Interview with Soohee Park, a Dean's List honors

Every semester, the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences at Seoul National University recognizes students who excel in their majors with Dean's List honors. We interviewed Soohee Park, student in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development, who received the Dean's List for the first semester of 2023.

Q. Please introduce yourself.

A. Hello, I am Soohee Park, studying agricultural & resource economics in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development.


Q. Congratulations on the Dean's List! How did you feel about receiving the Dean's List?

A. At first, I received a call from the departmental office that I had been selected for the Dean's List. I hung up the phone and went to the lecture hall, and I felt good throughout the lecture that day. I never thought that I would be selected for the Dean's List during my college career, but I was proud of the results of my perseverance.
 

Q. What are the benefits of being a Dean's List honoree?

A. There was Dean's list awards ceremony and lunch with the dean after the ceremony. But I was unable to attend the award ceremony due to a conflict between class and the award ceremony. In addition to the Dean's list award, I received a gift card of 100,000 won and eggs produced by farm of Seoul National University. My parents were very happy to see the eggs arrive at home.


Q. Do you have any tips for getting on Dean's List?

A. In my third year, I struggled with the heavy study load of my major courses, especially in last semester, when I was taking five courses for my major, and my worries outweighed my expectations of being able to do well. So every week, I shared my notes with a friend who was taking the course with me and we checked in with each other about what we had studied that week. Thanks to my consistent review efforts, I never had to cram before exams, and I was able to take them with a relaxed mindset.


Q. What did you usually do to achieve high academic performance?

A. As I mentioned before, I believe that regular revision is very important, especially for difficult subjects, because without regular revision, you can forget the content altogether, so I tried to arrive at school 20-30 minutes early in the morning and reread what I had learned before. In addition, for my major courses taught in English, I tried to look up English words I didn't know in advance so that I could understand them better in class.


Q. Do you have any words of advice for students aiming for the Dean's List?

A. I thought I studied really hard in my freshman year, but there were many subjects where I didn't get good grades. Even in such a situation, I think it would be good to not give up and work with friends around you to help each other and fill in the gaps that you don't know. I also think it's a good idea to ask your professors what you don't know!

Q. What are your future plans and ambitions?

A. In the future, I plan to not only study at school, but also acquire certifications to improve my practical skills for what I want to do in the future, and do internships. I will continue to work hard to acquire and apply new knowledge with enthusiasm.