In this blog post, I’ll summarize my academic efforts, meaningful school activities, examples of showing consideration and cooperation, and my career preparation process during high school, focusing on my personal experiences and reflections.

Academic Experiences and Reflections

I felt that the process of preparing a question was more important than asking it. I used to have a habit of immediately asking my teachers whenever I had a question, but I realized that this habit wasn’t helpful for my studies and fostered a reliance on others. So, instead of automatically asking others when I didn’t understand something, I adopted a method of first searching for relevant information on my own and then deciding whether to ask a question.
For example, while studying economics, I came across an explanation that rising interest rates lead to an increase in the velocity of money, which raised a question for me. This was because I generally believed that rising interest rates would reduce consumption and investment, thereby lowering the velocity of money. Although there were various ways to find the answer to this question, I wanted to build my knowledge through the process of finding the answer rather than getting it immediately.
The first resource I used was an online encyclopedia on my smartphone. Since it’s difficult to carry around a bulky paper encyclopedia, online resources that I could access while on the go were a huge help. If the online encyclopedia’s content was insufficient, I would go to the library to look up the actual encyclopedia.
By searching for terms like “rising interest rates” in the index at the back of the physical encyclopedia and checking the relevant pages, I was able to find paragraphs explaining the causal relationship between interest rates and the velocity of money, along with specific examples. Explanations that cited economic situations in other countries allowed me to compare various perspectives.
I only went to my teacher with questions when there were parts I still didn’t understand. In those instances, rather than simply asking the vague question I’d initially had, I would lay out the materials I’d researched and engage in a discussion by asking specific questions—such as whether there were parts I still didn’t understand even after reading them, or if there were any counterexamples. This preparatory process helped me develop the habit of thinking for myself, rather than simply seeking answers.

Major School Activities and Reflections

While preparing for college admissions, I realized early on that I needed to systematically prepare my personal statement and academic portfolio. Watching my older sister and upperclassmen at the same school prepare for college, I learned that it was more efficient to start preparing step by step from my freshman year, before it was too late.
So, starting in my freshman year, I planned the content for my student record and academic portfolio and prepared each item in advance, one by one. In particular, I made a concerted effort to incorporate my three years of high school into a self-development plan. In this plan, I outlined the types of self-improvement activities I would engage in regularly and what I hoped to gain from them.
The activity that took up the largest portion of my plan was reading. I placed a strong emphasis on reading because I believed it plays a significant role in building cultural literacy and establishing personal values. I made an effort to read a balanced selection of various genres—not only economics books, which are my area of interest, but also classics, psychology, and fiction.
Among the books on my reading list, the three that stand out most in my memory are Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince’, Sigmund Freud’s ‘The Interpretation of Dreams’, and Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’. Since these books went beyond the scope of a simple book report and had a profound impact on my values, I reflected on them in depth through book reviews.
When writing these reviews, I did not merely summarize the content; instead, I focused on how I interpreted the books and how they influenced my thoughts and actions. For example, Freud’s ‘The Interpretation of Dreams’ prompted me to reexamine my outlook on life and my relationships with others. Before reading this book, I viewed life simply as “living hard and drawing it to a close,” but after reading it, I realized that family relationships, developmental stages, and interactions with peers had a significant impact on my behavior and choices.
As a result, I gained a more objective perspective on human relationships, and when setting my career path, I began to consider the direction I truly wanted to take without being swayed by others’ opinions or external judgments. Reading has given me more than just knowledge; it has provided me with insights and opportunities for self-reflection.

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

I was a student who made plans to maintain a diligent attitude toward my studies, but I lacked the habit of consistently sticking with a single task. I often changed my plans after just three days, so to improve this, I sought practical activities that would help me cultivate consistency and diligence.
The activity I chose was voluntary cleaning. While I kept my room clean at home, I often neglected the classrooms and common areas at school. This was because, since these were spaces used by many people, I didn’t feel the need to take the initiative myself. However, to change that attitude, I decided to lead by example.
The central staircase at school had no designated cleaner, and since it was only occasionally cleaned by a janitor, it was always dusty. Every time I passed those stairs, I felt it was hard to breathe. Believing that if someone took the initiative, others would follow, I began cleaning them every day during lunch or break times.
At first, my efforts weren’t immediately recognized, but as I kept it up, people around me started thinking, “I guess you were always in charge of that,” and eventually, some friends even praised me once they learned I was cleaning voluntarily. Sometimes teachers or friends would pitch in to help clean with me, and through that process, I truly experienced the power of consideration and cooperation. Above all, I learned that when I take the initiative, others respond positively.

Efforts and Preparation Related to My Motivation for Applying and Career Plans

In my view, economics is not the exclusive domain of those majoring in the field, but rather a fundamental skill necessary for navigating society. Since every aspect of daily life—from earning and spending money to transacting with others—constitutes economic activity, I believe everyone needs a basic understanding of economics.
This belief has led me down the path of becoming an economics educator. My goal is to explain economic concepts in a way that even those without an economics background can easily understand and apply in their daily lives. As I explored ways to convey economics in an accessible manner, I resolved to grow into an educator capable of teaching these concepts in the classroom.
The person who had the greatest influence on my career choice was my father. As a professor of economics at a university, he spent many years instilling in me a passion for studying economics. Instead of giving me immediate answers when I encountered difficulties, he gave me time to think for myself and look up information on my own. Thanks to this, I was able to continue studying not just to pass exams, but out of a sustained sense of curiosity.
My father’s teaching style was not about simply providing answers, but about guiding me to find the answers on my own. This approach allowed me to take an active role in my learning and build a deep understanding, and I believe it will serve as a foundation as I develop teaching methods and approaches to economics education in the future. I will continue to prepare myself—through research and practical experience in educational methodology—to become an educator who conveys economic knowledge to the general public in an accessible way.