University Division Grand Prize-winning Essay
University Division
Grand Prize-winning Essay
Winds of Change Reach Ivory Tower
By Kim Ji-hong, Junior, Department of English Education, Chonnam National University
For a long time, studying meant something that was done in books and papers. It used to be considered sacred, and people thought scholars deserved respect. This belief was solid, but not anymore. Let’s look at universities: many students study harder than others and earn scholarships. Several years ago, new kinds of scholarships started to appear. Their criteria were somewhat different from before. They looked at what kinds of internships or volunteer work students had done, or even awards from contests. These were the most important standards. Students panicked at the news. They didn’t know what to do. Of course many students figured out what those criteria intended, reflected on it and got into action. But there were also worried voices. Should universities, places of scholars, be turned into training centers for corporations? Are schools to be blamed for low employment? These concerns are valid enough to be considered. So, the winds of change finally reached the ivory towers. Is this the right reflection of social change? The change already began a while ago, even in universities and colleges. Now we need to discuss why it is needed and how it should occur.
The first and most important reason for the change in scholarship criteria is that companies require experienced workers. They need job applicants to be “already” experienced before they come to interview. A generation before, university graduates used to be headhunted even before they had actually graduated. That golden age lowered its curtain long ago. Now students look for internships. This creates a win-win situation for both students and companies. Students can get jobs relatively easily, and more importantly, they can start to build their careers early. A student working as an intern in her or his dream company: nothing can be better than this. Corporations can hire her or him at lower cost, and scout future prominent workers before rival companies take them. More and more companies are starting to expand their internship opportunities. Posco recruited five hundred graduate interns, and is going to hire half of them at the final stage of their internships. CJ has doubled its number of interns this year. Another reason why corporations are increasing their internships is that they have concluded that a job interview is not enough to judge whether applicants are sufficiently qualified. They need better human resources than their rivals to survive in the market.
“Generalist” is another keyword in the job hunting market. Why do we include an “other experiences” column in our resume? Why do companies value job applicants’ volunteer work experience so much? Peter Drucker has emphasized the importance of generalists. Generalists are people who can connect their special subjects of study to every other kind of field. This means that they will not be inclined toward a specialist’s fallacy of pride, Drucker says. Apple, a company that once produced only computers, made a huge success with the iPod and iPhone. Google is trying to expand its influence in the realm of cellular phones and TV networks. These are only a couple of examples, and opportunities are unlimited. Many universities and colleges are offering various programs for students to broaden their experiences, such as study tours and student exchanges. But if they can develop themselves without leaving this country, why bother to send them abroad? As a result, there are new kinds of scholarships which value non-academic activities.
If the trend is inevitable, what do worried voices say? Actually, many scholars are seriously concerned about college students’ scholastic ability. The national curriculum for middle school and high school has constantly been in flux, and the results have not been very good. Many people have criticized that new educational system, saying it has affected students’ scholarly achievements. Some professors have complained that new students are not able to understand their lectures. Fewer students are choosing academic subjects. With this in mind, arguments against increasing the proportion of new scholarships are valid. However, many scholarships still hold GPA as the most important criterion. We don’t want all students to stop studying academic fields; what we want is more diversity in schools.
Currently there are more than ten thousand kinds of jobs one can take. All these occupations require different talents. Of course, getting a good GPA means that students are certainly talented in one respect, but relying only on their intellectual capacity limits their opportunities. If they want to become something else, first they should decide what career they want to pursue, and develop the talent needed. Even then, their appearance or ability to entertain other people is considered talent. The age when only those who got good grades were admired is over. Instead, students have to find something that is unique. Reform in universities and colleges has already begun. There are special departments which study fields such as managing funeral ceremonies, food design, magic, personal protection services, stage design and even computer games. Wouldn’t it be a shame if schools selected scholarship students only by their GPA and TOEIC score? That’s unfair. The word “talent” can mean anything, depending on how you define it. Colleges and universities should embrace those students who have unlimited potential.
Of course, schools don’t need to become human resources training centers for corporations. But wouldn’t it be great if students could nurture their dreams there? Not all colleges need to transform: they can develop their own specialties. There are already institutions which have unique strengths, such as Postech and Korea Aerospace University. These examples are so-called top class, but dreams can grow everywhere. So why must all scholarships select only “good” students? They can keep those criteria and make new scholarships. Students need not be disappointed with the fact that their schools do not follow that model. Their schools have various contests, internships, volunteer work opportunities, working holidays and many more. All kinds of opportunities are out there for students.
김지홍 학생
Tribune@cnumedia.com