The mass media nowadays are emphasizing how all the youth are engaged in getting high GPAs, and high test scores such as TEPS, TOFEL and TOEIC to get into ‘good’ companies. However, I don’t think getting standardized into these means of evaluation is beneficial. What is more important is what we experience and learn in our lives. No two people in the world live the same life. Hence, what distinguishes us from anybody else is our own ‘story.’ Everybody has their own story and are valuable because of that. Hence, I would like to suggest to the readers to have new experiences that will nourish an

2017 Presidential election was held on May. 9. The election schedule was originally scheduled to be held on Dec. 20. However, early election was determined because of the impeachment of former president Park Geun-hye. Not every Postechians were able to vote in the election. According to the constitution, person over the age of 19 in American age can vote. In other words, since Koreans have different age system, some freshmen and some sophomores have no right to vote. Number of people aged 17 years old in American age was 629,629, according to statistics conducted in April, 2016. This means alm

Landscape is a tract of land with particular features, which are usually products of human modification, and it exists and transforms in diverse forms and scales from a single statue, monument, and building to a sum of human-made structures such as rural settlements and particular urban sections. In addition to denoting tangible material settings, the term is also used in metaphorical ways (e.g., political landscape in popular and media discourses). Landscape comprises an important research theme in cultural geography, a sub-discipline of human geography concerned with cultural artifacts, prac

“Time is gold.” This is a famous quote from Benjamin Franklin. This saying expresses the importance of time by comparing time with gold. Twenty-four hours a day are given to every person. The point is using time effectively. However, it does not mean that we need to rush all the time. These days, people push themselves to be in hurry. They are sometimes afraid to get free time because they believe they are wasting their time. We are getting used to rapidity. For instance, let’s imagine that you want to know the meaning of the English word “Brexit.” In the past, we first found thick, heavy dict

For some years, the word 'innovation' turned into a jack-of-all-trades term that every part of the society is now aware of. Politicians use it in their campaigns, presenters use it, and even the cities’ marketing teams started putting it on city-promoting posters. The word surely sounds good, and one would have been able to hear it even in talks of country-scale importance. But somehow I could not see myself using the term in front of people. In a recent talk given by an entrepreneur that I attended, I was able to confront the reason. The presenter remarked at one point, “Difficult, but not im

“I am afraid I am busy.” This is a typical answer from most scientists about participating in the promotion of public understanding of science. As one of them, I deeply agree with such response. Researchers are busy with endless study and work. However, such complicated research is hardly understood by the public and seldom enters the spotlight. Unpopular research struggles to secure funding from policy makers and the government, and researchers get busy with having to start another project, hoping for improvements this time. Though there may be several stages being skipped, what we see here i

The Supreme Court delivered a death sentence to a male in his 20s who killed the parents of his ex-girlfriend and raped her. It was the only death sentence delivered by the Supreme Court during last three years. The man slapped his ex-girlfriend’s face because she insulted one of his friends, which led her to break up with him. However, he bore a grudge against it and caused violence to her. Her parents made a strong protest to his parents, which made him commit this awful crime. This is an extreme example of dating violence.Actually, dating violence has become one of the major issues in Korea

On Mar. 24, salvage of the Sewol Ferry began after a long controversy between the government and bereaved families, with a preparation of more than a year. Two days after, on Mar. 26, the whole Sewol Ferry was brought up to the surface, and drainage work has started. I am writing this column on Mar. 26, and the ferry is expected to be brought on shore by Mar. 28 at the earliest. There are still debates and controversies about the timing and process of salvage, but what touched my heart was neither the politics nor the technical issues. I was reminded of the day the Sewol Ferry went down. Apr.

Last year, Gachon University Gil Hospital adopted Watson for Oncology to diagnose a patient with colorectal cancer with accuracy similar to that made by doctors. The patient had third stage colorectal cancer and had laparoscopic surgery. With the data all input, Watson for Oncology chose FOLFOX and CapeOX for the main treatments, which are general anticancer drugs.The recent introduction of Watson for Oncology, a computer-based medical consultation aiding system for cancer, into the domestic market has initiated an enthusiastic discussion about A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) and the future of

About a year ago, I was a freshman of POSTECH. Last year was such an important time because I thought it was time to enter a new world and no longer limit “studying” to school. In my memory, this young student, filled with excitement, expected an adventure ahead of him. It was too short for a young student wanting to experience everything in one year, and now, it is time to become a sophomore. Now, there are new freshmen hoping for a new change and wonderful experiences. In order to help them spend a wonderful freshman year, I would like to introduce some activities that made my freshmen life

As every semester passes, I always get reminded of how fast the time goes by, and reflect on what I have done over the last semester. As another semester passed after becoming a junior, I came to think that despite of what I had learnt so far, there was nothing which I was especially good at. Despite of coming to POSTECH where people around me would tell me that I have achieved one of the major goals throughout my life, the fact that I had no specialty was a big problem. The problem of looking for why was not so hard. The most frequently asked question for taking any lecture is: “Does the prof

In some countries, teenagers have jobs while they are still students. Some adults and teenagers might think this is a good idea. However, I disagree with this idea for two reasons. First, teenagers are young. They should be supported from their parents or teachers to find and pursue their dream. Their most important task should be developing themselves mentally because many teenagers have problems standing the pressure of life. Second, the discrimination of the employers would harm the teenagers because the employers tend to undermine teenage employees. Teenagers are placed in a dangerous situ

Frankly speaking, when I was volunteering as a newbie reporter of The Postech Times, I was careless and irresponsible. I definitely had merit in English skills accumulated during my four years of studying abroad in New Zealand, and I thought using this merit would enable me to maneuver into The Postech Times. The fact that I was a freshman at that time induced me to consistently seek for new activities that would bring changes in my life, without being aware of the responsibilities that lie beyond them.Being a reporter in POSTECH is tough because you have to get yourself organized. Once you ar

When I was working as a student reporter, the editing professor always said, “Be careful when you write an article, the meaning of the article is totally changed by a single word”. Since newspapers are expected to deliver the truth, an article often determines the person in charge of an affair. What the professor and the editor said exactly fits. Responsibility can be shifted and may even fade away without much notice depending on a single word. Among the numerous experiences that I went through in The Postech Times, I dare to say the most impressive was the situation related to feminism. It m

Maybe I am not good enough." / "Yes, you are." / "Maybe I am not. It is like a pipe dream." / "This is the dream. It is conflict and it is compromise and it is very, very exciting." - La la landThe idiomatic expression “pipe dream” is a dream that cannot be realized. I have had several dreams, which seem to be unfeasible, but I pursued them tenaciously, with some strategies. In this column, I would like to suggest some strategies based on my personal experience, for the ones who may be distressed and exhausted by their own dreams. The strategies I suggest are divide & conquer, enhancement, and

The one thing I regret the most in my four years of university life is that I did not experience various things. Our university provides many opportunities to experience various programs such as internship and exchange student program. Thanks to POSTECH accepting only a relatively small number of freshmen every year, almost all students can experience these programs easily. However, I did not. There are many reasons, but I think the biggest reason was the lack of self-esteem.At the beginning of the university life, I had doubts about my skills and did not trust myself. I consistently observed

You may recall the X-men movie series. In my column, “X-man” denotes someone who hides his or her identity. This word is derived from a TV show focused on finding a person who hides his identity. Nowadays, X-men are becoming an issue. When freshmen are just starting university, they often enter an online group chatting room. In this room, some seniors hide their identities and pretend to be freshmen. This fake trick has become an issue because it makes some freshmen feel uncomfortable. Some say they felt betrayed. They were deceived by the X-men and treated them like the rest of the freshmen.

Recently, I have received a reply mail from a professor about the course’s policy regarding grades. The content of the mail I sent was requesting for score on my reports and final exam, because I was very unsatisfied with the grade I received. However, the answer I received in return was that it was the course’s policy not to reveal the scores to individuals. This led me going on to check the school’s regulations to see if there were regulations making it mandatory for professors to release the scores. There was not a single statement mentioning professor’s role of such. Postechians are famili

Happy New Year. In the new year, people make new resolutions and have new wishes. For these, some people visit religious institutions, while others take the trouble to visit sunrise spots. As POSTECH dorm director, I would like to express the following wishes for our students living in the dormitory.Keep healthy. It is a cliche but if you are not healthy, nothing will be achieved. Without health, you are unlikely to feel happy. In order to maintain health, abstinence and regular exercise are essential. Though situations have improved much better compared to the past, there are still some stude

Suppose you are buying a new smartphone. You will make some effort to consider every feature and weigh values of utility and style in order to make the best choice. Theoretically, you will value efficiency more than the appearance of a phone, because the thing you are going to buy is machinery, not an ornament. But, efficiency is not always more important than appearance, unless you are going to buy a pipe to repair your conduit.Balancing efficiency and aesthetics is important. Both aspects contribute to a person’s choice. The problem is, when designing a business, there are limits to how much