In this blog post, I’ll summarize my academic pursuits and extracurricular activities during high school—all aimed at becoming a Korean cuisine expert—as well as my experiences practicing consideration, sharing, and collaboration.
Academic Experiences and Reflections
Driven by my interest in food and nutrition, I enrolled in a culinary science high school with the dream of becoming a Korean cuisine expert. I felt I grew significantly through the well-equipped practical training facilities, classmates who shared similar interests, and classes taught by instructors with extensive field experience. In particular, specialized courses such as Korean Cuisine, Traditional Cuisine, and Regional Cuisine Practicum allowed me to acquire both practical skills and theoretical knowledge simultaneously, and they led me to believe that truly understanding and developing a deep appreciation for Korean cuisine is crucial to advancing our food culture.
I approached my studies with a desire to promote the diverse flavors and nutritional benefits of Korean cuisine. In Korean cuisine-related courses that interested me, I consistently earned top grades, and my culinary practice assessments were frequently praised for their creativity. However, because I focused so heavily on specialized courses, I tended to neglect general education courses and subjects related to business and entrepreneurship. My homeroom teacher advised me that if I wanted to pursue a degree in Food and Nutrition, I should never take these subjects lightly.
Through that advice, I realized that an attitude of “only doing what I want to do” has its limits when it comes to growing as a professional. Keeping in mind the possibility of researching Korean cuisine to develop products or becoming an entrepreneur, I decided it was necessary to acquire a business mindset and foundational knowledge. So, to make up for the areas I had previously neglected and to build the foundational knowledge needed to create authentic food and promote Korean cuisine, I changed my approach to my studies by devoting myself more diligently to core courses such as nutrition.
Write about major campus activities and reflections
My involvement in the food styling club was a crucial experience that fostered my creativity. In the club, we would select a weekly theme and special ingredients, prepare our styling under the guidance of our advisor, and after an hour of preparation, refine our work through evaluation and feedback during the next session. Since regular classes focused primarily on culinary practice and the science of cooking, I often paid less attention to the visual presentation of food; however, through club activities, I learned that adding “visual appeal” as well as flavor is a crucial element in enhancing the overall quality of a dish.
The process of discussing our work with friends in the club and generating various ideas was also very interesting. The assignments that stand out most in my memory were canapé styling and rice styling. Through the canapé project, I realized that food styling isn’t simply about arranging food prettily, but rather a process of creating beauty by considering complex factors such as ingredient selection, balanced layering, color coordination, and dish selection. The time spent deliberating over which type of bread to choose, how to arrange the tomatoes for balance, and which sauce would make the colors stand out was an exercise that demanded both creativity and concentration.
Since food styling begins with preparing ingredients before a shoot, it also requires meticulous care—such as selecting fresh ingredients, cutting them properly, and storing them so they don’t lose their shape quickly. It wasn’t easy to apply my sense of design and color while arranging the food, but it was fascinating. Later, the rice styling assignment given for our club evaluation was a challenge that required me to plan everything on my own without any conditions or guidance, and through this assignment, I was able to confirm my confidence as a researcher of Korean cuisine.
Using rice, pork belly, roasted garlic, and chives, I attempted a styling that was both clean and appetizing. I shaped the rice into bite-sized balls, topped them with slices of pork belly and roasted garlic, and wrapped them in chives to make them easy to eat. To emphasize the round shape of the rice balls, I chose a long, horizontal plate to make the rice stand out more.
By using gochujang sauce as an accent to create a contrast with the green chives, I earned praise from my instructor and recognition from my club members. Through this experience, I realized that presenting Korean cuisine in a beautiful way and sharing it with others is my calling, and I reaffirmed my dream of continuing to study and promote the beauty of Korean cuisine.
Examples of Consideration, Sharing, and Collaboration, and My Reflections
During my senior year of high school, I participated in a culinary career experience program for middle school students, where I served as a mentor to younger students. This program provided middle schoolers with the opportunity to experience various culinary arts classes and consider enrolling in a specialized high school. As a mentor in the Korean cuisine field, I was responsible for providing career counseling to prospective juniors, and I had a rewarding time sharing information about high school life, club activities, career paths, and employment.
The event ran from morning to afternoon; it began with safety training and a schedule briefing. The high school students participating as assistants distributed writing utensils and spare clothes to the middle schoolers and ensured safety during the hands-on sessions. Seeing as many as 70 middle school students listening to the instructions with sparkling eyes made me feel a sense of responsibility to teach them even more. For the Korean cuisine workshop I led, I prepared thoroughly to effectively convey the experience of food styling, focusing on hangwa (traditional Korean sweets), tteok (rice cakes), and traditional beverages.
Contrary to my expectations, many students showed interest in Korean cuisine, and I generously shared my knowledge by explaining in detail the traditional table settings, the characteristics of wooden tableware, how to arrange food attractively, and the various types of traditional beverages. In particular, by combining the food styling workshop with career counseling, I was able to directly feel the passion of the younger students, and through our conversations, my own resolve regarding my goals became even stronger. Through this experience, I realized that sharing passion does not diminish it but rather multiplies it, and meeting these aspiring students served as an opportunity to further solidify my own dream of researching and promoting Korean cuisine.
