Q. Please give a brief introduction about yourself!
A. I''m 21 years old and a first-year university student majoring in Early Childhood Education.
I repeated a year to try to get into a better school but ultimately failed. My parents chose the school and department, which I didn''t like. I had been holding back and pushing through everything just to get to university, but even there I couldn''t find what I wanted. The frustration of my first failure in life hit me hard and I became depressed. The director even said I was in a completely terrible state, haha.
That At that time I applied for consulting, and through it I challenged myself in many ways; my thinking changed a lot and I returned to being a bright, cheerful person. Now I''ve regained my confidence, I get along well with people, and I''m enjoying each day. I like dressing up, meeting friends, and I have so many things I want to try—I''m a very ordinary first-year university student in South Korea. Recently I''m into traveling, and I dream of doing something fun related to art. I want to keep taking on more challenges and become an awesome person.
Q. How did you come across Gap Year?
A. When I first came across Gap Year, I was at the most depressed periodIt was.
My confidence was extremely low, so I didn''t even have the courage to try anything and I thought about wanting to die. But I couldn''t actually die, haha, so I frantically searched for things that would quickly get me out of that sense of defeat. I needed a turning point in my life. Since my commute was long, I watched a lot of Sebasi videos on my phone on the subway, looked up lectures by well-known mentors, read many books, and searched for various activities university students can do (like extracurricular programs or travel).
At that time I was doing a lot of web surfing and by chanceI discovered Gap YearI found it and thought, ''Wow, amazing, this is it!'' I immediately looked up the director''s Sebasi video, visited the blog, and looked up interviews. That''s how I came to meet Gap Year.
Q. What made you decide to get consulting?
A. At that time I felt I couldn''t stand the depression unless I did something, so I was willing to do anything. All of Gap Year''s programs looked fun and seemed like things I would enjoy if I tried them at least once, so I wanted to try everything, but I thought it''d be good to get a consultation before trying. Because at that time I had nothing I wanted to do, no dreams, and I didn''t even know what I liked, I was in ablank state.I even had a tiny thread of hope that this consultation might change my life. I was that desperate.
Q. What advice from the consultation do you remember most?
A. First, after listening to my story, they told me the reason I didn''t have dreams. They said my father''s oppressive influence was significant, which I related to and found striking. The advice I remember is, ''It''s in your heart but you''re embarrassed or it''s weighing on you so you can''t write it down—muster up the courage and try writing it once.'' I don''t remember the exact words, but they said something like that when asking me to write down what I wanted to do during the consultation. That left a strong impression, and they also said that if you want something you have to express it; only then can you know what you want and put it into action—which also impressed me.
Q. After receiving the consultation, what was the first thing you put into action?
A. Whenever the director does consulting, they alwaysgive assignmentsand my first assignment was to write in detail and specifically ways I could feel a sense of rapture/euphoria. The idea was that euphoria doesn''t just appear by itself; it''s about choosing the best feelings I would experience when doing what I want.
I think I wrote about four pages; at first it was really cringey and I didn''t know what was what so I couldn''t write well, but after writing it all down I definitelycame to know myself..What I realized through this assignment is that I like seeing and enjoying beautiful things and feel happy when realizing beauty. So even if I don''t know the specifics, I learned that I want to do work related to art, I like traveling around, and I like communicating with people.
After that I almost daily kept writing down things I wanted to do, and I searched for many books and videos related to my dreams. I also briefly took up ballet—a sport I wanted to try—as a hobby, and participated in a humanities discussion class, having debates every week. After that I traveled alone to Jeju Island for the first time.
Q. What changed before and after the consultation?
A.I changed a lot after starting the consulting..
Before the consulting, I was deeply frustrated by feeling like I had failed, so I was depressed, timid, shy around people, and gloomy. Some of it was due to the passage of time, but after doing the consulting, taking on the things I wanted to do one by one, and getting to know myself, my personality seems to have become bright again like it used to be.
I also became accustomed to expressing my dreams. I got along with people again, regained some confidence, and became much brighter. The humanities instructor even praised me as the member who improved the most (haha). Learning about Gap Year changed my thinking a lot. I listened to the podcasts from Gap Year and found that there are many young people living wonderfully in their own ways, and I learned that there are many different ways to become happy.
In the past, a moldI was stuck in it and thought in terms of ''it has to be this or nothing,'' so I was always anxious and afraid.
For example,
''I must not fall even one year behind others.''
''If I don''t succeed in getting a job right when I graduate from university, it will be a disaster.''
''They say getting a job is so hard these days, what if I end up unemployed? Should I prepare for the civil service exam?''
''I have to build up my resume diligently from my first year!''
I had many such thoughts. Now those thoughts are completely gone and my mind is so peaceful. I feel like I''ve discovered a new world I didn''t know about ^^
Q. If you were to compare how you felt after the consulting to something, what would it be?
A. I would a bananaI''d like to liken it to a banana. Not just a banana, but a peeled banana.
Before the consulting, I hid myself a lot because of embarrassment and worries. I normally only talk about my inner feelings with very close friends, so having to tell a stranger about my family relationships, wounds, and dreams was embarrassing and made me feel exposed. But like a banana whose peel is removed leaving just the flesh, my masks and shells—self-consciousness, embarrassment, awkwardness—came off, and my true inner feelings,
I was able to face my real self.
Q. What was difficult or challenging while receiving the consulting?
A. At first, when they gave assignments or suggested things to try, I thought, ''Why do I have to do this?'' When I asked, they explained it in detail haha. As someone who''s very shy, having to talk deeply about things with someone I had just met was a bit difficult.
Q. If you were to rate your satisfaction with the consulting, how many stars out of 5 would you give?
★★★★★
A. Five!!! The consulting isn''t just a one-time thing but continues consistently, and the more I do it, the better it gets!! The director contacts me often and carefully tells me to try this or that, paying attention like a close younger sibling, so I''m really, really grateful. ♡♡
Q. If you were to list the strengths or weaknesses of the consulting program you participated in, what would they be?
A. The advantage is that it''s not a one-time meeting but we meet regularly, so I like that we can share the process of change together. It''s not stiff or difficult consulting — the director is very warm and comforting, so the more familiar I become, the more comfortable and pleasant it feels. What I found most helpful in the Gap Year program is that the director tells me to try things, gives assignments, and keeps taking an ongoing interest in me. I can''t really think of any particular drawbacks.
Q. Consulting program ''Who would you recommend this to!?''
A. I think it''s good for people who say things like ''I don''t have dreams, I don''t know what I want to do, I don''t even know what I like, I''m hopeless lol.'' Also, people who want to do something in the future but are unsure or struggling could probably get a lot of practical advice.
Before participating in the consulting program, it would be helpful to take some time to seriously reflect on yourself so you''ll find it easier to talk. In my case, I just thought ''let''s try it'' and went without any preparation, so when I was asked questions there were many times I couldn''t answer properly. Afterwards I reflected and had many ''Ah, I should have said this then'' moments. When you talk with friends you mostly have light conversations, so you haven''t really had a serious conversation or an in-depth interview about yourself.Doing a lot of deep, thoughtful reflectionOnly after that do I think you''ll be able to answer smoothly.
Q. You, after finishing the consulting,What are your plans for the future?
A. I think the consulting continues. I want it to keep stimulating me. I want to do many activities to learn what kind of person I am, and try the things I want to try. First of all, this summer I did my first solo tripand I plan to continue doing that. Right now I most want to go to Europe via Couchsurfing. To do that, I''m currently working part-time as a barista at a coffee shop.
And when the semester starts I want to try joining a musical club or a theater club. I want to mingle with people and communicateI''ll also try many external activities where I can interact with others. I think I''ll do many things to change my personality to become more confident and proactive. For example: part-time jobs, clubs, competitions, or trying selling things on the street.
I also want to do volunteer work overseas, and there are many things I want to learn like singing, dancing, and calligraphy, but first I think I need to earn money. Rather than studying for TOEIC or schoolwork — since I''m still a freshman — in order to find myself I just want to, as much as possible, try everything I want to do to my heart''s content.
Q. What is ''Gap Year'' to me?
A. Gap Year is loveIt is. Because I love Gap Year so much, haha.
"Gap Year is a time of finding myself"
Through Gap Year I get to know myself, get stimulated, take on challenges, and change — I think those things are so great. Gap Year was the beginning of change for me, so I''m even more excited about what comes next.♡
.png&w=1080&q=75)