Norah Phillips-Pinkney, TEAN: Seoul Spring 2025
I’ve strayed away from my initial college plan a lot, going from Pre-Med to business, not wanting any leadership positions to becoming president, I’ve changed so much from my 18 year old self. I also expected my time abroad would contribute to that growth.
From the beginning I was adamant I wasn’t going to graduate school, the idea of going to school for an additional two-four years sounded like torture. I’ve been academically burned out for years, days, weeks and years blending together. School began to feel like a chore that needed to be done to get to the next point in my life, studying abroad was the only thing I was looking forward to since freshman year.
When fall semester came to an end and the reality of me going to Korea came to me, days stopped blending together, school didn’t feel like a chore. When life finally slowed down, the idea of graduate school didn’t feel so daunting, maybe going to Korea could be a test run—that’s actually what it is.
With everything going on with the current administration and higher education the prospect of going abroad from graduate school seems like the most obvious decision. Korea University is one of the top universities in the country, I enjoy the campus and I’ve already built relationships with fellow students here. The idea of having a life here in the future feels great, I love Seoul and only being here for four months definitely isn’t enough time. I want to spend my life here for some more time, and see what lessons Korea will teach me.
Coming to Korea University restored my passion for learning again, and I’d like to keep that passion going by coming back here for graduate school. Taking the more “traditional” route for undergrad by studying business will hopefully give me the opportunity to follow my passion in Sociology or International Studies studying the effects of colonialism on cultural appropriation and the erosion of culture in Korean and Black culture. With the rise and export of Korean culture being used as a soft power for South Korea and that in a way diluting Korean culture, it’s easy to see the similarities of that for African Americans and I’d like to explore that more especially in Korea.
I’ll forever be grateful for my time abroad in South Korea, even though my time here hasn’t come to an end yet, this experience has been life changing.
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