Describe an activity or incident that you think was meaningful in your life          

            About 17 years ago, when I was not even a year old, my family moved to live in the United States because of my dad’s job. I lived there for about 10 years and I moved back to Korea when I was in 4th grade. Since I had lived in the States almost of my entire life, it was my first time living in Korea. I was a little bit nervous but much more excited, so on the day before my first day of school I was barely able to sleep.

           However, school life in Korea was not like I had expected. I had a tough time adapting because of the numerous cultural differences. Instead of running outside during break times, the girls gathered in groups and chitchatted about topics that I had no idea about. None of the students asked questions during class and everyone went to private academies right after school. Some of my classmates even called me a foreigner or American, which made me confused about my identity. As time went by, my personality started to change. Instead of the always active and enthusiastic student, I became quieter and self-conscious.

           A few years passed, and I started middle school I was finally able to adapt to the Korean society with quiet and self-conscious personality. This all changed due to a coincidental happening. Not long after starting middle school, I received a sign-up sheet for after school programs. I was looking down the sheet thoughtlessly when I saw a class called Creativity Olympiad. It caught my eye and I started to read the description. It said that students would learn creative ways to express their thoughts, do creative projects, and participate in the Creativity Olympiad. I found it interesting and immediately signed up.

           I always waited for Tuesdays and Thursdays, the days we had the Creativity Olympiad after school program since it was very fun. We expressed funny situations like an award ceremony in space with octopuses as the award receivers using only our bodies and made bridges out of chopsticks, wire, and post labels for a golf ball to pass. However, because of my passive personality, I was never able to do the roles that I wanted to do. Even if there was a role that I really wanted to do I would give it to a different student if he or she wanted to do it. As I continued practicing, I started to realize that if I did not change my personality, I would never be able to do what I wanted to do. I participated in the program more actively and raised my hand for roles that I wanted. Slowly but with confidence, I was changing back to the person I was years ago, and I realized that this really made me happier. Eventually, I became the team leader and lead our team to win the Bronze medal in the World Championships of Creativity Olympiad.

           The Creativity Olympiad is a memory that I will never forget not just because it was fun, but because it helped me change back to myself and become a happier person. Instead of always worrying what my peers would think about my acts, I started to gain confidence when I did what I thought was right. Now, I am sure that I will be able to survive in any society because I have successfully survived one already, at an early age.

Describe a place or environment where you are perfectly content. What do you do or experience there, and why is it meaningful to you?

  I started playing the violin when I was eight years old, and at first, I hated it. Before playing the violin, I had learned to play the piano and unlike the violin the piano makes sounds when pressing the keys. However, in the case of the violin, there are no fixed keys and I must press the right place to make correct notes.

  Then, when I started to go to middle school, I signed up for the school orchestra. The orchestra from my middle school was very big, with about 100 students participating in it. As I practiced with my friends and seniors, I started to love it, which also lead to me loving the violin.

  Because we participated in a lot of competitions and concerts, we had a lot of practice. We usually spent about 7 hours a week in the orchestra practice room, and if there was an important event like an orchestra competition or our orchestra’s annual concert, we spent at least 3 hours there each day. So, about a thousand hours of my middle school life was spent in the orchestra practice room.

  In my last year of middle school, I became the concert master. I had a lot of responsibility, but I also had my entrance examinations for KMLA. Additionally, because I was the concert master, I had a violin solo at the annual orchestra concert which was 4 days after my last entrance examination. So, after my classes, I ran straight to the orchestra practice room and practiced for 2 hours, then ran home and prepared for my entrance examinations. My last year of middle school, was a very crazy one, because of the many big events throughout the year.

  So, from my explanation about my experiences from the school orchestra, you may think that it was very hard and tiring and wonder how the orchestra practice room makes me feel perfectly content. Yes, it was not a place that made me perfectly content when I was a member of the orchestra. But now, it is.

  I made a lot of happy memories as well as the tough ones in the orchestra practice room. Because we spent so many hours there, we did various things there from eating pizza together, playing games, and napping on the floor lying down side by side. After classes, I was able to play music with my close friends and seniors and it was not because we had to but because we wanted to. The orchestra practice room was more like home than a practice room. My difficulties may have outweighed my happy memories then, but not anymore.

  Also, because I spent such a crazy last year of middle school, when I go there now to meet my juniors, I feel perfectly content and comfortable. It also makes me remember my crazy year, which helps me muster up my spirits and fill up my energy for my life at KMLA.

Do you agree or disagree with the planned closure of elite/autonomous Korean high schools?

 If you think of communism you may recall it is an effective theory because everyone under that system should be treated equally. However, it has been proven by many cases that the reality is different from the ideal. One of the main reasons of its failure is that people lose enthusiasm because no matter how much they put their efforts into something the pay-back prices are the same. I believe that the closing of elite/autonomous Korean high schools would influence in a similar way on students who would enter the normalized high schools that provide equal educations.

 Firstly, closing down elite/autonomous Korean high schools does not solve the problem of escalated private tutoring to young age children. I believe the only way to solve the problem is by changing the awareness of the whole society in Korea.

1)    It is harder to get into nice companies and get secured jobs due to high competitiveness in Korea. People think that if you get into elite/autonomous high schools, and later top colleges, you will be able to get into a famous company or earn a lot of money. Because of these false senses, students start to study advanced contents from young ages and this also leads to high stress rates, which slows down our society’s development.

2)    If the society’s atmosphere does not change and we only close down elite/autonomous high schools, the competition will move to regular high schools, and to get a higher score or a higher rank in the regular high school, students will receive a lot of private education as they are doing now. So, closing down elite/autonomous high schools will not be able to reduce private education.

3)    Even now, students in regular high schools located in Gangnam Strict, where high-price private tutorings are common, get more admissions to top-tier colleges than some elite/autonomous high schools. So, if closing of elite/autonomous high schools happens, more students born with gold spoons in their mouths will try to get into Gangnam areas  due to the so-called balloon effect. Then the private tutoring issue will continue and there will be no difference from just having elite/autonomous high schools.

 Secondly, we must respect the right of choice that students have. The right of choice that students have should not be infringed. They should be allowed to choose the school that they think is the most appropriate for them. For example, if they like English and they want to have a career related to it, they should be allowed to choose to go to foreign language schools where they focus on foreign languages. Students will be able to learn what they enjoy and they will also be able to develop their talents.

 Closing down elite/autonomous high schools does not solve the fundamental issue. I think that changing the awareness of the whole society is the priority, and students should be able to get diverse educations they want to get. Education is a farsighted policy, and a stopgap measure will not contribute to the fundamental solution. If there is a problem with elite/autonomous high schools, they should think of improving them, not just getting rid of elite/autonomous high schools. For these reasons, I strongly disagree with the planned closure of elite/autonomous Korean high schools.

Write an essay that argues your position on whether the importance placed on seniority (Sunbae/Hoobae culture) is more beneficial or detrimental to Korean students and/or society as a whole.

 The famous soccer manager Hiddink, lead Korea’s soccer team to the semi-finals in the 2002 World Cup. This is the biggest achievement that Korea has ever had in the World Cup. Hiddink made a huge effort to get rid of the sunbae and hoobae culture in the soccer team and this lead to better teamwork, and eventually the best result Korea has ever had. If Hiddink had not worked to get rid of the sunbae and hoobae culture, who knows how different the result could have been? I think that if Hiddink, had not rid of the sunbae and hoobae culture, Korea could not have gotten such good results. But, the World Cup is just one example. There are numerous reasons that clearly show the importance placed on seniority is more detrimental to Korean students and society.

 Firstly, because of the sunbae hoobae culture, an invisible wall exists between sunbaes and hoobaes. This makes it hard for sunbaes and hoobaes to interact and communicate. There is a famous accident in Korea. It is the plane crash that occurred in 1999. The plane crash was due to lack of communication between the hoobae flight attendants and the flight captain. If the hoobae flight attendants had talked to the flight captain about their suspicions, tons of lives could have been saved. This incident speaks volumes about the seriousness of sunbae and hoobae culture. Also, the sunbae and hoobae culture is said to be one of the reasons of low productivity. Because of this ‘invisible wall’ it is hard for sunbaes and hoobaes to collaborate and achieve more accomplishments. This is not only unbeneficial for individuals, but also for Korea.

 Secondly, these days Confucian traditions are continuously decreasing. Nowadays, some children do not address their parents with honorification. We can see that the distance between family members has decreased clearly and there are not as many regulations between family members as in the past. However, sunbae and hoobae culture is increasing. In the past, sunbae and hoobae culture was not like it is now. When I first came to Korea, I was shocked when I learned that I had to bow to sunbaes walking by and speak with honorification. When I asked my mother about it, she said that it seemed a lot different from when she was a student. Also, some people say that Sunbae and Hoobae culture is increasing because as it is getting harder to get acknowledgement from people. Because it is harder to succeed and live a happy life, people feel psychological anxiety and they try to reduce it through their hoobaes who are in vertical relationships with them.

 Like these examples, there are numerous reasons that clearly show the importance placed on seniority is more detrimental to Korean students and society and I believe so too. For our country to develop and improve, we must rid of this unbeneficial culture.

Develop a position on whether your Vision Trip to the United States was meaningful/rewarding, or not

Meeting with alumni who are more than 10 years older, listening to lectures by professors from colleges that most people can only dream of going, and touring a country abroad with more than 150 friends. Is this something that anyone can experience easily? I do not think so. I think that the vision trip to the United States was very meaningful and I have four reasons.

The first reason is because students were able to visit eight top colleges in the United States. Yes, there are some people who have visited a few of these colleges while they were touring the United States but were they able to listen to lectures by current professors directly? Probably not. Students listened to lectures that they were interested in and also, they were able to feel the college’s atmosphere. Through this, they were able to sincerely consider about going to colleges overseas and it helped students find their visions, which is the main purpose of the vision trip.

The second reason is because students could visit famous companies and organizations that lots of people think of as dream jobs. Google, Youtube, IMF, and UN are companies and organizations that most people know of. Even very young children know of Youtube because they watch videos on it. Students visited companies that have a lot to do with their everyday lives. Some students were so impressed that they set these companies as their goals and this motivated them to work harder after coming back from the vision trip.

The third reason is because students were able to feel the culture of a different country in person. Students visited famous tourist attractions like Metropolitan, MOMA, Times square, and Smithsonian which are places that sometimes even appear on movies, watched musicals like Wicked and Phantom of the Opera on Broadway, and also visited the capital and learned a bit of the history of the United States. Not only that, but by visiting daily places like shopping malls and restaurants, students could experience everyday life in the United States. A very important element when living abroad is the country’s culture. If you cannot adapt with the culture, then your life in that country will not be that happy.

The last reason, and also what I think was most meaningful, was meeting alumni who graduated or are currently attending colleges in the United States. This year the 22^nd wave students met 104 alumni who came to give advice to their juniors. Of course, students can meet alumni during school reunions and alumni meetings, but this is absolutely different from meeting them in colleges that they graduated or are studying in, and schools that their juniors may be dreaming of going. Also, students could receive practical advice because the alumni told their juniors their firsthand experiences.

Yes, there were some programs that missed the main purpose of the vision trip. But still, there were much more meaningful programs than the opposite. Therefore, I think the vision trip to the United States was very meaningful.

Develop a position on the ruling in the Law &Order episode Killerz

Even when the psychologist was talking with Jenny Brandt, she did not think what she did was bad. She had no problem thinking about the murder and she told the psychologist about killing the cat from her neighborhood as if it was nothing. She even said that killing the cat was “cool”. Should this psychopath be allowed to walk around freely? I do not think so. I disagree with the judge’s ruling about the case and I believe that Jenny Brandt should be sent to a juvenile detention home or be more responsible for the death of the innocent young boy.

The first reason why I disagree is because I think that age should not affect the ruling. In the video people talk about Jenny and Tara’s age a lot. For example there were quotes like “Little girl killers? You don't believe it because they wear knee-socks and pigtails?”, “You should've been there. The ankle monitors we had didn't fit. We had to punch extra holes. If it wasn't so pathetic...”. Also, Jenny’s lawyer emphasizes that she is only 10 years old. However, being young does not change the fact that they are murderers. People who are 17 years old even receive the Nobel Prize these days. Why shouldn’t children be punished for what they have done? Why shouldn’t they be responsible?

The second reason why I disagree is because of the possibility that Jenny will ‘change’. The judge and the doctor says that they should give Jenny a chance because there is a possibility that Jenny will change. But that means that Jenny is a threat to other people until she changes. Also, this is only if she does change. If she does not change, she will remain a threat forever. There is a saying ‘What is learned in the cradle is carried to the tomb’. We cannot be sure that Jenny will change. Then why should other people be in danger? Should she be allowed to walk around freely and meet other children? She might even influence other children in a negative way. Murder is not something that is easy to do so will it be easy to change Jenny’s thoughts? Even if she changes it will take a lot of time and until then other young boys will be in danger. It is not easy to change her by just “talking” with psychologists and doctors. For Jenny to change, it would be more beneficial to send her to a juvenile detention home and learn that what she did was wrong and learn to be responsible for what she did. Just letting her stay with her mother may make Jenny think that she can be let off even for murders and she will not be able to tell how serious the problem is.

Jenny Brandt is a threat who is walking around in broad daylight. We should not endanger and threaten innocent young boys because of the possibility of Jenny changing which no one can prove. Before Jenny murders other people, I think we should send her to a juvenile detention home. Let us lock the stable door before the horse is stolen.

Should schools require students to complete community service?

 Some people think that mandatory service is inefficient and a waste of time. They say that true community service should be done not because it is mandatory but because they feel like serving voluntarily. In my opinion, mandatory service is beneficial for students so I think that schools should require students to complete a certain number of community service hours.

 The first reason why I agree with mandatory community service is because it can provide a relatively easy way for students to start community service. To do community service, students must visit a community center or sign up online at first, which is not easy for students who have never done community service before. Since the progress is not simple, students probably won’t sign up if they were just merely interested and they will only sign up if they really want to do community service.

 The second reason why I agree with mandatory community service is because through community service, students can have a chance to change their perspectives about community service. Most students think of volunteer work as something that is tiresome. However, after doing community service, students can feel that they were able to get more beneficial effects than they had thought before. Students who thought negatively about community service may change their minds after experiencing it, but if community service is not required, students even may not get a chance to experience it and they will keep the prejudice they have about it.

 The last reason why I agree with mandatory community service is because through community service students may make life-changing experiences that can affect them during their lifetime. Doing community service doesn’t just mean work requiring simple labor like cleaning hospitals and picking up trash. There is also volunteer work where you can donate your talents like teaching children math or English. When I was in middle school, I read English fairy tales to children at the library. I was able to feel satisfaction and happiness when the children who listened to me laughed and asked me questions in English. I confess this English book reading service started partly to fulfill the mandatory community service time, but this experience made me think of teaching students as one of my future dream jobs. Like what I experienced, students can earn a diversity of beneficial effects while doing community service even though it started at first as mandatory community service.

 In conclusion, I believe that schools should require students to complete community service. This is because there are not a lot of ways for students to start community service, students can change their perspectives about community service, and students can have a chance to make life-changing experiences.

After reading 'By the waters of Babylon'

 It was the spring of 2012, when I was in 5th grade. I had not been able to speak English freely with other people since I had come back to Korea the year before. I was looking for a place where I could use English as much as I want, searching for other people like me.

 

 One day, my mother asked me a very weird question. She asked ‘What do you think about living away from your dad and I for a month?’. At first I was surprised and a little bit nervous, since I was worried my parents might drop me off somewhere, maybe in the middle of nowhere. I was relieved when I found out they had found a place for me to use English, which was the GLPS camp in KMLA. Now that I think of it, my parents did drop me in the middle of nowhere, at a school on a hill.

 

 I loved what I learned during camp and the English only policy so much that I had a hard time waiting for a year to pass. Sometimes I would think about the memories I made with my fellow classmates and imagine what it would be like when I went to camp again.

 

 Finally, a year passed and I went to camp again when I was in 6th grade. But this time, instead of dreaming of going to camp again, I started to dream of life at KMLA as a student of the school. Instead of spending the month at camp chit chatting with my friends I started to ask my PAs and TAs about school life at KMLA.

 

 Another year passed and I went to camp again , this time because I had received a scholarship from the previous one. As I spent the summer I decided to set getting into KMLA as my goal since I wanted to spend my school life like how I lived during camp, and I managed my grades and prepared to enter KMLA.

 

 Maybe it was because of my dreams of school life at KMLA, I do not know, but miraculously I was accepted into KMLA. I couldn’t believe I was going to my dream school. I was so excited that on the night before entering the dorm I could barely sleep.

 

 My first few weeks at KMLA were fantastic. It was similar to what I had thought and since it was still orientation time I was able to make lots of friends from all over the country. That is, until we started morning exercise.

 

 Before entering KMLA, I had watched a documentary about school life in KMLA. In the documentary students were able to get up easily and did not look so tired. However, as we started morning exercise the students started to turn in to zombies, and I was able to realize that school life might not be as easy as I had thought.

 

 Two months into my life at KMLA, my fantasies of school life have disappeared. Yes, I do still love my life here but, it does seem a lot different from what I had imagined before. John from ‘By The Waters of Babylon’ also seemed to realize the truth about the gods just like I realized what I imagined about life at KMLA was not exactly true. Just like how John found out that the gods were just people from the past I found out that the KMLA students are spending their time as typical Korean teenagers. Following the English only policy is not fitting well with them, and they might even sell their soul to the devil if they could skip morning exercise without getting any penalties.

 

 Now, whenever I see a teacher I pretend to follow the English only policy. I sleep wearing the Kendo uniform not to be late for morning exercise with tissues in my nose to stop nosebleeds. Nevertheless, I can bear all difficulties since I am dreaming the next fantasy of mine. It doesn’t matter if it disappears again later like it does here at KMLA when I enter that fantasy island.