Interview with Graduates of 2024

 One day, about a month before the graduation ceremony for the 2024 school year, we met three students from the Department of Applied Biochemistry who are spending their last vacation before graduation. We covered Ko Eun-byul (Eunbyul), Chae Hyang (Hyang), and Kim Yi-seul (Lee Seul), who majored in Applied Biology, and we were able to hear about their feelings about graduation, recollection of past undergraduate life, and future plans.


Q. How do you feel about graduation?

A. Eunbyeol, Hyang: I still can't believe it, but I think it's ridiculous that I'm graduating already. I feel relieved and sad. I haven't been to an exchange student, and I couldn't play properly or do various things because I was in a COVID-19 college. Some people think it's a good idea to graduate on the knife, but there seems to be a small fear that I can't go to this good school anymore and suddenly become a member of the society. I think I still want to be protected from the boundary of school.


Q. What are your plans after graduation?

A. Hyang: I want to save money in earnest by earning money from my company life. When I was in college, I could not save a lot of money because I spent a lot of money on private tutoring. Now I want to save a lot of money on my savings account. I want to save money, buy a building, live there, and open a dance practice room and cafe on each floor, and somewhere in the university district, I want to become the owner of a book cafe like 'Love the World' and pack kimbap for hungry students.

A. Eun-byeol: I experienced graduate school little by little while attending a lab when I was an undergraduate, but I decided to get a job at a company because I wanted to work with people. I want to work for a company and make a lot of money, travel to Europe, and open my own flower shop after retirement in the future.

A. Seul-seul: I entered the graduate school of plant microbiology as soon as I graduated from undergraduate school. I have had graduate school in mind since I entered the school, so I have been working in the lab consistently since I was an undergraduate student. I chose this career path because I was satisfied and I felt that my tendency to sit down for a long time to study one thing fits well with my research position. However, I am still trying new things because I am worried about finding a job and major after graduating from graduate school.



Q. When you look back on your undergraduate life, are there something you think you did well or you have regrets about?

A. Hyang: What I think I did really well was to join HIS, a dance club at Seoul National University. Since it is a central club, I got to know a lot of people from various colleges. I first started dancing through the club, and I learned what style and feeling of music I like while learning dance, a kind of self-expression. Also, I learned the joy of sharing the same hobby, and I am most satisfied with the part where I got a hobby for the rest of my life. On the other hand, it is regrettable that I couldn't go as an exchange student. I have heard a lot from my acquaintances that they recommend exchange students as happy memories of my college life, but I am sad that I haven't been there.

A. Seul-seul: I learned how to do many things at once with high efficiency during my college years. It became a limit to not being able to do anything in the first grade due to the COVID-19 situation, but as I stepped in one by one since I was in the second grade, there were so many things I was doing. Since I have various interests, I often did many things at the same time, such as studying and laboratories, conferences and clubs, and hobbies such as musicals and movies, but I was proud to be able to do most of them above the appropriate level. While working in such a variety of jobs, I gained experience in various fields, and I think making people in various fields helped me a lot in my life.

A. Eun-byeol: I think I lived very sincerely. However, I used to be stressed out about my plans before, but I found a way to compromise with me during my four years in college. I think I have more peace of mind by finding a way to make it work while still bothering me less.


Q. What activities do you want to recommend among the experiences you have during your undergraduate life?

A. Seul-seul: I have two personal experiences of undergraduate life that I would like to recommend. One is that it would be good to experience the lab or internship even during a semester or vacation. Usually, science students mainly think about graduate school and employment, but I think it is important to experience employment as an intern and graduate school as a lab to find out what fits well and what doesn't. The other one is that I recommend you to work hard in the club seriously. Through the club, I think you can get to know various peers in various fields, gather together with common interests, and share various insights. My singing skills improved a lot while I was a vocalist in a band called BAB, but I was able to make many memories by making various friends and doing what I like.


Q. As a graduate, please say something to undergraduates.

A. Hyang: I hope you graduate after doing everything you want without any regrets. Even if things don't turn out the way you thought, or if plans aren't drawn, you never know when and what will happen to a person. I hope you live your life hard and prepare well so that you can catch the opportunity when it comes.

A. Seul-seul: I think college life is almost the last time in your life that you can take less responsibility for your choices. I think it's the last time you can try again with a small risk even if you fail at something, and I hope you spend time in college trying many things and failing many things to get to know yourself more.

A. Eun-byeol: I feel the same way. I hope you don't be impatient and do what you want to do.