The article “Assortment of Participants & Media” provided fresh analysis about the 2nd POSTECH Cultural Content Contest in Science and Technology, which took place on Oct. 25. The writer focused on the hardship for international students to obtain useful information and participate in enjoyable campus events held in POSTECH. I believe the article well represents the point of view of international students in POSTECH.
According to the article, international students who are not proficient in Korean and not familiar with POSTECH Vision Information System (POVIS) must have resistance toward opening notices with Korean titles. This results in international students becoming passive in participating in various student activities. A more serious matter is that most posters around the campus are written only in Korean, for instance, the announcements posted on student union building related to various club activities or competitions. This should be changed. By putting up more English translations in posters, we can provide equal opportunity for international students to be informed of and to participate in student activities. Another method is to paste English posters on the DICE bulletin board as the writer suggested.
Moreover, there are lots of things to learn from Hankuk University of Foreign Studies (HUFS) regarding systems assisting international students. In HUFS, International Student Organization (ISO) assists international students to easily get adapted to the unfamiliar environment. There are various affiliated teams in ISO. To list a few, “Buddy team” organizes one-to-one relationship between Korean and international students so that international students can easily approach and get close to Korean students. While “Buddy team” provides individualized program for international students, “Exchange student team” offers broader services for them. “Exchange student team” informs them of essential information such as club activities or tips for campus life. If POSTECH were to have several similar systems of HUFS in assisting international students in campus, foreign students would be able to enjoy and participate in school events.
Actually, POSTECH has made an effort to help international students get used to the unfamiliar cultural environment. POSTECH offers DICE (Dormitory for International Students) and provides English translation for every official announcement in POVIS. However, in some aspects, more attention for international students is still required. I hope that one day in the future, POSTECH would become the most preferred university in Korea for international students.