4 Jan 2012

Screening process is over

Soon the project I was designing for several months will start (if Russian participants are more active than they are at the moment)

Yesterday I was looking through the applications received from Korean students. Of course, it is not correct to generalise (especially in my case, because I am the one who is trying to work against generalisations), but still. Here are some interesting conclusions (generalised!!) I came up with after screening somewhat 30 applications:

1) The biggest achievement or failure for Korean students is getting/not getting into the university they were striving to get in.

No doubts, in the country where education is highly prioritised, and even brought to the level of mass hysteria, what else can you come up with but your academical achievements. The majority of people just bored me with their touching stories of struggle with memorising lengthy passages in text books and sleep deprivation in the entrance exams preparation period. Isn't there anything else left to achieve?

2) Lack of non-conventional creative thinking
 I don't really know what causes this, but it is a fact that students do not really show the sparkle of non-standard thinking. There was this question supposedly to check student's imagination's flaw.

"Imagine You have 1 kg of coins, a grandson of Cuban government leader 
as your friend and rubber shoes in bulk. 
What are you going to do with this all? "

Standard answer: sell shoes, give money to the poor Cubans.

Yes, and what's wrong with the poor? Many people wrote that they are wholeheartedly willing to help the poor and deprived of any opportunity and joy of life Cubans (well, I a bit exaggerated here.) 

The best answer award goes to a girl from Yonsei University, department of Politics and Diplomacy:

"I'd like to give rubber shoes to Cuban beggars and 1 kg of coins if they learn Korean. After that, I will ask Cuban government leader to visit Korea with those beggars and it can be a chance to exchange cultures with them.

One 'cool dude' asked the following: "Do you think it would be possible to save world with these stuff above?" 

Hello! Did anyone here ask to save the world???

No doubt, people ARE different. With tons of similarities...


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