further on my own to compete with students majoring in industrial and engineering fields. First, to strengthen my practical skills, I prepared for and obtained the Agricultural Machinery Maintenance Technician certification; subsequently, I pursued the Agricultural Machinery Operator Technician certification to systematically build my operating skills. After obtaining these certifications, I read introductory texts on related fields and high school-level industrial textbooks to fill in gaps in my theoretical knowledge.
I also took general courses in industrial subjects through educational broadcasts and online lectures to prepare for college admissions and interviews. By balancing practical certifications with theoretical study in this way, I took concrete steps toward becoming an expert in the agricultural machinery field, and through the process of identifying and addressing my own shortcomings, I was able to further solidify my self-directed learning mindset.
