Jia Jung, TEAN: South Korea Spring 2024
Studying abroad has certainly challenged my academics and shaped my career and personal goals. The academic environment in America and Korea is very different. Here, students engage more closely with professors, often having meals together and benefitting from one-on-one teaching. Although I didn’t participate in these activities, my classmates who did were better informed on the topics. Utilizing available resources proved to be the best way to learn and achieve higher grades.
However, there were challenging aspects such as no homework assignments. While it seemed liberating at first, allowing more time to explore the city, it became problematic during midterms and finals. Sure, I had time to explore the city more but it was easy to lose track of the material covered in class. I can’t believe I’m saying this with my own words…but homework and classwork really help with getting to know where in the lesson plan we are in. Also, having no homework means midterms and finals make up your whole grade. I have luckily passed my classes but do not slack! I have observed that domestic students in Korea visit the library immediately following class to review the entire lecture and conduct additional research.
For my personal and career growth,, it has solidified for me that I want to work internationally. Before studying abroad, I was unsure if I could live outside my home country. However, by the end of the semester, I realized how much I loved being abroad and wanted to explore more of the world! It was fun exploring the culture, the geographic and the architectural part of the country, too. I thought I was mainly interested in East Asia, but seeing my fellow TEAN members, I also want to explore the Caribbean and Europe. I think I can speak for all study abroad students, not just the TEAN students in Korea. Getting to know and befriending fellow international students not only connects you to different cultures but also shows the similarities which makes you realize the world is not so scary and worth your curiosity.
In the career aspect, I have narrowed down my dream job to be in the fashion or entertainment industry. Observing the local fashion in Korea felt like witnessing a fashion show everywhere I went. Initially, I thought winter would be monotonous, but once it warmed up, I saw bright colors, frills, leather and baggy jeans, you name it! This piqued a bit of interest in the fashion industry and so did the entertainment industry. There were so many pop-up stores ranging from fashion to dramas to animation. Animation was a topic I was interested in working on but I wasn’t too sure if it was the path I wanted to take in my future career. However, attending these events myself has definitely heightened my decision toward the entertainment path, too.
In the end, studying abroad has highlighted the differences in academic approaches and broadened my international perspective, helping me grow both personally and professionally.
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