Interview about the CALS youth camp

The CALS Admissions Career Information Office holds an annual CALS youth camp for high school students interested in the field of agricultural life science. The CALS Youth Camp has been held free of charge to help students understand the field of agricultural life science and provide opportunities for career exploration. At the 7th CALS Youth Camp, various programs were held for two nights and three days, including introduction of agricultural college majors, experiments related to life science and environmental science, and mentoring with CALSIAN, an agricultural college promotion group. In the camp, students become the main characters and develop the power to decide their careers and realize their dreams. The Admission Career Information Office and CALSIAN plan and conduct programs so that students and mentors can grow together through the camp. In January this year, I met with Assistant Lee Young-kwang of the Admissions Career Information Office, which hosted the 7th CALS Youth Camp, and listened to the details. Assistant Lee Young-kwang finished his master's degree in industrial manpower development in August last year and has been working as an assistant for 11 months.

1. Please explain about the CALS Youth Camp.

The CALS Youth Camp is a camp in the field of agricultural life sciences for teenagers. Agricultural life sciences are broad enough to cover both front and rear industries. It is in charge of basic science such as life science and chemistry, and not only applied science such as machinery and systems, but also economics and education in the field of social science. The camp mainly deals with science and engineering, especially life science and chemistry. Due to COVID-19, it has been conducted non-face-to-face for the past two years, and this year, we met face-to-face for the first time in a long time and held a camp.

2. What do you focus on when organizing the CALS Youth Camp program?

The most important part I thought was the interaction between students and college mentor. The CALS Youth Camp has mainly focused on special lectures that deliver information one-way to students and experiments that experience some of the various fields. Special lectures and experiments can be effective in promoting agricultural life science in a short period of time, but I thought exchanges with active college students were very important to make students understand and pay attention to the field of agricultural life science. The program focused the most on whether students and mentors can grow and develop together. So this time, after COVID-19, we increased the amount of time that students and college students interact with each other. CALSIAN students continued to interact with students using evening or consulting time after their activities. As a result, the interaction program was also well evaluated in the satisfaction survey.

3. When is the most proud moment of running a youth camp?

I felt proud when I felt that my mentor had grown up after the camp. During the camp, I was able to see that mentors grew up when they felt psychologically satisfied and were doing well in mentoring their careers based on their stories. Teenagers who participated in the camp think that the meeting is so short that it is difficult to notice the change, but I believe that if mentors have grown, students can also grow. I was most proud when I saw the growth of mentors because I focused on growing not only students but also mentors together.

4. Was there any difficulty during the camp?

When planning and organizing a program, I always think about whether the program fits well with today's students in order to make a program that can be more helpful to students. In terms of operation, the program from morning to night was physically difficult. Not only me, but also my CALSIAN friends wake up at 7 a.m. and when they finish their activities at 10 p.m., they have a meeting to share their improvements for the day. There were times when the meeting ended after 10:30 p.m. I was exhausted.

5. Are there any unexpected situations during the camp?

I remember an emergency student at last year's camp. A student suddenly complained of pituitary pain and left the program. As soon as an emergency occurred, the mentor quickly informed us of the situation, we informed the team leader of the student administration office, the team leader informed the vice president, and the dean. The sick situation of a student was quickly shared throughout the Agricultural College Executive through appropriate measures by the Student Administration Office. I think there was a good system to respond to emergencies. Fortunately, he went home right away and monitored the next day to confirm that his condition had improved.

6. Which students do you recommend participating in?

First of all, I would like to recommend it to students who are interested and curious in the field of agricultural life science. Since agricultural life science is a combination of various studies, if you are interested in animals, plants, life, and chemistry as well as agriculture, you can find your aptitude in the field of agricultural life science through the camp. Next, I would like to recommend it to students who want to decide on a career path in science and engineering. Students feel a lot of anxiety about their careers after choosing a course to take due to the implementation of the high school credit system. Any student who is not sure if the subject he or she chose is right for him or who has a lot of concerns about his or her science and engineering career is welcome.

7. What is the future direction of the youth camp of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences?

There is a hope that there will be an opportunity to experience the latest technologies in agricultural life science in the program. I think agricultural life science is a field that is leading the acceptance of new technologies. It would be nice to experience new technologies in person. Now, it is only a few experiments in some laboratories, but it would be nice to be able to experience various experiences in facilities such as arboretums, farms, and academic forests outside the Gwanak campus. And, I hope that the camp can be done in more various ways. Recently, technologies such as metaverse and chat GPT and teaching and learning methods such as gamification are being developed. I think it would be nice to try various new teaching and learning methods.

8. What would you like to say to students participating in the youth camp of the College of Agricultural and Life Sciences?

I hope students who don't know what career to choose specifically in the science and engineering area come to the camp. I want to tell you that it is a camp that you must come to if you are thinking about your engineering career. It is a great opportunity for Seoul National University Agricultural College, which leads the cutting-edge agriculture, to meet you in person and inform you of information that will help you in your career. If you're interested in science and engineering, even if it's not necessarily in agriculture, this camp will be a great help to you.