The 26th graduation ceremony was held on Feb. 13. This year, Postechians who have a student number with 2011 are the greater part of it. Greeting the graduates, The Postech Times gathered stories of how students’ thoughts have changed, ideas about how the university could be improved, and messages of thanks.
Before entrance, Yoon Sang Ho (EE 11) heard that as POSTECH has less entertainment facilities, campus life can easily become boring. However, after entering and adapting, he found pleasures in campus. Through meeting people and joining clubs, simple pleasures came to him. He emphasizes the merits of POSTECH. Compared to other universities, he says POSTECH gives many benefits. The development of delivery culture is optimized to Postechians (food can be delivered even extremely late or early) and library is free and open at night. There is no dormitory curfew and no fixed meal, which could impede students’ freedom. Considering the merits, complaints are so trivial they could be ignored.
Lee Do Yeob (IME 11) had concerns and had no conviction about what he would have to do. He wanted to find his career, understand exactly what he is good at, meet people, and experience things other than studying. After entering, he was able to find his way through courses and presentations provided by POSTECH. Although POSTECH places emphasis on research, he felt inconvenient about getting information about each professor’s research styles according to four-time research participation. He also says that earning a score of “satisfactory” even though he did nothing was somewhat ridiculous.
Kim Yeong Seok (CHEM 11) had worried about how to adapt to POSTECH without his close friends, who went to other universities. Unlike his worries, campus life was similar to high school life. Even though POSTECH has several merits, Kim felt sorry about the difficulty of riding a bicycle around campus because of all the hills in POSTECH. Also, he wasn’t satisfied with dormitory facilities. It doesn’t have kitchen or floor that could be used without shoes. Shared bathroom also makes Kim dissatisfied. Aware of these inconveniences, POSTECH has improved the dormitory environment. Kim predicts students’ welfare will continue to improve.
When Kim Soo Hyeon (ME 11) was a high school student, he thought POSTECH was the only perfect university in Korea as the admission officer exaggerated a little when he introduced POSTECH, especially about Povis system. When he entered POSTECH, he found defects about school. His image of POSTECH as perfect changed when he used Povis. Recently, the situation regarding the president made Kim feel sympathy for the university. His hopes for the future are that the cafeteria is open 24 hours a day, student restaurants extend business hours, and practice in front of stairs is limited. POSTECH is located on the southern edge of Pohang, which makes it hard for Postechians interact with students of other universities. Kim insists that school-wide chances to meet other university students are necessary.
The thoughts expressed above are based on graduates experience in POSTECH. These could be the basis of development of POSTECH and current students.