The first semester of the 2022 school year will begin at Chungbuk National University on March 2nd, when the opening issue, 202 of the English Chungbuk Times is published. This semester, which coincides with the arrival of new freshmen, is the first one in about two years where all classes are conducted face-to-face. CBT reporters wanted to create a space for students to ask seniors questions about school life, including those who are entering the school at 22 and those who have not properly experienced face-to-face classes. Through popular Social Media, which is widely used by school students, a survey was conducted, for about a week, to collect questions for seniors. After that, the questions were put to various college seniors and the answers will be published today. This article contains the experiences of seniors who want to advise their juniors, starting with face-to-face classes, careers, and clubs, so CBT reporters hope it will be conducive to a useful future school life.

#School Life

1. Please tell us how to manage time during the semester. 
  Success in university is all about time management. There are differences, of course, in preferences and approaches on how to complete a day, but I recommend including self-development activities that help you to gain and maintain a productive daily routine. Since most university lectures end before the evening, self-improvements like exercising or going to academies will help you to profitably manage time. In addition, you should carefully manage the short blocks of free time between classes. Consider making incidental plans around your fixed class schedule, so you naturally manage your time well. If you’re not good at time management, it will be helpful to make a to-do list where you can cross off the completed tasks. (Department of International Business major, Song Gyu-sun)

2. Is there a way to enjoy college life more?
  University is a place to study, but I think it’s also an important first step to meet various people and build a social life as a young adult. So, I want you to enjoy cultural life including club activities, contests, traveling, and performances. In particular, I recommend that you develop and enhance yourself by meeting a diversity of people with different majors and different values. I believe that the experience gained through activities makes us understand the world better. (Korean Language Education major, Kim Seok-han)

3. Tips for freshmen who want to get close to their seniors!
  Seniors usually want to get close to their juniors. However, if the senior has to initiate contact, the juniors may feel burdened, so I recommend that juniors take the initiative to contact seniors first! You may feel a bit awkward but, the courage to contact your seniors first, is all it takes to make friends with them. (Korean Language Education major, Kim Seok-han)

#Building a Career Path

1. Please recommend external activities other than contests and clubs.
  I recommend exchange student and corporate intern programs as excellent external activities! In my opinion, contests and clubs may not help you get a job to the extent that you might think, so you should choose carefully within the constraints of your time. It can be very helpful in terms of experience and relationships though. Visiting other countries as an exchange student is probably the most exciting experience that you can have in university. If you have the slightest chance, I recommend you to go! In addition, as more and more people want to work in public enterprises, I think it is very helpful to have a short internship in related government offices or public enterprises. (Department of International Business major, Song Gyu-sun)

2. Please let us know the conditions to meet for passing the exchange student requirements, and what’s good to prepare in advance.
  You need good grades and language scores to meet the exchange student program requirements! The required language scores vary from school to school, but you only need to exceed the standard score. However, if there are more applicants than the number of exchange student slots, higher grades, language scores, and interview scores will determine whether you pass or not. Therefore, you should prepare everything to the best of your ability. Also, if you are selected for the student exchange program, make sure to set specific goals! My goal was to visit all the travel destinations around the area where I went as an exchange student. It’s also good to set goals related to language skills. Without these goals, time can be wasted. Lastly, I recommend taking a foreign language test immediately after returning from your time abroad. (Department of Electronics Engineering, Gong Yu-jin)

#Advice from Seniors to Juniors

  I hope you enjoy your freshmen year to the max, and pay attention to grade management at the same time! Your grade is very important, because it is an indicator of how sincere you have been in school. However, if you start taking your major courses in the second year, you will have more time to focus on studying. Therefore, I recommend that you gain various experiences, such as club activities, in the freshmen year. (Department of Electronics Engineering major, Jeon Ye-goo)

  First of all, age and grades are not important at all. University student’s time flies fast, and what you need when you move toward entering real society is independence. I hope college life is a process through which you learn and grow by facing yourself as much as possible, and by becoming a person who pioneers something on your own through it. In reality, universities are ultimately a process to get a job, and the reality is colder than expected. Therefore, if you don’t get into the habit of thinking for yourself and giving your own answers, as the grade goes up, it’s hard to properly cope with the surrounding relationships. In addition you won’t be able to prepare for employment and study on your own. I dare you to enjoy your university life while developing the power to overcome yourself in this process. Don’t be afraid and try to face and experience as much as possible. Then you will become more mature and solid by having various experiences, by fighting with your friends and seniors, asking questions, experiencing frustration, and working part-time jobs. Thank you. (Department of International Business major, Song Gyu-sun)

By Kim Ji-soo
 sixteen@cbnu.ac.kr
By Ji Jae-rim
 jlim0714@cbnu.ac.kr