It can help you but also harm you

Leave of Absence: A Double-edged Sword

It can help you but also harm you

By Gim Ye-seul, Student Editor

    During our parents’ generation, only a few students took a temporary leave of absence from school because they could not pay tuition. These days, it is natural to take a temporary absence from school. We can easily find students around us who absent themselves from school or consider a temporary absence from school. According to statistics from the Division of Academic Records (DAR), 8,697 Chonnam National University (CNU) students amid 24,679 enrolled at Gwangju Campus on September 13, 2007, have taken a temporary absence from school more than once. What do they do during this period? Why do so many students consider take a leave of absence? Is it because numerous university students are facing the worst job market in years? In this article, Chonnam Tribune inquires into the causes and advantages of temporary absence as well as the disadvantages that may result from this phenomenon.

    Its Purposes

    From September 27 to 28, Chonnam Tribune conducted a survey asking 201 CNU students what they thought about taking a temporary absence from school. According to the survey results, 20% of respondents already had taken it and 75.1% have considered it at least one time. Among students who want to take a leave of absence from school, 20% of the students who answered say that they have a plan to study foreign languages. Foreign language competence, as we know, is a prerequisite for students in the global world.

As most companies require a certain level of language proficiency, students have to study to get a job as well as to meet job qualifications. Sun Moon-gwang (sophomore, Dept. of Civil Engineering) has been studying English in a campus group during his temporary absence from school. He had a feeling that his English was not up to par after being discharged from military service. So, he chose to take a leave from school temporarily to devote his energies to improving his English. 


    However, have you ever heard about ‘campus moratorium tribe’? It means students who take their leave of absence with the deliberate intention of increasing their competitiveness. In fact, 18% students of the respondents consider a leave of absence with the same intentions, to arm themselves with skills, qualifications and requirements that business world favors. Respondents said most business organizations tend to prefer prospective college students when they are hiring. Therefore, students try hard to satisfy job qualifications before they graduate.


    While they are on leave from school, they enter contests such as marketing competitions, writing contests or others in order to obtain public awards and certificates. Kim Seo-young (Junior, Dept. of Communication) is now on a leave of absence to measure up to qualifications in the media profession. “Making a video is a course of endurance, and so tough. Moreover, I am a leader of video club, ‘In6mm’. I could not complete the work assigned to me last semester. But for my dream, it is necessary to take the course. So, I made a resolute decision to take a leave of absence.” Many students seem to have a plan to take a leave of absence from school in order to meet job qualifications because the job market is getting worse as more recent graduates are experiencing a high unemployment rate.


    Referring to the DAR, 694 new students have left the school from 2002 to 2005. And freshmen accounted for 18% of that number. The result shows that ‘university leave’ occurs due to the lack of information and insufficient programs for students’ employment operated by CNU. Another reason is that they also leave school because they feel that they as a student of local university are at a disadvantage towards getting a job.


     Require Careful Consideration 

     However, a leave of absence is not always proper and suitable. It is possible to just waste one’s time regardless of students’ plans and very easy to lose their ways. Moreover, if students do take a leave of absence with no specific plan, it has bigger possibility to end in failure. Lee Chul-min (under a fictitious name, Senior, Dept. of Chemistry) said, “I had a feeling of uneasiness when my friends went abroad or to Seoul to acquire professional experiences. For that reason, I stayed out of school, although having no plans. After coming back to school, I have been trying to make a higher grade in classes at which I had earned a low grade. It is not easy to do.” And some students speak out that taking a leave of absence delays entering the real world. Sometimes, students who take a leave of absence work for younger bosses.


     Lee Duek-yean working in the Overall Human Resources Development Center said that a leave of absence is not a solution to get a gob. He advised, “Prospective university graduates had better strive to get a job after graduation rather than preparing for employment during the period of a temporary leave of absence. After graduation, they could make a great effort to find a job in terms of meeting job qualifications owing to the urgency for employment. Instant need is expected to stimulate their efforts. Furthermore, a leave of absence makes two bites at a cherry.”

Some students said that it is hard to maintain good grades side by side with learning foreign languages or preparing job qualifications. Yeom Min-ho, Instructor in the Education Development Research Institute insisted that many students only take courses which are known for giving out good grades. It seems they generally study for better grades and irregularly study to develop their abilities. If students take courses based on desire for improving their capability and do their best in classes, they can accomplish both.

     Conclusion


     As a matter of fact, we know there are many advantages generated from a temporary absence. During that period, students can make an effort to improve their foreign language skills and they are able to prepare job qualifications. They can attend contests and acquire some certificates. But there are also side effects to a leave of absence. Some students are worried about being outpaced by fellow competitors. So, they take a temporary absence from school with no define objectives. Others spent their time meaninglessly where they had no plans.

But if there are no specific purposes, a leave of absence will tend to end in failure. And if there is no sufficient effort to achieve goals, choosing a temporary absence from school has no beneficial effects. Besides, a leave of absence creates a delay in entering another social circle. All students who want to take a leave of absence should consider that it is hard to keep up with regular studies side by side with irregular studies.

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