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Focus only on your own growth.
GapYear is a time for growth and happiness.
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▶ Go to Heo-gan's Gap Year Story Part 1 (click)
# Through the gap year, the 'depth of thought' deepened.
When talking about before and after my gap year, the first thing I want totalk about is the 'depth ofthinking'.When I had just entered the travel alternative school during my gap year, I had a habit of judging events or people after seeing them once. In short, I didn't think deeply about things, and I didn't really know what that meant.
When I studied, I simply believed that what was written in books was the truth, and I believed the news as it came out. One day during morning assembly, when each person came forward every morning to play a news item they had chosen, a friend brought three articles written by three newspapers about a single incident. The three newspapers interpreted the same incident differently, and the range of differences was so wide that it was very confusing.
One newspaper criticized a person based only on the content of the incident, another explained the processes that led to it and the reasons why it couldn't be helped, and yet another suddenly published an article about teenagers and people in their twenties playing games a lot, claiming that's why it happened. Seeing these wildly different and absurd articles, I—who had always believed only what I saw—was very confused.
What should I believe? This is the news, and I had trusted the news, but it was the first time all the news sources were saying different things. Then another friend shared his thoughts on those differing perspectives. He honestly spoke about respecting each viewpoint and about objectivity; he was really impressive. And I realized I had been pretending that the stories in the news were my own.
I had been living as if stealing someone else's thoughts. Since that day I began trying to find my own opinions and thoughts. Especially when studying history, each book told different stories about the same event, and I was curious. What is true? Much of this curiosity was resolved by traveling myself, visiting museums, or doing interviews, and I gradually developed the ability to think and seek the truth.
Three years passed and I've come to the present. I read many books, many events happened, and I met many people. Now, whatever I do or see, I try not to take it at face value. Especially things I encounter through news or the internet that I haven't seen myself—I do this even more. It's not just about doubting; it's about trying to find the truth.The more attention I give, the more I look things up again, and the more I try to properly face other truths, the more I will change. I want to become the kind of person with a clear, correct perspective.
#I am currently interning as a local guide in Vietnam.
I am currently interning as a local guide in Vietnam. It's already been five months since I went abroad. When I first arrived here, I honestly felt overwhelmed.A country I didn't know at all, and a language I couldn't understand: Vietnamese.In that situation, the first and only thought I had was: 'I need to learn about the culture here.' This is how I had traveled up until now, and I didn't know any other way.
I impulsively looked for a language school to start with the most basic language study. Classes began, and I started learning Vietnamese — which I couldn't understand at all and had never tried — through English. Having never taken classes in English before, I actually couldn't understand anything. I spent about a month not understanding anything, carrying a dictionary, doing homework, and attending classes. As I studied every day I became close with one friend. This friend is Vietnamese and said they would start studying Korean to study in Korea in three months.
And they couldn't speak any English at all. We just met, couldn't communicate, but helped each other. When studying Vietnamese, the friend helped me; when studying Korean, I helped the friend. When going to work at the company,I studied Vietnam's history and culture.
I studied partly to tell travelers visiting Vietnam more detailed and interesting stories, but as a foreigner who decided to live in Vietnam, I considered it the minimum courtesy.Now that I had decided to live here, I wanted to hang out with them. I wanted to talk with them.During my gap year, and later in high school, I learned about the importance of manners and why I should know the history and culture of the places I visit.As someone who moved abroad right after graduating, it was only natural.
I recently saw the news and this kind of article was published a lot and caused controversy: 'Chinese guides are giving incorrect information about Gyeongbokgung and several other cultural heritage sites...' Reading those articles, I began to see what I should pursue as a guide in the future.
I wanted to tell the truth. To do that, I thought I shouldn't rely on just one book or the internet, but should listen to local Vietnamese people, visit the historical sites in person to see and understand them, and research by consulting various books.
These days my goal is to read all the Vietnamese books that contain the history of Hanoi. My skills are still lacking, but I believe that no matter how long it takes, if I put in the effort I can finish. I think a great guide is one who tells stories that are truer to the facts, even uncomfortable stories that aren't biased toward anyone.
# University is where you begin to consider when you want to develop expertise in a particular field.
Of course I could have finished the travel alternative school, started studying for entrance exams, and gone to university, but I chose an internship.This is what I think university is: a place to develop more expertise and to study and explore with people who have chosen the same path. Maybe it's an illusion I have. But I wanted to go to university when I felt the need to study more.
Both working right after high school like me and going to university have pros and cons. We studied for twelve years and learned a lot. But hasn't what we've learned so far been the minimum common knowledge for living in society and studying for the college entrance exam, rather than things that fit me?
I still think I don't know what makes me happy, what I'm interested in, or how many people there are in the world and how they live. That's why I chose an internship.I still don't know whether I'll go to university or not. I also don't know which country, major, or university I'll attend. But all of this depends on when I truly want to study,I will begin to consider it when I want to develop expertise in a particular field.
#I took a gap year at a relatively young age. That allowed me to find my dream a little earlier and get a head start toward it.
I took a gap year at a relatively young age. That allowed me to find my dream a little earlier and get a head start toward it.Now, at a young age, I'm living abroad and also working at a company. The good thing is that I encounter in daily life things that are hard to come across in Korea without effort—living overseas, meeting foreigners, English, Vietnamese—and I'm enjoying it.
Of course it's not all good. The most noticeable downside is that there is no mentor. It's a path I have to pioneer myself, and whether there's darkness or light ahead is something you only find out by going—it's a risky path. It's an adventure. Not the kind of adventure where you come back to life if you die, but one where I have to take risks and play directly. However, rather than not doing what I want and living by enduring it, I prefer to go for it once even if I fail.
So what if I spend one or two gap years out of a long life doing what I want for a few years? How happy would it be if I could find my dream during that time and pursue that path? I started the adventure a bit earlier than others, and I'm enjoying it fully. I'm satisfied with that. Let's enjoy it!
# We are younger now than at any other time. And now is the time when we can pursue our dreams with the most passion.
Everyone has dreams, but the people I've seen put those dreams deep in their hearts and live postponing them to the future. Many people end up not achieving their dreams that way. When we feel something we want to do, when we hear that inner resonance, even if running toward that dream will cost me more, even if the time and things I've done so far feel like a waste, I will run toward the dream.
We are younger now than at any other time. And now is the time when we can pursue our dreams with the most passion.
Now—although it's still in progress—my current goal is to stop overthinking and just do it first.Until now I spent too much time weighing and questioning things. As a result I often only thought about things and failed to act. So these days I don’t measure or nitpick—I just do it. Of course there are risks when I act that way, but if I spend too much time thinking and worrying about what holds me back, isn’t that more wasted time and more unnecessary? I’ve decided to put caution off for a while.
Leaving the country was, for me, a journey, and I’ve simply been continuing that journey until now. My recent goal—and the biggest change from taking a gap year—is that if a decision is already made, don’t U-turn; just go straight. Lately, especially as I’ve grown proud of what I’m doing, I really feel like I’m flying.
Teenagers' Gap Year isTaking a gap year as a teenagerIt tells the stories of people who have taken a gap year. They experienced gap years through various activities such as alternative schools, travel, and volunteering, and are pursuing their own new challenges.
Through middle and high school, influenced by parents and societal pressure to focus only on college entrance exam scores, many of you feel frustrated and at a loss, not knowing what your dreams are. I wanted to show that there are other paths besides the one laid out for you. Although this may not fully resonate with your current reality, I hope that, like them, you won’t forget your own precious dreams and will keep moving forward.
Recommendations and submissions for Teenagers' Gap Year are always welcome.
Please leave a comment or message, or send an email to Marketing Manager Da-young Choi (choi@koreagapyear.com)!