Hard times with Korean by Kyla

Hard times with Korean by Kyla - December 2024 Scholarship Essay

When I came into university, I decided to minor in Korean. This was a great decision because I personally like to explore Korean culture from the TV shows, to K-pop, and many other aspects. My freshman in college was amazing both the Korean classes I took went well. The professors were great and I was really inspired to continue learning. No sophomore year is where the issue took place both my fall and spring semester. I had the same professor and they just weren’t well equipped to teach the intermediate content of language. It was really bad first and foremost. They didn’t use class time wisely at all. We would rush through the hard content and take our time on the easy content. The projects were kind of unclear and the in class work was unnecessary. Luckily, I had a friend in the course and we pushed each other to pull through both semesters. The real issue was what to do after sophomore year because in order to get my Korean minor I have to have a certain number of credits in Korean courses. It was a hard decision, but I had to wait on taking advanced Korean. I knew I was not repaired and I didn’t want to go for the struggle of sophomore year again I didn’t come to this decision very easily because I did go to the first advanced class just to see. From what I saw. It was not going to work out. I then decided to simply take electives to finish out my minor, which I’m still currently doing. In this rough and challenging experience my sophomore year I learned several things. One is that if you push yourself beyond what seems a challenge you’ll be able to pull through. It might not turn out how you want it, but in the end, it’ll all be ok. The second thing I learned is that it’s best to connect with your peers because you are all experiencing the same challenge. I found myself talking to my classmates more and getting advice and help from them, which was very helpful. The last thing I learned was there are other routes to success And sometimes you have to take the one that was unexpected. I really wanted to take advanced Korean, but I learned that it was best to stick with the electives. I still plan to get my minor and this whole struggle has inspired me to self study and really work on learning the language myself.