Q: Introduce yourself, please.
A: Hello, my name is Yiyeong Hong, and I started my undergraduate course in 2010. I studied German language and literature, and I took English education as a second major. Now, I’m teaching at a high school as a temporary teacher.
Q: Please tell us why you went to CNU, and how was your life at CNU?
A: Actually, the main reason I studied at CNU was due to an advantage every public university has, inexpensive tuition fees.Compared to private universities, from the fees for early admission process to the tuition fees, public universities are cheaper. Also, since I grew up in Daejeon, my parents suggested going to CNU considering our financial situation. Because I dreamt of a life in Seoul when I was 20, I was disappointed about going to CNU at first. But as time went on, I began to realize a lot that the most important thing was to fulfill my duties on my own. After that realization, I started taking classes diligently, started a double major, and started meeting good people.
Q: What hardships did you suffer after graduation?
A: While all of my friends were busy acquiring certificates and licenses or writing self-introduction letters, I took a teaching course during my sophomore year, which I hadn’t expected to take when I first entered the university. I took a teacher certification examination after graduation because of my determination to be a teacher in secondary education. For three years after graduation, I sat the examination as best as I could, but the results were not good. A sense of defeat and frustration made me feel smaller and made me regret all of the decisions that I had made. As my friends managed to get jobs one after another and I was still studying for an exam, the results of which were uncertain, I felt useless. That time was so hard for me. For those reasons, I decided to become a temporary teacher to overcome my problems. This was not a perfect solution, but because I endured hardships, I can now look back on what I’ve been through in a positive light, and I can manage my life more steadily.
Q: Do you have a word of encouragement for students who are preparing to teach or for our readers in general?
A: I n fact, even though I dreamt of becoming a teacher, I don’t really want to recommend being a teacher, even to my students. Realistically, due to the low birth rate, the number of students is decreasing, and as a result, the number of teachers is also decreasing. Passing the examination is also difficult. If someone wants to be a teacher, I recommend thinking seriously about why one hopes to become a teacher, at least ten times. In my case, I just sat the exam without any consideration simply because of my chance to study education while at university, so I did not completely understand the connection between myself and
being a teacher. I think that is the reason I’ve had problems.
Being a teacher is not just about teaching. There are also desk work and administrative tasks. Plus, there is pressure on teachers in Korea to sacrifice themselves for their students. The thing you need to fully understand is the distinction between seeing a teacher from the perspective of a student and being an actual teacher. The difference between expectations and reality may frustrate you. Nevertheless, if you realize this, you can overcome any frustrations.
The other thing I want to say is to enjoy a lot of different experiences. When you are in high school, you can’t have any work experience. You just study for university. Without any professional experience, you just choose a major. This sometimes makes students become disheartened with their majors when their expectations are not met. To avoid this, I would say that it is most important to experience many things to broaden one’s horizons. Nowadays, since things change so fast, many professions are disappearing, while new technologies and markets are being created. In this world, if everyone chooses to have just a stable job, more than half will not be able to stay employed. When I was in university, I only had a vague idea about passing the teacher certification examination. Because of that, I missed out on many opportunities and experiences. That is the most regretful thing regarding my campus life. I hope that you guys do not make the same mistake. Experience failure and success and try things you haven’t tried before. By doing so, I hope you will enjoy more experiences throughout your life. Hardened by experiences, it will be easier to rise back up after falling down. You will have a better grasp of life.
Thank you for reading. I have talked too much because I do not want students to make the same mistakes I made. At CNU, I hope everyone can achieve their dreams.

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