This blog post explores how to persuasively express recycling activities, problem-solving examples, and local environmental improvement experiences in your Environmental Engineering academic plan—not merely as participation, but as a practical attitude and major-specific competency.
Writing about academic experiences and reflections
“Memorize unconditionally and study with sheer determination”
I was among the top students at my school located on the outskirts of Sokcho City. Perhaps because many students at our school believed that just getting into university was sufficient, grades tended to be good even with moderate effort. Still, achieving the top rank in the entire school required significant effort. While doing it once was possible, maintaining it consistently meant competing against others and striving to outperform them. The aspect I focused on to win that competition was my study mindset—I adopted an uncompromising, dogged approach to studying.
While there are various strategic methods and I could have researched study techniques suited to me, I didn’t consider myself particularly bright. In fact, I was often scolded at home for being slow, so I think I studied hard partly to improve that assessment. I tried to study harder than others, making up for my shortcomings by dedicating even one more hour than my peers. And when I did study, I focused intensely, determined to memorize the entire contents of whatever material or book I was looking at. Even though I knew I’d forget it over time, I approached it with the resolve to cover everything thoroughly, even if I had to revisit it multiple times. This mindset strengthened my focus on the goal.
For example, when studying math, if the test covered eight chapters, I’d set a goal to review all of them within three hours of self-study time. Then the next day, I’d aim to review them within two hours. Finally, I’d try to memorize the content and formulas within just one hour. After repeating this process about three times, I’d stubbornly start solving over a hundred problems per chapter on that specific section. My mindset was that if I just memorized everything, solved a lot of problems, and invested a lot of time, I could do well on exams. This approach actually worked well for me. Studying while being called intense by those around me led to good grades and the ability to apply to university through the rolling admissions process.
Major School Activities and Reflections
“Practicing Resource Conservation through the Jaja Club”
During high school, I joined and actively participated in a volunteer group dedicated to protecting nature and resources. Our school received significant support for environmental activities, enough to be selected as an outstanding environmental education school, with particularly strong backing for the Jaja Club, the flagship volunteer group. I joined the Jaja Club and began research activities focused on resource recycling. When I first joined the club, I attended orientation lectures by seniors about the club’s aspirations, purpose, and their interest in environmental issues. Hearing about the activities our club had undertaken and its external achievements fostered a strong sense of belonging.
Notably, our club was the only school club recognized by both Sokcho City and the Sokcho City Office of Education, which were grappling with waste disposal problems caused by tourist influxes. Consequently, we also formed a social network by collaborating with a local senior citizens’ association introduced by the Sokcho City Office of Education. The seniors active in the association were often elderly and faced difficult living conditions. We endeavored to engage in activities that could at least contribute to their efforts in collecting waste for recycling. To this end, we started by sorting waste at the school’s garbage collection site. We began by collecting recyclable waste that could be reused without special processing and performing sanitation procedures on it.
For example, we collected items like petrochemical products, plastic items, paper, and bottles that were not severely damaged or heavily contaminated. We cleaned them thoroughly and disinfected them. After this initial processing, we sorted them again. Once a week, when a representative from the local senior citizens’ association visited, we loaded the sorted items onto a cart and delivered them. Any remaining recyclable waste after this process was our responsibility. For the third phase, we focused on how to transform the remaining recyclable waste into usable products. We utilized existing methods for creating recycled goods and also held meetings to generate our own ideas.
Ideas that emerged included recycling bottles into planters, recycling paper into scrap paper holders, and recycling plastic products into storage containers, decorative items, or art pieces. To learn the necessary recycling techniques, we visited facilities like recycled toilet paper production plants and eco-conscious recycling centers for field trips. Our club undertook these activities—creating and distributing recycled resources from waste, and directly producing and utilizing recycled products—with the goal of reducing the school’s own waste disposal costs and, on a larger scale, cutting national raw material import expenses. Through our club’s efforts, the school’s waste disposal costs were reduced from 5 million won to around 500,000 won, achieving a tenfold reduction. Through club activities, I gained awareness of engaging in social practice and experienced a sense of camaraderie through group life.
Examples of Consideration, Sharing, and Cooperation and My Reflections
“Creating Real Waste for Environmental Education”
Our activities were set against the backdrop of the pristine natural environment surrounding Sokcho, where I studied, featuring the East Sea and Seoraksan Mountain. However, as the waste problem became severe within Sokcho City itself, the importance of environmental education also emerged within our school. The influx of tourists to the city increased waste, while waste treatment facilities remained inadequate. Therefore, our school independently launched an environmental improvement activity for the waste separation collection site and developed a special waste identification tool for use within it. The entire student body participated in this activity, with each class taking turns performing volunteer work. I also participated and helped create the real waste identification tool.
This tool features a steel frame exterior with a large plastic liner inside, allowing contents to be clearly seen. Wheels were added for easy mobility. Since the contents are fully visible, it was easy to reclassify items that weren’t properly sorted or weren’t trash at all. Classes found to have improperly sorted waste were penalized with demerit points. Additionally, to increase the capacity of pay-as-you-throw bags, we developed a compression tool. To achieve this, we held idea meetings for each class across the school to finalize the plan. Through class meetings, the suggestion to install a dust collector and ventilation fan at the waste separation station was also adopted.
When collecting ideas from the entire student body, I also contributed one. I found disposing of can trash inconvenient. Stepping on each can individually was physically demanding, so I proposed designing and building a can compactor to improve this. My suggestion was accepted; materials were sourced externally, and compactors were manufactured. We ended up sorting cans using a total of three compactors. Additionally, we provided differently colored bags for sorting bottles, paper, and plastic waste. All volunteers self-evaluated this process, leading to achievements like the True Waste Movement gaining media coverage.
Efforts and Preparation Related to Motivation and Career Plans
“Professional Researcher Responsible for Urban Environment”
Since high school, I attended a school emphasizing environmental education and participated in various environmental activities. At that time, I researched and personally practiced waste recycling. I also proposed ideas for facilities dedicated to waste separation and processing, and in some cases, directly improved such facilities. This naturally led me to develop an interest in environmental engineering, particularly recognizing the need for research focused on improving the environment within urban centers. Since Kyungpook National University, which I had always considered, has an Environmental Engineering department, I applied here. Through my studies in this department, I aspire to become a future urban environmental researcher.
After admission, I want to be active in fields such as urban park management, river management, and waste treatment technology research. Being active means I don’t want to stop at theoretical studies or just the department’s curriculum; I want to engage in a lot of external activities. For external activities, I plan to intern at companies primarily engaged in urban environmental improvement and waste treatment technology research. To prepare for this, I need to complete practical training in various departmental laboratories. Therefore, I intend to conduct research in the atmospheric laboratory, measuring sulfur oxides, ammonia, and hydrogen chloride, and in the water quality environmental laboratory, measuring BOD and COD.
After graduating from university, I intend to enter the urban environmental industry. Specific companies I have in mind include ecological landscaping construction firms, river restoration contractors, environmental impact assessment specialists, environmental measurement agencies, environmental substance analysis institutions, and environmental health research institutes. Among these, my top preference is a position evaluating and measuring the impact of urban environmental facilities on the general public. To professionally perform such duties, I plan to obtain relevant certifications in advance. Examples include the Water Quality Environmental Engineer, Atmospheric Environmental Engineer, Waste Management Engineer, Soil Engineer, and Natural Ecology Engineer certifications. Acquiring as many of these as possible is my primary goal during my university years.
