We met 27-year-old Jeon Song-yi who is currently majoring in Global Business. She dropped out of school in 2011, soon after entering, but decided to come back to achieve her dream. Let’s get into her story that never stays away from her school work.

Q : Unlike a leave of absence from school, quitting looks like a decision that has been made after a lot of consideration. What is your main reason for dropping out of school?

Jeon : Since I was young, I’ve wanted to choose a job regarding arts and I thought about going to the department of Arts when I was a high school student. But I had to go on to a major regardless of my preference because of family affairs. I got to know some French national universities where tuition fees were lower than Koreas, soon after starting my first semester here at CWNU. I also thought I cannot continue arts if it’s not now. Recommend reorganizing the structure of this sentence to reduce confusion: “I also thought if I cannot continue arts now, I never will be able to in the future.” This is the main reason why I quit school. I just left to France.

Q : What made you come back to CWNU?

Jeon : After dropping out of school, I was still determined so I earned enough money doing part time jobs and just left to France. I met lots of friends and studied so hard. I could enter to an art college that I dreamed of. However, because of financial reasons, I had to quit studying there and come back to Korea. I was frustrated so I didn’t want to stay at home. I just went to Seoul and got to work for LINE, a Naver messenger application, as a contract worker by accident. I worked for about a year, but my wage was lower than co-workers that joined the company at the same time because my final educational background was high school. But working for LINE, which is an IT company, matched with me so much. So I wanted to develop myself to get treated better. However, my age was pretty old to take Korean SAT so I came back to CWNU. After coming back to school, I felt hasty and fear. So I’m aiming towards graduating early. For the entire semester, I take full credits and never miss vacation classes. I am currently grade 3 and I think I can graduate this year.

Q : Do you prepare for anything else besides schoolwork?

Jeon : Since I’m majoring in Global Business, I don’t have many opportunities to study anything in regards to IT. This is because I’m trying hard to create opportunities for myself like participating in academic contests hosted by IT companies, such as KT or LG. Also, when schools invite some speakers to give speeches about drones or Arduino, I participate in all of them. I’m the only one who goes to those kinds of lectures among business college students so it was so good to meet others who are also interested in the same topics.

Q : Can you give some advice to the students who are thinking about taking a leave of absence or dropping out of school?

Jeon : If that person is determined with their own reasons and dream, I would recommend to make that kind of decision. It was a pretty tough time but I never regret it. All the times gathered and made ME right now. All that has happened previously has made me who I am today. If I didn’t drop out of school and chose to not go to France, I’m sure that I wouldn’t be as enthusiastic as I am now.

Q : What’s your future plan?

Jeon : Lots of people are saying that I cannot enter an IT company because I’m still not qualified like mechanical college students. Interestingly, when other people tell me this, I try harder to prove them wrong. My final dream is to enter to big companies like Samsung or LG. That is the reason why I’m putting a lot of effort on my major and IT activities. I cannot say I’m an outstanding student but all of this will pay off.

▲She’s taking a lecture regarding unmanned plane.

by Gwon Min-gwan, reporter  1zstarz1@naver.com

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