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Focus only on your own growth.
GapYear is a time for growth and happiness.
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Hello,To briefly introduce myself, I am Park Siyong, born in 1989 and 26 years old.
I want to share my story with friends in their twenties. Twenty may not seem very old, but I believe it is at least the minimum condition that allows you to take on challenges when you set your mind to it. It is clear that such challenges can lead to great success or great failure, but one important thing I hope you don't overlook is that you gain something.I want to tell my gap year story, in which I lost some things but gained much more.
When I decided to take a gap year, it was shortly before graduating from high school. I had studied a bit during my school years, but I did not receive attention because I was not first place. Although I studied as hard as I could, I did not play or enjoy myself much either, and I felt a sense of crisis that I might become one of the most pitiable types of people. I was upset because I hated being unable to express my voice and being evaluated within the tools set by school and society.I thought that if I went to university like that I would just become an ordinary college student, and I wanted to be special at least once while young, so I went to India for a gap year.
"Dirty"
"Uncivilized"
"I don't know"
These were the prejudices people had about the country 'India' at the time. Of course these prejudices were not absolute even then, and I think such views may have continued to the present. However, the India described by 'experts' was a little different.
They argued that India could become an economic power capable of competing equally with China, that the United States and Europe had already begun to move to strengthen friendly relations with India, and that the Korean government at the time was somewhat late in responding — emphasizing India's importance. Because I had the habit of reading economic newspapers since childhood, I agreed with this view and became more convinced about the country India.After finding a place to live and enrolling in school in India and settling in, I engaged in gap year activities such as starting a business, working with international NGOs, and volunteering. In that way I was able to gain relatively more experience than my peers.
If there is one thing that stands out, I want to share my internship experience.
I am Korean, but I lived and worked with Indians. Still, I thought the place I would eventually return to was Korea. So I thought I needed to understand Korean culture, especially corporate culture, and I interned at a company based in Mumbai.
I cannot reveal the actual names, but one was a public corporation and the other was a private company.
At the public corporation I could not really be said to be an office-based intern, but I worked as an interpreter for market delegations visiting Mumbai from Korea about two to three times a month, and through this experience I learned the distinctive Korean behavior and culture. As an interpreter between Indian buyers and Korean companies, unexpected things always happened: people raised their voices, and sometimes faces turned red when the expected price did not match. Each time, thanks to bosses who stubbornly said, 'Interpreter, handle it as you see fit,' I struggled to restore relations enough to get another meeting, even if an immediate contract was not secured. Through this I learned skills in dealing with unexpected situations and communication.
I learned a lot during my internship at the private company. For various reasons, though I do not know the specific reasons...
I somehow felt I should not disclose it, so I will not. As a hint, it was a company that operated aircraft.
There I learned how to build systems, and I was able to learn more concretely about that field, which I had not known well until then. Above all, I learned exactly the true meaning of 'global talent' as my manager defined it at the time.
When people talk about global talent, they often mean someone who uses long overseas experience and fluent foreign language skills as their strengths to work on the international stage. Of course that's true, but according to him it is not enough: true global talent must be able to adapt well to Korean organizational culture and, outwardly, to the free-spirited cultures of other countries.
For an easy example, I think it means being someone who can fluidly change their behavior at each moment while dining with a Korean boss and a foreign buyer at the same time.I think there are people who may need a gap year and people who may not, depending on their situation. But one thing is clear: finding yourself is not a mere psychological victory for self-satisfaction; it also greatly helps objective self-development, and a gap year is what helps with that.
You don't have to become someone great. You don't need to accept others' criticism and worries. The judgment is yours to make, because your life is yours.But if you are thinking of taking a gap year, or have decided to take one, I want to share a few things as someone who has taken a gap year before.
It's important to think through and consider carefully.To take a gap year you need a thorough plan of course, and whether you travel or work, the most important thing is thinking about yourself.
You should think about what kind of person you are, what your tendencies are, and what makes you happiest and what you do best. Our society tells young people, full of passion, to throw themselves into challenges without looking back — saying that 'youth willingly endures hardship' and that failures when young become great lessons. There's certainly truth in that, but please do not ignore the risks and anxieties we must bear in society now. Even if you try to break a rock with an egg or headbutt bare ground, thoroughly analyze and consider the consequences that may follow, and think about what will happen if things do not go well.
What do you want to do? What do you want to become? Or is there something that simply makes you happy and excited just to look at it? If you have that, you're very lucky; if you don't, don't worry. It's perfectly natural.But even if you don't have anything you want to do or become, I think you at least have something you like. You might like cartoons, enjoy talking with friends, or love food — try branching out from these small things and cultivate the habit of imagining somewhat more pleasant and interesting activities. That imagination itself will surely become the starting point.
Siyong Park
Former CEO, PHILINDIA Consultancy
Former Youth Representative (MDGs), United Nations Association of India
Judge, 2012 Korea-ASEAN Frontier Forum
Consultant, Korea-China-Japan Youth Business Competition
Seoul Global Leader Training Program (Program planning and overall management for the India region)
U.S. Representative, Seoul Model Nuclear Security Summit
Interpreter, KOTRA (Mumbai)
ASEAN+3 Youth Symposium hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cambodia(Representative of the Republic of Korea)
TEDxUNIST speaker, India Business 2008
In charge of protocol for international participants at the UN MDGs Summit