A couple of weeks ago, I was shanghaied by a friend to a lecture for parents. My friend told me that the lecture would be very helpful for parents with kids in middle school or high school. It was about how to raise smart kids who can ace the college entrance exam and enter good universities in Seoul. The guest speaker was a young soon-to-be prosecutor. He had been an average student until high school, and had even failed the college entrance exam once before being admitted to the most prestigious school in Korea, Seoul National University. There, he studied law and with hard work and perseverance, he graduated with flying colors, passed the bar exam, and got hired at the National Prosecutor’s Office. He found the Holy Grail. He succeeded.

The lecture lasted for 3 hours and was conducted entirely in Korean so I could only get bits of information. I think the guest speaker talked about the importance of time management and having the right balance in your life. He mentioned that despite his busy academic schedule, he never gave up his love for sports and music. Every day he would jog for an hour and rode a bike whenever he could. He also made it a point to find time to practice playing the saxophone. In fact, every weekend, you can find him playing at Cheonggye Plaza, a popular cultural arts venue right in downtown Seoul. In addition, he gave useful tips on how to improve reading comprehension and how to study Math and English. I agreed to most of what he said. I thought they made sense. One funny thing I could remember was he stressed the importance of having the right studying tools. He specified three must-have items: a proper book stand, a good high-lighting pen, and a 0.4 mm pen with blue ink. Huh?

Sitting in the middle of the lecture hall, I took a good look of the people around me and I saw the eager faces of mothers dying to know the magic formula for academic success. “Super Ajumas,” I thought. They were religiously taking down notes and nodding their heads while saying “Aah~Ooh!” in unison every time they heard something agreeable. Every single person in the audience had one thing in common – they all worry about their kids’ future.

After the talk, the parents were invited to a lounge where everyone had cookies, coffee and tea. They talked about their concerns as parents and how their kids were doing at school. There was one particular group of moms that caught my attention. These moms couldn’t stop talking about how well their kids were doing at school now after finding the perfect hagwons and the best Math or English tutors in town. Of course, their children’s private education cost an arm and a leg, but money doesn’t matter as long as junior is getting his As. Show offs!

Korean parents have long worried about their children’s education. Here, the general consensus of parents is that the more intensive education a child can amass, the better his opportunities will be in the future. Korean parents have taken this concept to extremes. Putting their children through hours of private classes and endless homework is a sacrifice worth taking. I asked one of the “Super Ajumas” if her son was okay with having too many extra classes after school, and she said that her son’s feelings didn’t matter because he knew it was for his own good. She added that it may seem like an overbearing pressure on her kid, but it is a sign of love. Wow.

by Cecile Hwang

Language Education Center

Cecile Hwang  -

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