Dare To Be Different
Dare To Be Different
  • Reporter Chung Sung-joon
  • 승인 2014.05.21 15:08
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POSTECH has numerous exchange programs with universities both within and outside Korea to provide opportunities for students to experience how big the world is. Among all, the four Korean universities -Korea National University of Arts, Ewha Womans  University, Handong Global University, and SungKyunKwan University (K’Arts, Ewha, HGU, and SKKU for short, respectively)- have allowed Postechians to view the world in a different perspective.
One of the most popular universities available during the summer/winter break is none other than K’Arts. Theatre plays and acting classes are the usual courses recommended by Postechians. “The lecturer told us to walk around the classroom bare footed in the first class. All the lectures are based on try-it-out-by-yourself system” said Sein Park (PHYS 13) who commented on the final project he had to work, in which he had to write out and perform a play with his fellow students. Approximately 60~80% of the students taking the course were from POSTECH; other students were from KAIST, KyungPook National University, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, as well as K’Arts. Despite their differences in university background, students quickly became close and got along well with one another, perhaps due to the interactive activity-based class.
For Ewha, there is a quota for the number of exchange students who can sign up for courses held during summer/winter sessions. According to Dowan Yim (ME 13), only one fifth of the students -four Postechians and one SSKU student- were outsiders; the rest were from Ewha. The ambience of lecture halls or even the university as a whole is also different. Possibly due to their indivi- dualistic point of thinking, the university itself is extremely quiet and somewhat “gentle”. “I found it difficult to get along with Ewha students”, said Yim who advised interested individuals to apply for courses with projects that involve frequent interactions with team members.
Courses in HGU are always opened to Postechians during regular semesters. Several courses have team-teaching policy where four lecturers take turns to teach students. Some of the teams invite outside lecturers to lead the second-half of the course. Professors highlight the importance of participation and they tend to purposely adopt a two-way interactive system for the students to be more proactive. Furthermore, it seems that the true meaning of honor code is well defined there; students take an oath that they would abide by the honor code at all times. “I will never forget how they would start the beginning of every class with a prayer. I was also surprised to find out that not a single student falls asleep during classes,” said Park Ji Won (LIFE 13) who is extremely satisfied with the course he took in HGU.
Though SKKU is also availabe as an exchange program, Postechians rarely visit SKKU because the only courses available are related to Confucianism. It would be regretful for one to miss these golden opportunities to study in other universities where one can learn and experience many things in a different environment. It takes you one step closer to becoming a future global leader.