This blog post introduces sample essays that effectively incorporate experiences from school life and extracurricular activities during one’s school days into a self-introduction essay.

Winning a Contest Through Department Study Group Activities

During my university years, I was one of the most active students in the Economics Department. Rather than joining other clubs, I actively participated in small study groups within the department alongside seniors and juniors. We formed study groups where people with shared interests gathered to explore our major’s knowledge in greater depth. This not only helped us obtain materials needed for school exam preparation but also led us to challenge ourselves in contests hosted by various companies.
Among these, one particularly memorable experience occurred during my sophomore year. A team of five—two seniors, two juniors, and myself—participated in the ‘College Student Marketing IDEA Contest’. The contest presented two themes, requiring participants to choose one and submit a proposal. Our team chose the topic ‘Strategies to Increase Regular Customers at Gas Stations’. We researched various methods to increase regular customers at gas stations from the perspective of Hyundai Bank customers and wrote a detailed proposal outlining these ideas.
To flesh out our ideas, the team held numerous meetings. We meticulously organized details about gas station usage patterns, marketing strategies to boost customer loyalty, and practical ways to implement these strategies. Based on this refined content, we completed a visually clean PowerPoint presentation that conveys the core message at a glance. During preparation, we examined gas stations—a space we hadn’t previously considered—from multiple angles, and the process was truly fresh and fascinating.
The result was winning an Encouragement Award. The pride of receiving the award goes without saying, and having our team activities and achievements featured in the school newspaper made it an even more meaningful experience. It meant more than just receiving an award. The collaboration with my teammates, analyzing problems from new perspectives, and developing the expressive skills to communicate them effectively—all these processes became invaluable assets in my university life.

Student Council President and Volunteering

Studying economics, I found it deeply appealing that this discipline is not only theoretically sound but also closely connected to real life. I also believed the broad potential for entering diverse fields was a strength of the economics department. The deeper I studied my major, the more I gained new perspectives and opened my eyes to various aspects of reality I hadn’t previously known.
During my university years, I prepared for TOEIC and computer-related certifications, setting a goal to obtain qualifications related to my major before graduation. I studied intensively for this, and my efforts ultimately led to the achievement of obtaining the desired certifications. Alongside this, I consistently participated in volunteer activities. I was particularly involved for a long time in delivering side dishes to seniors living alone, which was a natural extension of the ‘respect for elders’ I learned from my parents since childhood.
One of the most pressing issues for seniors living alone in the city was meal preparation. I believed delivering side dishes was the most practical and essential help they needed. Initially, I began simply wanting to help seniors in difficult situations. However, as the weekly visits accumulated, I realized I was learning far more from their lives. I personally felt the weight and preciousness of life, and the power that small acts of consideration can bring.
After completing my military service and returning to university as a junior, I served as the student council president for my department. As president, I cultivated leadership skills in taking the initiative and leading others, along with a proactive attitude. Furthermore, engaging in diverse activities with peers from varied backgrounds significantly improved my adaptability to new environments and cultures, as well as my interpersonal skills. When handling departmental tasks, big or small, I always approached them with precision and a sense of responsibility. As a result, I frequently received praise from the department chair and teaching assistants, who said I was “someone they could trust to handle things.”
Looking back, my university experiences extended far beyond mere academic achievement. The value of sharing learned through volunteer work, and the leadership and communication skills honed as student council president, will remain invaluable assets throughout my life. All these experiences shaped who I am today and will continue to strengthen my growth.

Burning My Youth Through the National Trek

During college, seeking more diverse experiences, I participated in the ‘National Trek’ event hosted by ○○. I still vividly remember my older brother returning from this trek in high school, his face deeply tanned and his demeanor noticeably more mature. Envious of that image, I submitted my application without hesitation the very day I learned about the event. That challenge became a time where I could fully burn my youth. Walking endless roads, enduring grueling journeys, and pushing beyond my limits taught me how to overcome myself. Whenever tough situations arose, the friends who walked alongside me were a huge source of strength. The laughter and encouragement shared with them remain precious memories to this day. Perhaps the friendships forged in extreme situations were especially special. I still keep in touch with those friends from back then, and we often reminisce about those days.
Furthermore, the team project experience during a liberal arts class was also a significant learning opportunity for me. Perhaps because it was a liberal arts class, the majors of my teammates were incredibly diverse. Honestly, at first, I thought it would be better to group people with similar majors to leverage their expertise. However, the professor intentionally assigned students from various majors to the same team. Working on the project, I deeply realized once again the importance of multifaceted thinking, something my parents had emphasized since I was young. It was truly surprising how the approach to the same problem could be completely different depending on one’s major and background. Through this experience, I truly felt that when different perspectives come together, more creative and richer results emerge. Since then, I have strived to actively utilize convergent thinking and shifts in perspective in any task I undertake, aiming to achieve the best possible results.
The perseverance and friendship forged during the National Great Trek, along with the convergent thinking skills learned through the project, are invaluable assets that have shaped who I am today. Moving forward, I will continue to grow by applying the lessons gained from these two experiences, never giving up in the face of any challenge and always seeking creative solutions.

Taking on diverse leadership roles with steadfast diligence

I inherited steadfastness and a diligent work ethic from my father—the kind that quietly sees tasks through to completion. Consequently, I tended to focus intensely on doing one thing well rather than stepping forward like other students to take on multiple roles. Throughout middle and high school, I always gave my utmost effort to every assignment, and in the process, a strong sense of responsibility became ingrained in me. After entering university, I continued to prioritize diligence as my most important virtue, immersing myself in my studies.
However, my university years weren’t solely about academics. At a certain point, I felt it was time to exercise my leadership skills and boldly ran for department representative. I was confidently elected and led the department’s operations transparently and efficiently. I spared no effort in supporting academic society activities. When preparing for orientation trips, I meticulously planned programs aligned with clear themes to ensure they served their purpose. While creating events satisfying to all members is challenging, I achieved successful outcomes that pleased the majority of department students. I faithfully fulfilled my duties as department representative for one year.
Furthermore, to become self-reliant, I worked part-time jobs alongside my studies. The most frequent job I took was day labor on construction sites. This was to directly experience and understand the demanding work my father does, and simultaneously, it was work where I could maximize my physical strength and capabilities as a man. On these sites, I learned the entire process of building construction and its detailed structures up close.
In this way, I approached every task with diligence, naturally cultivating a strong sense of responsibility. This sense of responsibility enabled smooth teamwork with colleagues and further became the driving force for achieving higher results together. Moving forward, I intend to faithfully fulfill my assigned roles based on this diligence and responsibility, contributing to building an organizational culture of shared growth.

Research and English: Gaining Two Wings

Joining my professor’s research lab project was a major turning point in my research career. At the time, I was pursuing my master’s degree when my advisor made an unprecedented offer. He was renowned as an authority in the field and notoriously selective in hiring researchers. In fact, it was almost an unwritten rule that researchers working on projects with him needed at least a Ph.D. Yet, the professor, who had kept an eye on me since my undergraduate days, personally proposed my participation in the lab project. I accepted without hesitation on the spot, and through this, I was able to participate in various research projects at the institute and learn a great deal.
This project was an international collaborative research effort conducted jointly with a university research institute in the United States. Thanks to this, I was able to work closely with American professors and local researchers, conducting experiments and discussions together, which significantly broadened my horizons. At the same time, I became acutely aware of the necessity of English. Although I had previously believed my English skills were sufficient, I felt my limitations when it came to freely explaining my research and engaging in discussions. I struggled particularly with accurately conveying complex experimental procedures and research results, which made me keenly aware of how crucial language proficiency is in research activities.
This experience became a decisive turning point for me. I realized that, as a researcher, the ability to communicate one’s work clearly and persuasively is just as essential as producing outstanding research results. After that, I intensified my English studies. I strove to develop the ability to express my research so others could easily understand and empathize with it, going beyond simply learning the language. Looking back now, participating in this project was a valuable time that elevated not only my academic growth but also my communication skills.

A person with strong teamwork skills and thoughtful consideration

This was written on the side of my report card during middle school. It was a sentence personally written by my homeroom teacher in my third year of middle school. At the time, our class and the teacher shared a special bond. It was an atmosphere of mutual trust and reliance, and I still vividly remember laughing and worrying together over even the smallest things. Unfortunately, however, the teacher was in poor health and frequently had to be absent due to hospital visits and treatments. Then one day, the vice principal came to our classroom and cautiously proposed: He suggested that since our homeroom teacher would likely be absent frequently going forward, if we wished, we could switch to another teacher to handle our classes and class management. I was the class president at the time, and instead of answering right away, I asked for some time to think.
That day, I held a class meeting. It was probably the most serious and meaningful meeting I ever led. Before starting the meeting, I first shared my own thoughts about our teacher. Then, I listened to each classmate’s opinion on what benefits changing homeroom teachers might bring, and what difficulties might arise if we kept the same teacher. Most classmates expressed without hesitation that they wanted to “stay with our teacher.” They truly liked her, and above all, the bond and trust built over the time we spent together were strong.
After making the decision, I put my head together with the vice-class president and began drafting a plan. Looking back now, that moment feels like the first time I ever truly devised a ‘strategy’ in my life. First, I meticulously wrote down the teacher’s daily schedule. I noted everything: the morning checks and administrative tasks, student supervision during lunch and dinner, cleaning inspections, and even the completion of the work report log and lesson plan journal. From this, I identified tasks we could take on and manage ourselves. We believed we could fully handle tasks like cleaning and duty rotations that maintained the classroom atmosphere and cleanliness. We immediately created a voluntary duty roster and schedule. We also decided that the class president, vice president, secretary, and treasurer would take turns recording and reporting the work logs the teacher had been writing. We presented this plan to the vice principal and, fortunately, received approval.
After that, our class spent the entire year together without a homeroom teacher change. We all pooled our efforts to ease the burden on our physically challenged teacher, even just a little, and to protect our own classroom. That year spent together became a very special time for me, my classmates, and our teacher.
Through that experience, I realized something: strategizing isn’t just about making plans; it can be a way to protect someone and care for people. I learned in my childhood that when you want to protect something truly precious or have a deeply desired goal, creating guidelines for collective action is itself meaningful and valuable.

Beginning Marketing to Promote Myself

As a university student, I enrolled in the Business Administration department and felt strongly drawn to the subject of ‘Marketing’. In modern society, where producing products of adequate quality has become the norm, I believed marketing was the key to deciding which products would stand out among the multitude. Furthermore, effectively communicating the value of genuinely useful new products to people was also a crucial role of marketing. To me, marketing wasn’t just simple promotion; it was nothing less than a tool to give new life to any commodity or product.
Driven by this belief, I became deeply immersed in my marketing classes and, with the mindset of ‘putting what I learned into practice,’ I started an experimental project. Its first stage was none other than promoting ‘myself.’ I set my sights on becoming student council president and strategically approached the process of marketing myself as my first task as a marketer. I joined various clubs, from tea-drinking groups to mountaineering clubs, interacting with diverse people to make my name known. Simultaneously, I delved into issues both on and off campus, listening to their causes and resolution processes, and participating directly when necessary. These activities went beyond mere networking; they were also a process of understanding the realities of the school and its students, and gaining trust within that context.
As a result, I was selected as a candidate for student council president in my third year and ultimately assumed the role. There, I communicated the school’s diverse welfare policies to students and actively encouraged their use. I learned how to coordinate complex interests within the campus, which is like a small society. It was sometimes exhausting, and resolving conflicts drained my energy, but I gained invaluable learning and achievements in return. Looking back, that period wasn’t just college life; it was my ‘first real-world experience as a marketer’ and ‘the time I grew myself into a brand’. So I can confidently say it was the most meaningful college experience, laying a crucial foundation for my life.

Learning to Work with People

As a child, I was a greedy kid who wanted to accomplish everything alone. Whether it was studying or sports, I always aimed for first place and worked tirelessly toward that goal. Up until elementary school, that approach worked fairly well. But when I entered middle school, the situation changed completely. While I excelled in some subjects, others completely baffled me, and moments requiring teamwork for academic success became more frequent. Above all, relying solely on my own efforts gradually wore me down. I slowly began to realize that true synergy only emerged when working with others.
That realization truly hit me during my second year of middle school, while preparing for a cheerleading competition. I was the class president at the time, and honestly, our class seemed hopeless. Most of my classmates lacked motivation, often sitting around complaining about how hard it was or getting irritable. Changing that atmosphere wasn’t easy. But then, there were three friends who believed in me and moved forward together. We started with small changes. Encouraging each other, we began brainstorming ideas one by one, and those ideas gradually turned into concrete plans. Before we knew it, our class had become one where everyone voluntarily cut back on sleep to practice dancing.
The result was astonishing. We took first place at the school competition and proudly secured second place at the city competition. On the day of the awards ceremony, hot tears streamed down my face on stage, and a profound change took root in my heart. ‘When people help each other, they can accomplish so much.’ That experience left a value far greater than just competition results.
Since then, I’ve come to understand how precious working with others is, and how much growth can happen within that. Together, we can do better, be happier, and create more fun memories. Above all, experiences created not as individuals but as ‘us’ stay with us long after time passes. That day’s lesson continues to shine in various aspects of my life now and will remain a precious asset guiding me forward.

Learning Responsibility Through Student Council Leadership

During high school, I was recognized for my ability to lead others well and my responsible character. My teacher asked me to take on the role of Student Council President. At first, I worried, ‘Can I really do this well?’ But moved by my teacher’s earnest request, I gathered my courage and decided to take on the challenge.
Life as a student council president was never easy. Days of arriving earlier than others and leaving later than others became frequent, often leaving me physically exhausted. Yet, with the mindset of ‘once I start something, I see it through to the end,’ I never slacked off a single day and supported my teacher. As a result, a new culture gradually took root in the school. It became noticeably more common to see classmates wearing their uniforms neatly, and a positive shift appeared in the overall school atmosphere. Furthermore, the bonds with my fellow team members grew stronger, forging friendships I will never forget.
Through this activity, I realized how important it is not just to get along with people, but to care for them attentively. I also developed a sense of leadership and cooperation essential for group work. This experience carried over into college, where I leveraged my unique sense of responsibility to become the festival director overseeing the school festival. To secure the most popular and expensive singer, I mobilized all my connections and negotiated relentlessly. Ultimately, I succeeded in booking the singer on the desired terms and created a lively festival everyone could enjoy.
Looking back, these two experiences—serving as class president and festival director—were moments of great pride in my life. I realized how invaluable responsibility, drive, and the joy of learning through relationships with others truly are. I want to continue living my life without losing this attitude.

Building a Class with Strong Unity and Fostering Harmony

During middle and high school, I served as class president with the goal of “creating a class with strong unity.” I believed that a positive class atmosphere would spread positive energy among us, which would in turn positively impact our academic achievements. To realize this, I actively listened to my friends’ diverse opinions and worked to create a space where good ideas could emerge. In particular, I created a ‘Worry Box’ where friends could comfortably share their concerns. Through this, we shared not only academic worries but also personal struggles, seeking solutions together.
Our class implemented the ‘Wake Up Your Neighbor’ project. Everyone experiences moments during class when drowsiness suddenly overtakes them. In those instances, the simple act of a nearby classmate gently waking them up proved highly effective in boosting everyone’s concentration. We also introduced a learning mentoring system, where classmates strong in specific subjects helped those struggling. Through these activities, the entire class formed a shared understanding of “growing together,” and the very desire to achieve harmony made the class atmosphere warmer. Difficulties or conflicts that arose during implementation could be coordinated through “discussion,” and sharing concerns and finding solutions together brought us closer.
This mindset of “prioritizing harmony” continued even after we entered university. I joined a psychological counseling club to learn counseling techniques, which I then applied in various volunteer activities. I frequently volunteered at nursing homes for the elderly, finding great fulfillment in seeing the residents smile brightly just from having someone to talk to. This experience deeply taught me that ‘the heart to help others is the driving force that makes society healthy.’ Furthermore, I reaffirmed the value of communication, seeing how intergenerational dialogue eased conflicts, fostered mutual understanding, and paved the way toward unity.
These experiences instilled one conviction in me: true harmony begins not with grand plans, but with listening to each other’s stories and offering small acts of support. I will never forget this lesson and will continually strive to help my community grow warmer and stronger.