Freshman Lee was accepted to POSTECH this year. At first, Mr. Lee was delighted about campus life at POSTECH. After entering, Mr. Lee soon felt the difference between him and other high school colleagues who went to other universities in Seoul. His friends had several meetings with other university students. They also had a huge commercial district near their universities. Mr. Lee felt depressed about his campus life when he compares his with his Seoul friends.
The story written above is fiction, but many Postechians would agree with this. The campus of POSTECH is somewhat narrow. Not for its geological territory, but its network. Universities like SNU, Yonsei, and Korea have about three thousand new freshmen each year. On the other hand, there are about two thousand undergraduate students in POSTECH throughout the whole school. Mathematically, the student network at POSTECH is about ten times smaller than other universities. This ‘smallness’ might lead to various differences in campus life. The Postech Times conducted an anonymous survey through the POVIS Postechian lounge and mails. The question was “How does the feature of POSTECH, ‘the selected-few’, affect your campus life?” Most of the replies included the negative aspects of a small campus. One answer pointed out that the smallness makes troublesome situations. For instance, after one campus-couple broke up, they often unintentionally run into or hear about each other. Besides, one reply mentioned that if student society gets much smaller like Law Schools, each person’s characteristics will create an identity. Distinct characteristics such as unusual hair color or even the seat one often takes in the library can identify a person. Those examples well explain the term describing POSTECH student society, “Everyone knows each other by crossing one person.”
However, some Postechians have found unique ways to deal with this situation. The most frequently mentioned method was to apply for an exchange student program. There are summer sessions during vacations and regular semester exchange programs. This provides students various experiences that cannot be made at POSTECH. For the 2018 spring semester, exchange programs totaling 39 universities in 14 different countries were available. Many students also found their way to travel, or to participate in some exchange event with another university. There are several exchange events with Korea National University of Arts, KAIST, and the Seoul National University of Education, etc. The SES program can also become a great alternative.
There seems to be a lot of methods to expand one’s knowledge and experience outside of POSTECH. Finding one’s own way will lead Postechians to a better campus life. But still, many students are concerned about the lack of exchange activities. Publicizing about the existing programs and developing more programs are required.