This blog post examines how campus journalism club activities and promotional content production experience reveal potential within the Department of Journalism and Media Studies. It specifically explains how actual reporting and editing processes translate into major-specific competencies.
Academic Experience and Reflections
“Overcoming the Habit of Half-Hearted English Study”
My dream in high school was primarily to become a journalist. However, during my sophomore year, my homeroom teacher advised me that insufficient English skills would make it difficult to pursue journalism. I once sought counseling from the teacher about my fluctuating English grades. I felt concerned about the significant fluctuations in my English grades, which ranged from a 4 to a 2. While the teacher praised my diligent attitude in class, they pointed out that my problem-solving approach tended to rely on piecing together fragmented knowledge. This resulted from focusing intensely on solving problems without first establishing a solid foundation of basic knowledge. So I decided to change my study method and direction.
In a way, the problem was that I sometimes got a grade 2 in English, so I thought that even if I studied half-heartedly, I could still get a decent grade. So I worked to correct this mindset and analyzed the habits I had when my grades were worst to improve them. First, I selected a new grammar book and started organizing notes from the basics. Through this activity, I tried to create my own grammar textbook. Regarding vocabulary learning, I noticed a significant gap between words I knew well and those I didn’t. To address this, I set a goal to memorize words from two or more vocabulary books simultaneously. Reviewing three different vocabulary books revealed overlapping words and allowed me to compare their importance, creating a synergistic effect where I could review multiple books at once. By re-examining these foundational study habits, my reading comprehension speed began to increase. This resulted in a win-win situation: not only did my speed improve, but my accuracy also rose. This approach helped me overcome the side effect of inconsistent grades caused by previously studying English haphazardly. Furthermore, by simultaneously studying theory and solving problems, my mock exam scores in English stabilized at a grade 2 or higher.
Writing about Major School Activities and Reflections
“First Class of the School Public Relations Reporter Team”
I attended an autonomous public high school. At the time, our school transitioned from a general high school to being designated for the first time as a school operating an autonomous curriculum. To be re-designated as an autonomous school, educational achievements were required, and the school needed to demonstrate the content of its ongoing projects. Consequently, various educational programs were launched within the school, and among these, I saw the announcement recruiting the 1st batch of the School Publicity Reporter Group. I had a strong desire to join the reporter group, so I applied and became a reporter in the first batch. Our press corps covered school events and produced a monthly school newsletter. This was our core task, and we also created promotional booklets and magazines for the school. To accomplish this work, the press corps members first gathered for a launch ceremony. After that, we held meetings as a unified group, shared ideas, and planned features. I primarily took on the role of facilitating these meetings. I was recommended by others to become the team leader. While the leadership role rotated among members, I always worked diligently when given responsibility. I organized the overall tasks and assigned them to team members. During actual coverage, I primarily handled photography. I enjoyed taking photos, and since I was the only member with a mirrorless camera, I was assigned this role.
I covered events like school admission briefings and the student council president election in real-time. Simultaneously, I took event photos and continuously updated them during the editing process. To swiftly deliver coverage of major events like sports days and school festivals, I always carried my camera and uploaded the photos to the website, sharing them with the entire student body. Beyond this, our press corps also planned feature articles on topics like the voting status for new school uniforms, the outcomes of Teacher’s Day events, and the unique aspects of dormitory life. We compiled these into newsletters and distributed them to students. I specifically handled news about creative experiential activities and clubs, generating ideas and writing successful articles. Hearing that these efforts were reflected in the school’s project report, leading to its re-designation as an autonomous public high school, filled me with pride.
When the first-generation journalism club completed its year of activities, the second-generation members joined. They were the first juniors we welcomed after the school’s designation as an autonomous public high school. I operated the publicity team with the juniors, providing training on our past work and conducting new student orientations to foster bonding. As the team leader at the time, I directly organized events and training for new members, learning how to integrate with new organizational members. Covering events, writing articles, and designing promotional booklets together with the juniors was a new experience. Seeing juniors who followed me well and respected my opinions motivated me to strive to be a better senior.
Examples of Consideration, Sharing, and Cooperation and My Reflections
“Mentoring Activities for Middle School Students on College Admissions”
During the period our school was designated as an autonomous public high school, the school experienced significant development. First, student preference for the autonomous curriculum operated within the school was high, and mutual satisfaction with teacher evaluations was also relatively high. What set us apart from other schools was our ability to directly adjust the direction and structure of our classes. I could personally set the curriculum pace for major subjects and choose the class facilitator. Rather than keeping what I learned and gained at school solely for myself, I began mentoring activities to provide information to incoming juniors.
I served as a reporter for the school’s promotional team starting in my first year of high school. By my senior year, leveraging this experience, I participated in volunteer admissions mentoring for middle school students. Our school enjoyed popularity rivaling specialized high schools like foreign language high schools, and parents were highly motivated to gather information about us. So, at admissions information sessions attended by middle school students and their parents, I shared my firsthand insights as both a reporter and a member of the promotional team. Explaining the school and showing promotional photos in front of many people was both nerve-wracking and rewarding.
Through this event, I met about three friends and formed a team with the middle schoolers. I advised them on managing their internal grades and extracurricular activities, provided assessments, and helped them smoothly advance to our school. The middle schoolers already called me “senior” and asked many questions to get information about the school. They inquired about managing grades, preparing for the CSAT, and were also very curious about admission results after graduation. While answering these questions, I tried to be considerate of them and share what I knew, aiming to be helpful like a tutor. As a result, I formed connections by staying in touch with the friends I met then.
Motivation for Applying and Preparation Process
“Preparing for Admission Through the Comprehensive Student Record Evaluation”
I made plans during high school to prepare for college admissions. Starting in my first year, I prepared for the Comprehensive Student Record Evaluation system, which was newly revised. I believed this student record-based evaluation was more suitable for me because autonomous public high schools offer a broader scope for various activities, including extracurriculars. Starting in the second semester of my first year, I specifically focused my studies on targeting Kyonggi University. Therefore, I endeavored to prepare for the admissions process by considering the core competencies required by KGU’s comprehensive student record-based admissions and the evaluation areas of the student record.
When I identified the core competencies, there were four elements: Creative Expertise, Rational Execution, Leadership, and Community Consciousness. First, I focused on building my record in areas corresponding to creative expertise: academic learning development, reading activities, and creative experiential activities. To achieve growth in English, I worked hard to improve my grades, consistently earning top marks in my sophomore year. I also engaged in reading activities by reading English essays and novels. This later helped me with script reading in English speech contests. Regarding rational execution, one of the evaluation competencies, I focused on attendance and awards. For awards, I won the gold medal in the school English speech contest and an excellence award in an external contest.
I also actively participated in group activities to develop leadership. After school, I joined the student press corps for over two years, serving as its leader at one point, which helped build my planning and execution skills. Consistently participating in the journalism club helped improve my sense of community and fostered bonds. Community spirit is another evaluative competency, which includes volunteerism and a spirit of sacrifice. This aligns with my experience mentoring middle school students. Organizing and managing activities for younger peers simultaneously developed my leadership and community spirit. In this way, I worked hard to gain admission to Kyonggi University through a preparation process well-suited for the comprehensive student record-based admissions process.
