Yan Chen ’27 shares her experience studying in South Korea as a recipient of the Don Reid Sogang University Scholarship. Learn about the program »

As I write in a bedroom occupied by half organized suitcases filled with an assortment of snacks written in a language I have only begun learning, trinkets which serve no true purpose, and clothes which desperately need to be put away, I can’t help but reminisce on the unexpected joys accumulated in Seoul–a city with an abundance of experiences to be had.

 

 

For a lucky month, I studied at Sogang University in Seoul, South Korea. I immediately immersed myself in learning as much as I could in my two courses, Beginning Korean & Intro to Korean Religions. Each course was a portal into Korean culture, revealing a unique perspective of the Korean people which had escaped me as an American. Intro to Korean Religions began with a concise description from the professor, “Religion is people. You are not only learning about the condition of religion in this class but the condition of the modern Korean people”. Beginning Korean progressed at a rate which left many of us scrambling to keep up in the best way. The professors were funny and quick-witted–as we struggled, we also found ourselves laughing until our stomachs hurt. My education in Sogang was a whirlwind of fast-paced classes on culture, society, and language intertwined with weekly trips to sites which repeatedly left us slack-jawed. We visited dozens of locations; Gyeongbokgung Palace, Namsan Tower, Imjingak, Everland Theme Park, and more. Each trip was an opportunity to visit the sites which have made Seoul the cultural and technological epicenter of the peninsula.

July was an overbearing heatwave of joy. I brought back with me an overabundance of knowledge, experience, and memories as each day encouraged an adventure of its own. I feel like I’m returning to San Francisco with an openness I did not have before beginning my studies at the University of San Francisco. As I begin my sophomore year, I cannot help but feel that I am returning to the Bay Area with an appreciation for all that I experienced in Seoul. I am returning as someone who has had the rare opportunity to see the world beyond our own borders.

 

 

In Seoul, I was confronted with the perspectives which my parents had grown accustomed to in Asia. The differences in attitudes and ideals presented there – from the international population of students in the Sogang Summer Program, the lessons impressed upon me in class, the journeys throughout the streets of Seoul where each avenue was populated with individuals who had something new to share led me to an overwhelming feeling of appreciation and a push towards introspection as I left the wondrous city.

I now have a greater appreciation for the perspectives which had previously escaped me and I’ve noticed a new found desire in me to to continue pursing internationally-minded learning with a new respect for the incredible merit of cultures outside of our own. A memory which persists is the joy expressed by the Hong Kongese students in my Korean class when they realized I could speak Cantonese with them. I’ve learned that there are potential connections waiting to be made with those outside our homes and there is just as much to learn from those we have yet to meet.

It is now August, and as I listen to the mourning doves in the Philadelphia mornings I cannot help but feel that my experiences in Seoul will be carried with me even as their details begin to dissolve in the passage of time–I’ll miss our days in Seoul.

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