Recently, POSTECH has been named the 28th in World University Ranking by the Times. It is no longer sufficient to compare POSTECH to other Korean universities. We must look beyond Korea and Asia. But we are still missing a certain quality that stops us from truly belonging in the upper echelon of top-class universities.
The world now wants “A-type” individuals. An “A-type” individual is someone with three essential qualities: wide range of general knowledge, good communicative skills, and in-depth knowledge in a field. If POSTECH graduates possess these qualities, it will help the school climb the rankings.
If one is to acquire a wide range of general knowledge, reading is essential. Books give us different ways of looking at the world. Not only do books give us new perspectives on life, the information contained within is timeless: if it were not for books, information would have had to been shared orally which creates room for distortion of facts. POSTECH has invested millions of dollars on a state-of-the-art library but it goes unused for much of the school year. Students must fully utilize the huge collection of books to expose themselves to as many ideas as possible.
Students can have a wide range of knowledge but these must be shared so that communication occurs. Companies like Google, Facebook, and Yahoo! were all founded by university students. In order for these students to exchange their bright ideas, there must have been communication between them. Top engineering schools like MIT have close to 40 available English courses to teach communication skills. But in comparison, POSTECH has only some such courses. It is hard to argue that our school does not have intelligent students, but if these students are not meshing their brains together, potential great ideas may forever remain just in students’ heads.
Finally, graduates must be armed with specific and in-depth education. In whatever career these graduates might pursue, professionalism needs to be the underlying quality. Sadly, Korean high school education has become more solution-oriented rather than analysis-oriented. Students are trained to solve problems but do not completely understand the nature’s laws that govern the problem. There must be more presentations, questions, and class participation so that our education is more complete and whole.
POSTECH is undoubtedly growing into one of the top schools in Asia. But there is still room for improvement. We are still looking for our nation’s first Nobel Prize in an area of science. If POSTECH can produce “A-type” graduates, then it is possible that we will soon be hearing the news that POSTECH has ranked among the best in the world.
Chang Hyun-chul/ Undecided (10)
