In March issue of Gain Interior Design magazine, I have written a small column regarding how our students and parents should change their mindset regarding entering a college. I am one of those people who campaigns for “choosing the right things to do right for your lives.”
Recent report says that the average life expectancy is now 80 and keeps getting longer or older. In that sense, the class of 2011 has only lived 1/4 of their life ahead. It is a very serious issue how you start your college life right now to live your future happy and with sense of enjoyment. But without telling you how to live or what to do with your life this year, maybe I can share with you my motto for this year.
This year, I started over fresh and made sure that I have a good aiming point before I start the new semester few weeks ago. I have been a professor of SMU since the year 2000 so it has been 11 years now. Our school campus has grown almost triple or more since the day I started and I know the energy level of students on campus are exploding with positive energy every year. To keep up my vibrant energy, I often write a short “catch phrase” to remind me about what I must do each year. This year, 2011, I wrote “enjoy and listen to the nature.” For those who know my daily schedule and my involvement in and out of school, they must have some doubt that if “Prof. Suh” will have time to “listen to the nature.” But, ladies, please do encourage me . It is only March! I am trying and I know I will be successful this year. I have to be.
In order to follow my catch phrase, I have taken my last Sunday morning at 8am to climb Bukhan mountain and conquered “Brother’s Peak” in less than 1 hour from the point I started near Pyongchang dong. Yes, I was completely out of breath and was dizzy for minutes, but did I feel good and refreshed while looking down the city below my feet. Spring has not arrived yet at the peak but I was able to feel the breeze, I was able to look at the beauty of liveliness, and most of all, I was able to remind my goal for this year.
As we all know nature does not lie and nature tells us what the true meaning of life is all about. You cannot rush nature and you cannot over-ride nature no matter how advanced you are with high technologies and no matter how fast you want to live ahead. It was devastating to watch the news of Japan’s earthquake just few days ago and you must have felt how insignificant human beings are in front of the power of nature. We all know that it was a natural disaster and there was nothing we could have done to prepare but sometimes even if we could have done something to prepare for the disaster or a problem, we had let it go and had been careless about it throughout our lives . Such as unconsciously wasting our daily life in and out of our campus. Your today is very important because it was your tomorrow and it will soon be your yesterday. So, if you missed today and not putting full effort to choose the right things to do it effectively, then your tomorrow as well as yesterday will all become a disaster. It is not just a tsunami can wipe up your life but your wasted today can leave a big mark on your life very easily. But, it is not too late because it is only the beginning of March. Ladies, please open your dairy right now and design to live a challenging and smart life today!
