KGY Tips

[People’s Gap Year] “Pursuing the Vague, Not Certainty” Woochan Ahn

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Name: Woochan Ahn
Gender: Male
Occupation: Studying Spanish (Preparing to enter graduate school in Spain)

Q. Please tell us about the reason for taking a gap year or the preparation process.
A. I have had an inexplicable longing for Central and South America since I was young. However, in Korean society, where interest in Central and South America is relatively low, I just lived as an ordinary student, and before I knew it, I was a high school student. To cool my head for a moment while studying for the tiring entrance exams, I happened to pick up the biography of Che Guevara, which was the first book I ever read and made me feel a thrill. Not only was I moved by the person Che Guevara, but I was also completely absorbed in the special charm and unique reality of Central and South America.
When I majored in political science and diplomacy in college, I focused on international politics and realized that there is a severe lack of experts on Central and South America in Korea. Accordingly, I decided to become an expert who understands and works in the Central and South American region with a focus on politics and economy, and instead of getting a job right after graduation, I am learning the language in Spain.

Q. Please tell us about your gap year experience.
A. After graduating from college, instead of getting a job, I am currently traveling to a city called Malaga, Spain, to study Spanish and learn Spanish culture. It has only been a short time since I started, and since it is still ongoing, there may be limitations in telling you about my experience, but I will tell you based on my experience so far. I am the type of person who cannot study things that are not necessary or that should be done naturally, so I have never taken the TOEIC test, and I have never been on a language course or exchange program. I have never entered a competition that is not related to a topic that I am interested in, and I have only entered a competition on a topic that I am interested in once and won an award. I don’t think I had the typical college life that people around me see. For me, college life was not a time to prepare for a job, but a time to find out what I like and what kind of studies, people, and lives there are in the world.

I didn’t pursue classes that would get me good grades, and instead of prioritizing grades, I took classes based on my curiosity about various fields that I wanted to learn about. I wanted to become a film director based on politics and economics, so I took film-related classes, and I took philosophy, yoga, psychology, and engineering classes to think about life. So, although my grades weren’t good, I was able to meet various subjects and people studying them, and I was able to experience observing the world in various ways.
As I filled my college life like this, I developed my own standards for life, and I was able to figure out what fields I like, what areas I’d be happy studying and working in, and what my strengths and weaknesses were. After much thought, I decided to become a Latin American expert, and I’m currently learning Spanish and Spanish culture in Spain right after graduating. I thought it was important to understand Spanish culture, the beginning of Latin American culture and the source of knowledge.

Q. Lastly, is there anything you would like to say to young people who are planning a gap year?
A. I want to say that we should let go of impatience and take our time, create our own standards instead of the world’s standards, and live by them. No one can live our lives for us. Our lives are lived by each of us, and so we need to understand our own strengths and weaknesses, and do our own roles by doing things that make us happy, with our own strengths, and with activities that start from our own happiness. There is a proverb in Spain that says, “There is a solution to all our problems except death.” Therefore, please do not misunderstand that finding a solution is difficult and that there is no solution. There is no youth that is guaranteed certainty. I think we need to pursue vagueness, not certainty. At the end of that vagueness, your true self will be found.