The Hankyoreh, South Korea
08-25-06
Students from local university find success abroad
Engineering department sets sights on U.S. grad schools
When the engineering department of a relatively unknown Korean university
made a plan to send its students to prestigious graduate schools in the United
States, people laughed at them. They thought minor universities would never
accomplish such a thing. However, for the past two years, a significant
percentage of students have gone on to begin master’s or doctorate programs at
top graduate schools in the United States.
Kangnung National University is located in a remote eastern region of Gangwon
Province. It does not have the prestigious name value of Seoul National
University, Yonsei University, or Korea University. But this year, 14 out of 70
graduates of the Electrical Engineering Department received letters of admission
from master’s and doctorate courses at U.S. universities of high reputation, such
as Purdue University and the State University of New York. Last year, 10
graduates of the engineering department entered famous American universities
for graduate work.
Such a result was made possible by the unceasing efforts of the department’s
professors and students. The electrical engineering department is famous for its
strict management of school affairs. If a lecture is missed by a professor, there is
certainly a makeup one provided the next day. Examinations start at 7 p.m. in
order to prevent the loss of class time. The professors are such tough graders
that about half the department’s students are on academic probation by their
sophomore year.
The university provides the engineering students with reading rooms, which can
be used for study 24 hours a day. The rooms are always filled, even at midnight.
During vacations, the university provides a daily three-hour TOEFL (Test of
English as a Foreign Language) class. Students who take part in this program
have to study in reading rooms for 12 hours a day, beginning from 9 a.m.
"Most students study harder than they did when they were seniors in high
school," said 26-year-old Choi Seon-uk, a senior in the department. "To compete
with their counterparts from prestigious universities worldwide, there is no
alternative except to work harder."
It was from the mid-1990s that the Department of Electrical Engineering turned
its eyes to the overseas educational market. After selecting its first freshmen in
1990, the department produced excellent students, but the barrier they faced in
gaining employment was high. In a society that values a school’s name more
than a graduate’s individual ability, Kangnung University has had to experience
the difficult lot of a local university. Students fell into sense of loss, thinking that
even if they made their utmost effort, it would be impossible for them to get a job.
The department’s professors agreed that they should dedicate their lives to
educating their students. Prof. Jo Myeong-seok said, "I wanted to plant within the
students a sense of confidence, so that if they accumulated ability from that day
forward, they could confront the world in a dignified manner."
As a solution to free the students from the societal limits of their academic
background, the professors set up a plan to send students to overseas
universities. If the students possessed ability in both their major and in English,
the professors reasoned, they should be able to enter graduate schools in the
United States. Consequently, if they obtain an academic degree abroad, their
abilities will be recognized in Korea.
Above all, it was urgently important to remove the sense of loss from students
unable to imagine a bright future because of their unvalued academic
credentials. Professors asked students about their progress on a one-on-one
basis almost daily. If there was time during classes, they encouraged their
students by saying, "To enter a particular university is not an end, but a
beginning. The most important thing in your life is to have a goal."
The first fruits of their labor were seen in 1997, when a student from the electrical
engineering department was admitted to a master’s program at Iowa State
University. After that, in 2000 and 2002, one student, respectively, and in 2003
and 2004, two students, respectively, went abroad to study. Soon, entering
prestigious universities in foreign countries was not just the story of other
unversities’ students, and attitudes in Kangnung University’s electrical
engineering department began to change. The students came to have a sense of
confidence, and an increasing number of students became absorbed in their
engineering and English classes.
All of the students who finished master’s or doctorate courses in the U.S. have
since been employed by prominent companies in and out of the nation, such as
Intel, Samsung Electronics, and LG Electronics. Im Gu-bong, 27, who gained a
job at Samsung Electronics in October last year after completing a master’s
course in the United States, said, "Professors of our department are mentors who
endlessly provide advice and give motivation for the students to find their own
way."
The Department of Electrical Engineering is preparing for a new challenge.
"Whether or not you go abroad to study, our goal is to help our students to have
ability in their major subjects and English so that they can win recognition from
the nation’s major enterprises. We should realize that the college entrance
examination doesn’t decide the life of a student. Our society should be an open
one that can provide a second chance to young people."