Academic differences between S. Korea and US

□ ACADEMIC DIFFERENCES:

o Workload (# of tests/assignments/outside of class work) 

=Tests and homework are minimal, there are assignments relate to writing assignment we call “report”. Most of grades are from big exams (mid term and final)

o Classroom culture, 

=Quiet, no discussions or raising hand for questions. TA is doing the attendances. Mostly lecture style.

o Flow of the semester
=They have midterm in the middle of the semester and a final at the end. There might be several quizzes and tests that don’t work a lot.

o Expectations of students

=Active, helpful, participative

o Faculty/student relationships

=Formal, not casual, set an appointment to talk, no open door policy, questions usually to TA

□ CREDITS:

o How many credits are classes normally worth?

=Usually 3 credits per class, and 4 if they are high level class

o Are credits/workload valued differently in your host country than here? 

=Credits are same, but workload is less than here

o Can you find information on how many hours/week each class will meet?

=2-3 times a week, 50-1:25 hour each class

o How will your credits transfer?

=15 credits to 15 credits

□ GRADES:

o Are letter grades in host country equivalent to the U.S.?

=Korean school’s full GPA is 4.5

American college’s full score is 4.0

And Korean schools use Alphabet grades

□ SUPPORT:

o What kinds of support services, academic resources, and tutoring available are available at your host institution?

=Disabled center, academic support center

□ FULL-TIME STATUS:

o How many credits do you have to enroll in to be considered full time at both your home and host institution?

=9 credits for full time, less than 9 for part time students

o What is the minimum number of courses you have to take to be full-time there and full-time here?

=12 credits

Vocation

My reason fro selecting JUFE is in direct correlation with my career goals. I would like to teach overseas when I graduate. I would enjoy teach in an international school, but would eventually like to teach in a local school in the local language. I am especially interested in special education and developing programs for special needs students internationally. Many countries, especially in developing or rural areas, do not even acknowledge a need for serving students with disabilities. This is my passion and I hope to raise awareness and create programs to improve the quality of life and education for students with special needs globally.

I love Asia and am especially drawn to China, especially because of it's diversity and progressiveness. I think that China is a perfect place to implement new programs for special needs students because it is both a need, but also has the potential to really invest in the idea and influence many others to do the same. For this reason, if I plan to live in China at some point to work towards some of these goals, learning the language is imperative. My main goal while abroad is to learn as much Mandarin as possible and to give myself a solid foundation for future language learning as well.

Vocation

I am very much planning on a career in international non-profit work, so study abroad experience is invaluable to me. It gives me a chance to not only learn more about navigating other cultures and spaces, but gives me opportunities to network in NGO settings with people around the world. I am already in the works to volunteer at a non-profit in Bangkok that works with refugees while living there.

Just the experience alone of being abroad will benefit me greatly in my vocational goals, especially since I will be living in an at least partially developing country will expose me to the hardships and experiences inherent to that lifestyle. It'll give me an opportunity to empathize and communicate with the people I want to help in a way I can't here

Vocation

My situation is quite different from the typical study abroad student's. I am going abroad for my student teaching internship. By student teaching abroad, I am not only fulfilling my student teaching requirements, but also dream of mine to teach abroad.

This will be very beneficial for me because I will gain practical experience in a foreign country where the teaching style may be very different from what I am used to. I am excited at het opportunity to be immersed in the new culture while learning about their education system. I hope that I will be able to bring back parts of their education system that I like and integrate them into the culture here.

I believe this will be a great resumé booster as well. Having this on my resume will show that I am adaptable, knowledgable, and willing to try new things. Since I hope to get a teaching job abroad after, I am hoping to be able to apply for jobs while I am abroad. I think having student teaching on my resume will make me more marketable when applying for those jobs.

Stepping into the Real World: Vocation

Something that I am looking forward to just as much as I am looking forward to going abroad is my ability to take photos while I am there. I have been able to make an arrangement with the art department that would give me the chance to fulfill my requirements for my Art minor that I am pursing in addition to my Writing/Communication major. This is something that I have always enjoyed doing as a hobby and being able to fully capture my experience is something that I will find particularly worthwhile.

In addition, I am planning on taking a Creative Writing course while I am abroad, something that I am looking forward to since that is something that I also enjoy doing. While I will be focusing primarily on editing going forward as a professional adult, I do hope for the chance to learn more about writing creatively and hopefully through this I will be able to hone my skills even more than I have previously. It will be interesting to see writing from a different perspective than that of the professors here and hopefully the course will touch on better ways to edit in addition to how to write better.

Vocation

The biggest way in which I will take advantage of my time abroad is to take classes in Spanish. Acquisition of the Spanish language is my biggest goal for my semester abroad. Having knowledge of another language will not only improve my chances of getting a job after graduation but will also open the door to learning more languages. I will also become more aware of cultural differences and cultural practices that differ from my own during my time there. My experience abroad will help me to increase my knowledge overall of Argentina. The best thing I will do to take advantage of my time abroad will be to work on gathering data for my thesis. To do this, I plan on visiting different types of businesses, for example, restaurants and retail stores, and observing how relationships are formed between management and customers. I want to see how this is done differently in Argentina than in America. I will come back and use this data to work on my thesis. I will be able to integrate my experiences in businesses abroad into a comparison between customer service here and there. By doing this, I will gain the experience of talking with professionals and interviewing them. I will be able to use this comparison later on, after graduation, to guide how I will do business abroad by representing a company. I will have a deep understanding of how to adapt to a different culture from my own and thrive within it. This is the biggest and best thing I will do during my time abroad.

Besides that idea, I will be able to incorporate my experience abroad into my everyday life by looking at my own culture differently. I will have a different lense to observe my own culture through. 

Vocation

The area of business that interests me is supply chain and logistics.  Sweden, where I am going, is home to a whole host of high-end manufacturing firms, each with their own global supply chain network.  I think it would be really useful to perhaps tour these industrial facilities to get a feel for how the highly competitive Swedish firms organize and operate.

Additionally, I think it would be beneficial to get a feel for the basics of Swedish and Scandinavian business culture.  Down the road, you never know when that knowledge might come in handy. Networking through informational interviews could provide crucial insights.

There is ample opportunity for personal education and professional development in Sweden.