Projects
|
FAQ
|
Announcements
Focus only on your own growth.
GapYear is a time for growth and happiness.
Back to ListBack to List
37th GappeprKim Ye-eun
A six-year gap period endured through passion and longing for hanbok.
Road Hanbok design and operation of the Road Hanbok-yeon brand.
# Six years forged by passion and longing for hanbok
I currently design modern garments inspired by hanbok as a road-hanbok designer and operate the Road Hanbokyen brand. It took many steps to arrive at the specific form I have now, but I went through that process with a single goal: passion and longing for hanbok.And during that process there was a path somewhat different from the gap year you might expect, but I had a similar experience, so I will introduce that part.
In fact, I suppose the four years of university and the two years I worked at Chilbo Middle School in Suwon — a total of six years — could be considered my gap years. Those six years enabled me to live the life I have now as a road-hanbok designer.The reason I had this long six-year period, as I mentioned above, was a single goal: passion and longing for hanbokIt was.
For me, the preparation process for the four years of university and two years of middle school work — which were like a gap year period — was not particularly special.On the recommendation of our church pastor, who said it was a field with good prospects, I entered the Department of Social Welfare without much hesitation (since I applied to only that one school on my university application, you can tell how little I worried ^^;). After studying there, I strongly felt it was not my path. ThenI began thinking about what I was good at, what I liked, and what I wanted to do, and before I knew it the hanbok I had been obsessed with in middle school came to mind, and I felt strongly that I should do hanbok.
Since I was a first-year university student at the time, I planned to re-enroll in a university where I could learn hanbok. Moreover, after dropping out of high school I had entered university a year earlier than my peers, so even if I enrolled in university again I would join at the same age as my peers, which made me more interested in re-enrolling.
# Parents' opposition, and a growing wish for road-hanbok
But I met opposition from my parents.My father said, "How can you judge whether a field fits you or not without studying it for even a year? If after finishing four years of study you still really want to do hanbok, I won't oppose you going back to school or going abroad then."My mother said, "Do you know how narrow and difficult the path of hanbok is? If you really want to do hanbok, graduate from the Department of Social Welfare, obtain a Level 1 social worker certification, and complete the teacher certification during university. If you meet these conditions, I won't oppose your doing hanbok." She was telling me to secure a way to make a living in case the hanbok work didn't go well.
At that time, the Department of Social Welfare I attended had begun as a Department of Family Welfare when it was founded, and the teacher certification program remained only until our class.
To that end, I did my best to manage my grades over the four years of university and was able to be among the four students to complete the teacher certification.That said,my passion for hanbok did not fade while I was at university. It was always on my mind; sometimes I felt time was being wasted and I became impatient.So I saved my allowance and learned how to make hanbok at a community center. My allowance was far from enough to cover tuition and materials, so from my second year of university until graduation I don't think I ever took a break from part-time jobs.I worked as a school cafeteria cashier, did early-morning cleaning at a dental clinic, tutored, taught after-school classes at a welfare center, took various short-term jobs, and even worked at Busan's first female stilt-walker event...
I prepared for early graduation because I wanted to graduate and work on hanbok as soon as possible, but the required hours of educational volunteer service for the teacher certification were not completed, so my second semester of senior year ended up being empty. I had fulfilled my credits and even took and passed the graduation exam with seniors the previous year, so there was no reason to keep attending school, but I couldn't graduate because of the educational volunteer credits.
So as soon as senior year summer vacation began I got a job at a hanbok shop in Cheongdam-dong. Actually, I was supposed to go on an overseas internship in the second semester. I had been accepted into a program run by the school and was preparing for an overseas internship, but on the advice of a hanbok designer I happened to meet, I decided to take a job at a hanbok shop and canceled the overseas internship plans despite my parents' objections. I am so grateful that a hanbok shop accepted me even though I was a non-major, so I immediately moved to Seoul. From June, for about seven months I worked happily with a pounding heart. The pay was far too little, but I rented a small boarding room near the shop and would leave 2–3 hours earlier than the scheduled start time to do many things I wasn't even asked to do, enjoying the joy and happiness of being immersed in hanbok.
As time passed, I found myself troubled as the social worker exam scheduled for February approached.Actually, the hanbok I had long dreamed of was one made into everyday wear that could be comfortably worn in daily life—like the Road Hanbok I am designing now. But at the place I worked, hanbok were wedding clothes or traditional garments worn on special occasions, and the more I worked there, the stronger my desire grew to create the kind of hanbok I dreamed of.Of course, living alone in a study dorm had left me mentally and physically exhausted. In the end, for various reasons I left the hanbok shop and spent about a month preparing for the Grade 1 social worker exam and passed. I had met all the conditions my mother had set.
# Happy work as a teacher with children, but an unwaning passion for hanbok
And when I wanted to get back into hanbok, I had many worries. I realized that entering the field would be more effective than going to college to learn hanbok, so I needed to get a job — but ordinary hanbok shops would mainly focus on standard wedding hanbok, and I had nothing to immediately start making the clothes I wanted.While worrying, I applied to be a middle school teacher using my Level 2 teaching certificate at the suggestion of my aunt who works at an elementary school. My aunt said,'A teacher has relatively more usable time and receives a salary, so wouldn't it be a good preparation period for doing what you want to do?'That was it.
So I was hired as a temporary teacher in the Technology and Home Economics department at Chilbo Middle School in Suwon.Teaching suited me far better than I expected. It fit my aptitude perfectly, and teaching and living with the children was a greater joy than I had imagined.However, separate from that, my passion for hanbok did not fade in my heart.Even while teaching I continued to study hanbok on my own, attended lectures and talks, and tried making pieces by myself, nurturing my dream.
# Finally launching my own hanbok brand!
Thus, in 2015 I came to launch the Road Hanbok brand.Actually, I didn't build the brand on a solid plan. People reacted to photos of the hanbok I had made and worn, and sometimes people wanted to buy them, so as I sold one by one the scale gradually grew, my ambitions grew, and somehow I was drawn along to this point.
My gap year was not something I made alone. In fact, it was a period of moment-to-moment choices influenced by the desire to meet my parents' demands, wishes, and expectations to some extent, and by my aunt's encouragement.I suppose the reason I didn't lose my way during that long time was having a clear and precise goal.
# The relentless efforts to overcome anxiety, fear, and lowered self-esteem
In fact, my greatest fear was, 'What if I fall behind others?'Even while I was studying this odd discipline, obtaining qualifications completely unrelated to my dream, and working at a job that had nothing to do with my dream, someone else was probably making unimaginable efforts to design better hanbok and progressing accordingly... The fear that I might fall behind them often struck me so strongly that it lowered my self-esteem.
But looking back now, that time was by no means wasted. I clearly realize that the foundation enabling me to design and run a brand now came from those six years.However, the fearful me back then seemed to dispel my anxiety by doing what I could within that time.These were efforts for my dream. I searched for various hanbok-related materials, attended lectures, learned how to make them, and through that I regained my self-esteem.
Also, for many people, a gap year becomes a concern for those around them and for parents. Because of that, you will question whether taking this time is really the right choice.But I was different. The people around me and my parents fully supported those six years that were my gap-year time. In particular, the two years I worked as a teacher were a period when family, friends, and even strangers praised and supported me. They actually wanted it to become my lifelong job rather than a gap year. Because of that, I had to make continuous efforts not to become complacent during my gap year.
Especially, betraying the expectations of my family — like my grandparents who, upon hearing I got a teaching job, danced with joy and kept thanking me — the friends who would look at me with worried eyes and try to dissuade me if I said I would quit teaching to do hanbok, the young students who call me 'teacher' and enjoy my classes, the steady salary, the social status that comes with being a teacher, and so on...In so many comfortable situations, constantly asking myself what I truly wanted and what kind of life I wanted to live, and reminding myself of it, was not easy.But as time passed, it became clear what I truly needed to do. My heart was telling me so.
# Time to Prepare to Pursue My Dream, Gap Year
The biggest difference is that I'm somewhat prepared — prepared to pursue my dream.Although I still need much more, the basic foundation that allowed me to pursue my dream was made possible, ultimately, by six years of gap years.At the time I felt like I was standing still and feared falling behind, but that period was a warm-up to run stronger.
Some people say: give up everything for your dream. They say you must make sacrifices for your dream.But that is not necessarily a happy path. A period to realistically identify and prepare what you truly need to achieve your dream is essential. Just as you must first learn how to make delicious food and secure capital to open a restaurant, a minimum of basic preparation is indispensable.If your goal is clear, don't worry. Don't be anxious about feeling left behind. Even if it seems like you are stuck in place, during a gap year you are warming up to run at full speed.I will always cheer for you as you get time to meet your true self.
Recommendations and submissions for '100 Gap Year' are always welcome. Please leave a comment or message, or email Marketing Manager Choi Dayoung (choi@koreagapyear.com)! |