My name is Selim and I am from Turkey where there is a famous saying which goes, "Even if wisdom is in China, you had better go look for it there¡±. the point being the importance of education and wisdom, and emphasizing the extent to which one should go to get enlightenment if necessary, even if it means traveling to a far off land such as China, a country considered far from my homeland. This saying and its morals has been the pushing force for me to leave my homeland and head for Korea, and finally study economics at Seoul National University.

Before I came to Korea I had many doubts about my education in this mysterious country.

Korea seemed to be a unique country and a hard place to live in. There were many obstacles standing before me, many of which derived from my own prejudices. First of all, I was not able to speak the language and the culture was somewhat different from my own.

So the first thing I did when I arrived in Korea was to enroll in a Korean language program to get to know the ins and outs of the Korean language. After I finished my Korean language studies, I entered SNU, where many of my previously held worries about attending a foreign university were drastically reduced. One month before my official entrance into the school, a lady called me and said that she was a SNU student, senior to me. She described to me the university system and told me many other things about SNU. She said there was a student club and I would become a member of that club automatically upon entering the school.

The most surprising part of this was she told me that all my seniors were going to help me in getting accustomed to school life and would help me with everything from class registration to club activities. It seemed incredible because it is something that you would never be able to experience in my home country. In Turkey, all freshmen go their own way and they do everything by themselves. Nobody helps them. This sets SNU apart from other universities, making it special. From professors to students, everyone is very kind and they are always ready to help you whenever you call them. Frankly, this school opened my heart to love this beautiful and unique country, and led me to love the Korean people. To express my feelings in a short and common motto, I ¢¾ SNU.