My first year here was difficult and challenging, yet there was something magical and intriguing about the honest generosity of the Korean people. I had wanted to stay longer, but during my time here my family had relocated to the States and urged me to return home.

Although I spent the next 4 years attending high school in my ¡®home¡¯ country, it was a depressing and uninspired time in my life. In my heart I was longing to return to that magical nation I had fallen in love with. Therefore, during my senior year of high school I made up my mind that I would return to Korea at long last and attend college there. Some of my teachers laughed, some were surprised and a few were sincerely impressed. However, I paid no attention to the thoughts of others. I had made up my mind and nothing was going to stop me.

There was just one small problem. I didn¡¯t know anything about Korean colleges! I began by surfing the web, looking for whatever information I could find. I came across a Korean university site and began researching the application methods. During that time I contacted an old friend of mine in Korea and she connected me to a foreign student studying at SNU. Through this new friend I found out the necessary application information as well as room and board methods.

So I prepared my application papers and information and was ready to go, but there was yet another small problem. I didn¡¯t speak fluent Korean. I could remember a good amount of Korean from my middle school days, but it certainly wasn¡¯t going to be sufficient enough for college-level work. I therefore looked into the SNU Korean language program and figured that I would get into level 4 out of 6 and that a full six months at the institute should be adequate enough to prepare myself.

So I set off to Korea and began attending the language school where I had a great experience, learned a lot of Korean and made a bunch of great international friends. After a full six months there I had completed level 5 and started my first semester at SNU.

That first semester was incredibly testing. I was challenged with reading entire papers and textbooks in Korean, writing homework assignments and reports in Korean and taking exams all in Korean. It was very stressful indeed. I was challenged not only scholastically, but also mentally and emotionally. Being separated from my family and the familiar comforts of home just added to the troubles, and on top of that I began to get sick of Korean food. By the time the semester was almost finished I couldn¡¯t take it any longer and decided that I needed to return home and find my true motivation.

Therefore, I took the next year off, returned home and set off with some friends traveling around the U.S. During that time I realized a lot about my own country and myself. I realized that people are all the same and that the external things in life just aren¡¯t as important as they seem. I found a new strength and determination within myself and I carried that with me back to Korea.

The next semester of school, after returning to Korea, was remarkably different from that first semester. I was filled with hope and determination to make the most of my experience here and overcame all challenges. I joined some other foreign friends who had recently started a club for foreign students called KISA , which turned out to be a great experience and a wonderful opportunity to make friends with other students in a similar situation.

My sophomore and junior years would be much more challenging after I began taking courses in my major. However, I have kept up my determination and became more active in KISA, eventually becoming president of the organization at our school, which brought many great opportunities. Although it came with struggles, I had great friends around me and it was truly a blessing.

Now that I am a senior, I look back upon my time here and feel a sense of great pride and joy, knowing how much I¡¯ve grown, matured and developed as a person during this time. I am grateful to all my professors, friends and family for allowing me this amazing opportunity to study at SNU.

For those of you reading this and planning to study here in Korea I would definitely recommend SNU. It¡¯s a great school and great environment in which to spend one¡¯s college years. Thank you and good luck.