The Postech Times asked for the opinions of an alumna and an undergraduate student to provide advice for Postechians struggling to balance GPA management and diverse experiences.
Samsung Electronics)
It Takes Quiet Courage to Embrace Our Imperfections, and Humble Wisdom to Acknowledge Our Togetherness
In the world-famous novella The Little Prince, there is a scene that many of us may remember:
Grown-ups love figures. When you tell them about a new friend, they never ask about essential matters. They never say to you, “What does his voice sound like? What games does he love best? Does he collect butterflies?” Instead, they demand: “How old is he? How much money does his father make?” Only from these figures do they think they have learned anything about him. If you were to say to a grown-up: “I saw a beautiful house made of rosy brick, with geraniums in the windows and doves on the roof,” they cannot imagine that house at all. You must say to them: “I saw a house that cost a hundred thousand francs.” Then they would exclaim: “Oh, what a pretty house that is!”
Is this merely a story in a book? In a Korean society where evaluation is omnipresent, living without constantly mentioning numbers is an exhausting task. As students, we must prove ourselves through GPAs and resumes; in the professional world, it becomes salaries and assets. We gradually forget to appreciate the “rosy brick house with geraniums.”
I won’t offer hollow consolation by claiming that grades are meaningless. In fact, a high GPA proves you responsibly mastered the curriculum. However, the professional world values listening and collaboration far more than mere individual brilliance. The wisdom of “work smarts,” cultivated through diverse layers of experience, can never be replaced by a single digit. Ultimately, what sustains a life is not a perfect report card, but the very attitude of refusing to give up when faced with problems that have no clear answers.
To those who are struggling through competition: cheer up. Even if not immediately rewarded, enduring means you are already building a “solid muscle of the heart.”
Looking back on my years at POSTECH, what I regret—aside from my lack of social experience or personal immaturity—was my lack of the courage to admit my imperfections and the humility to realize that we can go further together than we can alone. Back then, did I possess the perspective to set aside a bloated ego built upon analytical and rational reason, and ask myself, “Has this world become more beautiful because of me?” Can I proudly ask myself that question even now?
On the contrary, what remains vivid in my memory even ten years later is not my GPA, but the drooping cherry blossom branches under the streetlights as I walked home late at night from the library during finals; the warmth I shared with children while volunteering at a welfare center; and the memories of a stage performance that was clumsy yet prepared with burning passion. The texture of life is enriched not by numbers, but by these “essential moments” that we passed through with our whole being.
GPA Management: Accumulating Know-How Beyond Preparing for Exam
As the spring semester begins, conversations among students naturally converge toward one topic: “grades.” For some, grades are an indicator of achievement, while for others, they are a burden directly tied to scholarships. The GPA has served as the most traditional indicator of a student’s diligence and academic ability in Korean universities. However, with the rapid advancement of AI technology and changes in the job market, we must ask ourselves again: What do grades mean to us today? Chasing grades blindly without reflecting on that meaning is not different from blind men feeling an elephant.
I think the true value of grades earned at POSTECH lies in the “process” rather than the “result.” Postechians take on a massive academic load with high exam difficulty and competition against brilliant colleagues. The grades obtained in such an environment go beyond simple numbers to demonstrate the effort and attitude accumulated from the process. This includes the diligence of fulfilling academic responsibilities with self-discipline and the patience to dig into complex problems.
GPA cannot capture an individual’s entire potential. This is why companies and research institutes have begun to place importance on extracurricular activities. Collaboration skills from club activities, practical skills from internships, and trial and error, as well as achievements from various extracurricular activities, are assets that cannot be acquired within lectures. At POSTECH, experiences like UGRP enable more multifaceted growth than focusing on grades. While textbook problems have answers, real-world issues often have no solutions or require us to redefine the questions. If we lose ourselves only in our grades and miss these opportunities, we will become a “frog in a well.”
Then, how much effort should we put into our GPA? GPA is still an important evaluation criterion, so maintaining it is necessary. A strong GPA is an advantage for securing options like scholarships, study abroad programs, or graduate school admissions. However, we should not view GPA management and external experiences as two separate things. It is important to create a positive cycle: applying theories in class to actual projects, and then filling in gaps through further study. Learning should not be about preparing for exams, but it should be a process of accumulating both academic and practical know-how.
Today, it is more important to ask creative questions and collaborate with others rather than to answer the most questions correctly. Broadening our perspective by exploring new questions and interacting with diverse people is just as important as raising one’s GPA by 0.1. Rather than confining yourself to academic studies, I hope you will participate in various experiences such as clubs, volunteering, and competitions to learn cooperation and social skills. This balanced growth will eventually create wider possibilities.
