“It is okay to take a break.” I wanted to say to myself, looking back on my academic life that lasted for about 14 years from elementary school to university. I felt I needed a moment to stop for a while and look back on myself on the endless road, and I decided that the time was now. My decision to take a leave of absence was simple. School no longer felt interesting and meaningful. Last semester, I was frustrated with how I spent my day going back and forth between school and home without being able to focus on class. “What should I do to make me want to go back to school?” The conclusion I made after thinking about it was a leave of absence.
After taking a leave of absence, my life has completely changed. Currently, I have been working at a broadcasting station for five months. After working at the newsroom, I am taking my first step as an assistant director. I continued new challenges every day by learning the detailed news production process, from floor management to subtitle work to server management. The first social life I experienced was not easy. There were mistakes, and many physically difficult moments while working long hours. However, the experience of learning how to write articles while working as a reporter at The Dongguk Post is of great help to my current work. Although I do not write articles myself, I feel the joy of learning new things by reviewing reporters’ manuscripts and watching the process of being transmitted to the news. The moment the news flows and the completed screen are delivered to the viewers, I realize the significance of my role.
Working at a newsroom brought about a big change in my life pattern. The unique working hours of going to work at 10 P.M. and leaving the office at dawn the next day made me realize that the news was produced 24 hours a day without stopping. At first, it was difficult to adapt to a life in which days and nights were reversed, but as time passed, I gradually got used to this new rhythm. Even that change came to me as a new challenge and a process of growth, adjusting my life pattern according to the tension and speed of my work.
Taking a leave of absence was not just a time to stop studying, but an opportunity to look deeper into myself and think about my future direction. As I experienced a reality that could not be known only by the knowledge I learned from the book, I felt the weight of the world beyond the fence of school. Of course, there were difficult moments, but in the process, I learned how to solve problems by myself, and my sense of responsibility became stronger.
Now I am getting ready to go back to school. Based on my changed mindset and enriched experience, I plan to focus more on my studies and continue my efforts to embody my dreams. On the day I return to school, I will look back on this time and reflect on the meaning of growth that the leave of absence has brought me. This was not just a rest, but a foothold to move forward. if someone is thinking about taking a leave of absence, I would like to tell them without hesitation “It is okay to take a break.”