When I was young, I felt something funny when I realized that the Chinese characters behind “jung,” “go,” and “dae” in Korean, which are the first syllables of the words middle school, high school, and university, were the characters used to measure the size or degree of something. I thought that the letter that precedes the place where I learn something must have a greater meaning. As a child, the meaning of “size” felt too small to be the meaning behind the names of school levels.
The “dae” of the university I encountered again in my third year of high school was different from the feeling of being excited about a big snack. This is because, for me, who spent a total of 11 years and half of my life at school, it was unexpected and questionable what kind of meaning the study should have. After writing down the desired school and submitting it as before, it is not that I want to go back to the drawing, but that I want to go to a specific department of a specific university, and I have to match the score. Unlike before, so many options and requirements were given to me.
My future hope was always to be a writer. My dream remains unchanged until now because it was good to write simply, and I could not find anything I loved more than writing. However, to become a writer, you did not have to go to the Literature and Creativity Department. Rather than asking me why I wanted to be a writer, my high school teacher asked me what kind of writer I wanted to be. That was the important part. I decided to go to college to find an answer that only appeared after experiencing and feeling more about “why” than a question that can be answered even alone.
Studying in more detail and in-depth based on the interest and curiosity of “I” that I have discovered over the course of a big study, that is, 12 years of the curriculum. I think the people I can meet in the process and the experiences that I can only experience in college would be the most suitable for me among the options after high school graduation.
There are people of various backgrounds, genders, and nationalities in college, and if I want, I can meet them anytime. Meeting colorful people is more valuable than any other experience. It is not easy to hear the stories of people who have lived different lives, from 20 to 30, and who have gathered with one common goal. In addition, there are large and systematic clubs in universities where people with interests other than academics join, and there are still “adults” who will lead and teach young twenties. For me, who is immature, having an adult who can understand my mistakes and ignorance felt more tender than anything else. Above all, there are as many diverse writings as various people in the Literature and Creative Writing Department that I decided to go to. I was curious about the novels my classmates were writing, and I needed someone to read my writings.
I am attracted to the “sharing” and “fictional” of the novel. I like the “lies” that the author has not experienced or creates based on what he or she has experienced. I like the power to get away from “themselves” and imagine the unknown. I write novels alone, but I read them all together. If you write a novel alone and read it alone, I think it is only a job, not a novel. I want to be a writer who writes something that can be shared with everyone. I want to write a piece that sympathizes with anyone and helps them understand and accept others even a little. I hope my first step to become such a writer will have a good influence on my life in the future, if not in a big way.