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Interview with Korea Talent Award Winner
The Talent Award of Korea, presented by the Ministry of Education and the Korea Student Aid Foundation, was launched in 2001 to identify and support outstanding talents who achieve outstanding achievements with wisdom and passion, create new values with creative thinking, and demonstrate a sense of caring and community. At the 2023 Korea Talent Award ceremony held on December 27th of last year, Hyunchul Jeon, 19, Department of Agricultural Economics And Rural Development, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Jaeho Choi, 20, Department of Biosystems & Biomaterials Science and Engineering, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, were awarded. We caught up with the winners to learn more about their stories.
Q. What motivated you to apply for the Korea Talent Award?
A. (Hyunchul Jeon)
'Beyond the limits to the side of the community' is my own community philosophy that I have created throughout my life. I have been working tirelessly for the community to create this philosophy. My particular focus was on the rural community, which is often marginalized. I am working hard to make sure that my philosophy is beneficial to rural communities. After learning about the Talent Award of Korea through past winners, I decided to apply because I thought that the work I have been doing for the community fits the selection criteria.
A. (Jaeho Choi)
I want to develop and manage beneficial technologies. I believe that my values of setting clear goals for the development of the country, constantly striving to acquire the right skills for my career, and creating innovative values are in line with the selection criteria of the Talent Award of Korea, I applied because I wanted to diagnose my weaknesses through the unique screening system of the Talent Award of Korea and grow my capabilities as an engineering researcher.
Q. Please tell us how you feel after winning the award and your future aspirations.
A. (Hyunchul Jeon)
First of all, I would like to say that I am really honored to receive such a big and valuable award, and I would like to thank the people who supported me and stood with me until I got to this point. The year 2023 was a difficult year for me personally, with an overwhelming amount of good and bad things happening, and a lot of failures, so this award is a small consolation for me. Even though the year was very difficult, I realized that my actions over the past decade and the lucky points I have accumulated so far have helped me.
In the future, I plan to go to law school to obtain a lawyer's license, focusing on agricultural law and agribusiness law. I also plan to pursue a master's or doctoral degree to further study my major, Agricultural & Resource Economics. After that, I plan to work as a legislative researcher at the National Assembly Research Service to support the enactment, revision, and implementation of agricultural legislation. Therefore, I see myself in 10 years as a legislative researcher, actively working in the field of agricultural legislation, and constantly dreaming of a broader and bigger future.
I hope that winning the Talent Award of Korea will not be the end of the road for me. I will take this award as a milestone and encouragement for my passion and hard work towards the 'community' I have and the 'community' I want to create. I will never rest on my laurels and will continue to move forward silently and vigorously.
A. (Jaeho Choi)
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to be more confident in my goals and values for Korea. First of all, I would like to give this honor to my parents and friends who always support me in my endless challenges.
I believe that no one is born a talented person from the beginning, and that we can grow as a talented person when we fulfill our clear life goals with the right values. Thank you once again for allowing me to reflect on myself and make up for my shortcomings by giving me the 'Korea Talent Award'. I will continue to develop my capabilities as an engineering researcher and grow into a talent suitable for the field I am aiming for.
Q. What would you like to say to your fellow students in the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences?
A. (Hyunchul Jeon)
Keep walking in the direction you want to go. And if that direction is creating new value, I would like to tell you to challenge the Talent Award of Korea.
A. (Jaeho Choi)
It is much better to try and regret than not to try and regret. I sincerely hope that you find a clear goal that you are truly passionate about, and once you do, fulfill it.
