KGY Tips

[People’s Gap Year] “You will see a new world you have never seen before” Bae Jun-su

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Name: Bae Jun-su
Gender: Male
Occupation: College student

Q. What prompted you to take a gap year?
A. When I was young, my dream was to be a pilot. However, while I was preparing for the college entrance exam, my eyesight started to deteriorate rapidly, and I ended up failing the pilot physical examination twice, which made my 20s completely different from what I had dreamed of for a long time. In an instant, everything I wanted to do and be disappeared. I hated the way I lived each day helplessly without any motivation, and I wanted to find a new dream of my own.

I tried hard to find my dream, but it didn’t come as easily as I thought. After thinking about the reason for a while, I saw myself barely doing the things I had to do and spending my days feeling overwhelmed, and decided that I needed to experience something new and diverse. Other people thought that it was as difficult as having courage, but I wanted to challenge myself if I could find my dream. So I planned a backpacking trip that I had dreamed of since I was young, and finally took a gap year to take a break from school.

Q. What did you focus on?
A. I focused on language and finance.
‘Language’ – One of the things I worried about before going on a working holiday to Australia was English. I had never spoken English to a foreigner since I was a child, so I had to find a job right away when I got to Australia. I was a little scared and afraid, so I studied English in the Philippines before going to Australia, and gained a lot of confidence while solidifying my basic English conversation skills. I also listened to Australian CBS News (60 Minutes) from time to time to get more used to the Australian pronunciation. Before going on a backpacking trip to South America, I took a month-long Spanish grammar class at the Spanish Cultural Center in Daegu, and learned the basics of Spanish so that I could continue studying on my own while traveling.

‘Funding’ – I took a break from school and worked in a factory. Although it wasn’t a job that paid minimum wage or had good hourly wages, the factory gave me a lot of hours to work, so the more I worked, the faster I saved money, so I went to work at the factory. Then, I worked part-time jobs here and there to save up money to study English in the Philippines and go on a working holiday in Australia. In Australia, I worked at a factory and a homemade hamburger shop, and I prepared money for a backpacking trip to South America.

Q. How was the preparation process?
A. While I was preparing to go abroad, I suddenly ended up living alone with my grandparents. My grandparents had difficulty moving, so I had to take care of them all the time, and I couldn’t go abroad or even to another region for a long time. My plans started to go wrong while I was taking a leave of absence, and as time passed, I became more and more anxious.

There were many important things to me, such as the time I had after taking a leave of absence, the goals I wanted to achieve, but the most important thing was my family, and I thought it was something I should take responsibility for as the eldest son, so I just quietly accepted it. I ended up spending the time I had planned to spend abroad in Korea, but I thought it was time to jump a little further and higher, so I revised my goals and prepared by doing things I could do in Korea right away while waiting for that day to come.

I lived with my grandparents for 9 months, and when my younger brother, who had served in the military, returned home after being discharged, I started a full-fledged gap year. I couldn’t find a way to resolve the situation at the time, so I had no choice but to accept it, but the time I spent with my grandparents and as the head of a household was a precious time for me to think about many things that I had taken for granted and forgotten, and to reflect on myself.

Q. Tell me about your gap year.
A. I wanted to find my dream by backpacking, which I had dreamed of since I was young. My gap year began with the Australian Working Holiday. When I first arrived in Australia, I was so tired that I had tears in my eyes. When I finished my working holiday and left Australia, I felt like I would miss this place that had given me so many experiences, and I was so moved by how much I had matured and changed, so I shed tears again. When I left the classroom and library for a while and came to the world, I was able to learn many things that I couldn’t learn from books, and most of all, it was great to have time to reflect and think about myself.

Conversations with many people who had different lives from mine, foods I tasted for the first time, beautiful natural scenery that I had only seen in movies, and various experiences that I had never had before. All of these were other teachers who taught me the wisdom of life on the road. While living in Australia, I worked hard and saved up money, and with that money, I went on a backpacking trip to South America for 5 months. As I had new and diverse experiences, I naturally became interested in things and learned more about myself. In fact, not everything is concrete yet, but at least I realized the direction of my life and how I should live it.

If a dream refers to a job or a career, I haven’t actually found that dream yet. However, through the gap year, I have come a lot closer to my dream. Last week, I finished my long stay abroad and returned to Korea. Thinking about going back to school to study and prepare for a job feels a bit overwhelming, but I am no longer afraid. Rather, I am very excited about the days that lie ahead of me. It is hard to explain in words, but I am so happy because this is the first time I have felt this way. Suddenly, I remember myself two years ago, when I was struggling and distressed because I didn’t even know where to go. I wonder what kind of life I would be living now if I hadn’t taken a gap year.

Q. Lastly, is there anything you would like to say to young people who are planning a gap year?
A. Looking back after finishing my gap year, the most difficult moment was when I was first contemplating whether or not to take the time for a gap year. It may be because you lack the courage to challenge something new, or because you are afraid of the gaze of others and society, or maybe because you are considering the opportunity cost of a gap year.

Of course, it is something you should think about carefully and decide, but if you really want it and feel that it is necessary, close your eyes tightly and jump into the water. Jump into the water. The water is not as cold or deep as you think, and you will see a new world that you have never seen before.