Projects
|
FAQ
|
Announcements
Focus only on your own growth.
GapYear is a time for growth and happiness.
Back to ListBack to List
I think this might be the kind of gift a gap year gives us. 'A year-long time that, through experiences and thoughts I hadn't tried before and the learnings I gained, becomes the courage to choose for myself the path where I can be happier.' -Drawing time for myself in everyday life / Lee So-hee, gap-year participant |
63rd gap-year GapperLee So-hee
Gap year period:January 2016 to January 2017 (1 year total)
Drawing time for myself in everyday life.
# 'A gap year in everyday life' is also "not bad," "worth trying."
Before I tell my story, there's something I'd like to say first. ^^
I didn't prepare ahead to start a 'gap year.' And I don't have an impressive story like traveling the world or doing overseas volunteer work.
The modest gap year I started from my everyday life with what I had might not be the kind of story featured here.
However, if there are people who, around the same time as me, are facing similar concerns, I wrote this to convey the message that 'a gap year within everyday life' is also 'not bad' and 'worth trying.'
Then, from now on, I'll calmly tell you the story of my year.
# The beginning was a 'lecture'.
After finishing my third year of university, it was toward the end of 2015.
I went along with a senior to the 'Ahopsu Talk Concert' and met someone called 'young adventurer Lee Dong-jin'; that day was December 20, 2015.
The next day. I was disappointed that the short talk had ended, so I read his book 'Are You a Challenger?' and looked up the video of his talk on '15 Minutes to Change the World.' He, who had taken on many challenges, had also wrestled with the choices of 'getting a job' and 'dreams,' but he felt happiness the moment he became completely absorbed in the work he was doing, and with the resolve to 'do work I can be absorbed in,' he continued to take on challenges.
After watching this talk,“Lee So-hee, what kind of work do you become absorbed in?”he asked me,and the answer was 'drawing.'
And the next day I packed a sketchbook and a brush pen and left for Jeju Island.
#'I must draw...!'
Sitting on the outdoor terrace of the 'Bomnal' cafe in Jeju, I simply began to draw the scene before my eyes.
I was drawing an ordinary cafe scene,and even with my nose running from the strong Jeju wind, I was completely absorbed in the drawing, and I loved that image of myself.'I want to live by drawing,' that feeling began to grow little by little.
#I was majoring in 'Airline Tourism Services,' which had nothing to do with drawing, and preparing to become a flight attendant.
If there's one thing to reveal at this point, it is that I had not learned to draw, I had not majored in it, and it was completely unrelated to drawingI was majoring in 'Airline Tourism Services' and preparing to become a flight attendant.
After finishing my third year, when I really had to focus solely on getting a job, suddenly the passionate presence called 'drawing' appeared, and I fell into deep contemplation.
When I was lost in worry, lacking the courage to choose what I truly wanted to do, I happened to meet high school students on their way home.
'Ah... if I were a high school student now, I could say I'd draw... I'm jealous...'
As I was lost in that thought, I saw an elderly woman walking by and had a sudden flash of insight.
'Ah...! Perhaps they will look at me and think, "If I were 24 now, I wouldn't have given up on my dream..."'
At that moment I thought, 'I'll try challenging myself to do what I want for just one year.'
#[January, First Challenge] A painting is featured on 'Busan Metropolitan City.'
'My goal for 2016 was to take on at least one challenge each month. Whether it succeeded or not, my biggest goal was to find things I could do on my own, try them, and learn.'
I traveled around Busan with my parents and captured it in paintings. Jokingly, I said, 'I'm going to take my paintings to the Busan Tourism Organization!' After saying that, I thought, 'Why not? Just send them! If it doesn't work, it doesn't, but let's try!' So I sent the paintings of Busan twice, and since I hadn't received a definite answer, I also sent them to 'Busan Metropolitan City.'
But actually, through Busan Metropolitan City's official SNS homepage, my painting was introduced to more than 180,000 people.
'Wow... I can't believe this is really possible...!'
That day. I felt insanely happy, but at the same time I felt a sense of emptiness, thinking, 'What have I been doing all this time?'
How many things had I given up on without even trying... After that day,'Let's take on at least one challenge each month.'I resolved to do that.
#[February, Start of Gyeongbokgung Postcard Sharing] Trip to Thailand
I vowed to take on at least one challenge a month, and February arrived.
My friend, who had planned the start of 2016 with me, and I wanted to try something during our trip to Thailand: my friend, who dances well, would perform k-pop in Thailand, and I decided to give 'Gyeongbokgung painting postcards' as gifts.
Upon hearing our plan, a maker of daily hanbok kindly sponsored hanbok for us, and we traveled around Thailand wearing hanbok.
The most memorable episode was meeting someone from London at our Ayutthaya accommodation. When I introduced myself, I gave them a Gyeongbokgung postcard as a gift and showed the paintings I had made while traveling in Thailand.
It turned out that this person ran art museums in London and New York. They said they really liked my paintings and asked if there was a place between London and New York I would like to visit.
Wow... I was so surprised and excited in that moment that I wanted to say anything, but I didn't have the language skills to properly express my thoughts... The best I could do was say I would email them the paintings I had made.
I learned in my body and through experience that opportunities can come at any time if I act, but if I lack the ability to seize them, there's nothing I can do.
But even this episode happened because, as an 'English coward,' I acted with the goal of handing out 'Gyeongbokgung postcards,' and that's how I encountered the situation.If I had done nothing, I would never have known whether the person staying in the room next to me was from London or someone who works at an art museum.
#[March, the new semester begins] Trip to Jeju during the semester
The vacation ended and a new semester began. I started to worry. At a time when I should be preparing for employment, if I suddenly say I want to draw, won't the professors say something...? I worried by myself.
Fortunately, that worry was only mine. On the first day of classes I went to meet the department head, and the professor said he had seen all the news on Facebook and was so pleased... He even praised me, saying, 'A student who challenges themselves toward their dream is so admirable.'
After that, the professor actively helped me, even suggesting I try drawing for an event organized by the school.
Perhaps because Jeju was the place where I first started 'travel drawings'? The Jeju I visited alone didn't feel unfamiliar; instead, it felt warm. At the guesthouse where I stayed for two nights, I participated in a Jeju flea market with the staff, and I even earned money for the first time by doing calligraphy there.
While searching Jeju's beautiful spots to draw, I happened to visit Yeomiji Botanical Garden, where I befriended the director, who introduced me as 'a friend of my daughter,' showed me around the garden, and shared a cup of coffee with me.
At a restaurant I went to alone because I was hungry, I became close with the owner and some local mothers from Jeju; we took photos together and ate, and I signed an autograph for the first time.
For about ten days I traveled around Jeju, and with the drawings I made I visited art shops asking if they could sell my postcards.As a result, a total of 200 people received the Gyeongbokgung postcards, including the people I met in Jeju.
If there was something I learned through the Jeju trip, it was: 'I am someone who can travel alone.I realized that I really enjoy being with people, and that even though I get nervous every moment, I am someone who takes action when there is a goal.'
Trips with friends and trips with family both have meaning. However,A solo trip gives you time to be with the friend called 'me,' and it feels like a gift of time to get to know and love yourself more.
#[April, attempting a design contest for the first time] Trevi Contest
In April there were midterms, so it was difficult to draw travel pictures.
So I was getting vicarious satisfaction watching the Africa episodes of 'Youth Over Flowers' when I saw an advertisement that 'Trevi,' which sponsors the show, was holding a contest. The prize was 1,000,000 won! Daydreaming that if I won first place I could get the money and travel during the break, I started drawing.
At the time I only knew the 'brush' and 'eraser' tools in Illustrator or Photoshop, and driven purely by 'I want to travel!', I zoomed in on the pixels and clicked each one with the brush to create and submit three pieces.
Although I couldn't win first place, I had the joy of being selected as an outstanding entry in a design contest I tried for the first time.
'Let's do what I want for just one year,' and 'Let's take on at least one challenge a month.' That simple goal led me to try new things I hadn't done before,Each time I took on a new challenge, it led to a kind of 'Lee So-hee study'—realizations like 'Oh, I like this too.' and 'Oh, I dislike this.'
Because of April midterms, instead of travel drawings, working on a design illustration to submit to the contest was an interesting time that let me discover another thing I could do.