Summer vacation is coming! All the freshmen must be excited to make a plan for what to do in their first vacation in college life. And sophomores, juniors, and seniors have their own plans to spend their vacation effectively and systematically. Well, what will you do in this summer vacation? Are you going on a trip or studying English? Tell us your story!
SMT What will you do on vacation? What are your special plans? If you are juniors and seniors, what did you do on
vacation when you were freshmen and sophomores? And what do you want freshmen to prepare to do on
vacation for better college life?
Wang Yi Meng, Exchange student from China 
I will travel Korea this vacation because I’m not sure I can come back to Korea again, and this is my last semester in SMU. I want to go to lots of famous places like Jeju Island and Busan. I believe that I need to know what they look like! Many people say that those two places are really beautiful and awesome to visit and get new experiences. Also, personally, I want to go to Sokcho and Seorak Mountain. And I want to go to climb and see the landscape of Seorak Mountain. Another plan is studying English for getting admitted to graduate school. In the last winter vacation, I took Korean language class and I had fun with my Korean friends. In SMU, there are many Chinese friends staying in Korea during vacation, and some earn money, some people travel a lot, and some study Korean and prepare for a Korean language exam.
Kim Soo Min, Department of Painting ’04
I had an internship at Seoul School of Intergrated Sciences & Technologies during the last vacation, because I’m usually interested in education and therefore applied for the education field for working. While working there, I helped a professor to collect what students wanted to learn, prepare materials, and planned the semester’s syllabus for students. Also for developing my own ability, I studied TOEIC speaking after 6PM, and I feel English ability is essential to communicate with foreign professors and students. I think freshmen need to find what they want to do, analyze much information about their future jobs through searching their own interests and related internships and careers. I also recommend freshmen to meet some people who are already involved in those fields they’re interested in.
Hong Jinhee, Division of Humanities ’09 
In this vacation, I plan to visit many places in Korea, so I plan to go on a trip to Jeju Island by bicycle for one week after the end of the semester. It will be a very exciting experience in my college life. Also, I want to walk across the country and search for a program which fits my conditions. I also want to take part in one club activity Sookpoong (Korean traditional percussion quartet club) and the club schedule to visit Jeollanam-do Imsill pilbong (traditional Korean music performed by farmers) and learn Korean-styled traditional music for better performance of my club. I will start to study TOEFL in the middle of the vacation. When I was a freshman, I felt that there was too much freedom and time, so I just wandered and thought about myself and my future. I don’t know what I achieved at that time. And I had an assistant as an internship in Congress during my sophomore vacation, and learned the legislation system, which I was really interested in at the time. When I was a freshman, I worried about what the most important things for me are in 4-year college life. And I shared my interest and information with many people, studied with them, and worked in related fields. Now in the middle of college life, I have courage about what I should do, so I have decided to broaden my insights. If I were a freshman, I would read more books to extend my range of knowledge and file up my wisdom. I want many freshmen to read books when they have time.
Asma Hosna, Division of Computer Science ’07 from Bangladesh
I am expecting at the end of summer vacation I will return to my country. I am planning to continue my graduate program in SMU, so I will be back here in the last week of August. As I mentioned above I do my research work in a lab. I did this in my last vacation, too. Besides this, I like to go out to visit places and participate in various programs. For example, during last winter vacation, I went to watch operas on several occasions. Most of the students try to take part in internship programs related with their majors rather than as part time jobs, because it will help them to gain better experience. Also it is very common to study English and take part in IELTS and TOFEL exams. And in Bangladesh during winter vacation, people like to go for field trips or picnics with family and friends. I get payment for my research work from my Professor. During last summer vacation I went to my country for one month, spent rest of the time developing software for my senior project (required for an engineering degree) and took part in the ‘Smart Planet’ contest organized by IBM, Korea. During that time I was interviewed by Microsoft, Korea with my fellow group-mate, which was published in Microsoft.
Lee Youjin, Department of Culture & Tourism ’06 
Before I talk about my own experience, I feel better to say what freshmen do during vacation. I think freshmen need to do as many part-time jobs as they can. Whether the period is short or long, the experiences gained from part-time jobs are very valuable and beneficial to get careers, and will help you easily adapt to new working environments. It is better to work many fields of jobs such as selling things, making coffee. And another thing is travel! Traveling is the most significant way to widen your perspective. However, before going on a trip, you need to schedule your own plan and decide the concept of the trip. If you travel some place with purpose, concept, and story, it will raise and spread your creativity and ability to tell a story. After I get a job and about to graduate from school, I think creating my stories is very very important and will make me special! And I have two bits of advice for Sookmyungians: one is work hard on school work, and the second one is take part in contest exhibits and try to study abroad as an exchange student. And all these things can be achieved during your vacation!
