What I learned after entering university.
'You are free to choose but you are not free from the consequence' is a famous universal paradox known to many. Likewise, 'freedom' and 'responsibility' cannot be apart from each other in any case. The most intriguing dilemma that I faced after my entrance in HUFS is how to use the given freedom and at the same time how to take full responsibility of the aftermaths. My past two years of thoroughly considering the two coexisting terms brought numerous intangibles that could both be regarded as a process of becoming an adult and a precious life-long lesson: time.
In the middle of the two unavoidable concepts is an absolute term called 'time'. When thinking of freedom and responsibility, I couldn't help myself but to unconsciously coin it with time usage. I realized that the key for me to utilize freedom and take full responsibility is to make the best out of my limited time. And as soon as this enlightenment hit me, other thoughts instantly popped into my mind: 'Shouldn't I go for a long trip before it becomes too late for me?' 'Why is time flying by so quickly?' 'I can't believe it's already September! What have I done until this day?' I became nervous to the fact that I haven't achieved anything in particular and it just felt like I was going around in circles, not heading toward my goals. Then I began to question myself whether I am on the right track of effectively using my time or am I just wasting the freedom for granted.
So I started to search on the web and read book in terms of time use, and learned ways to efficiently make use of my time by planning. Instead of just ideally planning what I want to do and what I have to do, I pictured the whole procedure and then shifted on to a more realistic frame. For example, through this process I learned that writing a 'not to do list' rather than a 'to do list' is more effective to me and that making one appointment a day or setting a trivial goal a day works more than scheduling many. To my surprise, I started to feel fulfillments and for the first time of my life nervousness disappeared; it was substituted with confidence and satisfaction. As I planned my days in detail and depth, I found another valuable gem, opportunity. I reached to a conclusion that when making the best use of my limited time and sticking on to it hard, opportunity approaches in the mist of business. Metaphorically, it is like a fog for it can fade away without any forewarning which means that I have to catch it before it runs away.
Opportunity is wearing time. In other words, it is unlikely to come back when you miss the exact time. Surprisingly, this leads to another conclusion that missing a chance is also my own responsibility of my time and freedom misusage. Anyways, it actually is a universal paradox. 'You are free to choose but you are not free from the consequences'.
Hi, Yeonjae. I read your essay and I felt sympathy a lot to your feelings and thoughts. I guess your writing was not too personal but rather dealt a story of many university students. Using an apt quotation at the beginning made me feel like reading more. I think it was very nice starting strategy. Later, I would like to know more about the secret of recognizing the exact time for a new try and not miss the opportunity. See you in class^^.
ReplyDelete- written by Sieun Kim
hello my name is Hoyoung. i read well your essay and i think i did and doing as the same. :-) at the point where you go to find books for time management is so realistic to me. also your first paragraph show two concepts apparently, freedom and responsibility. it is interesting. if you revise, i think it would be great to share the thoughts you had after reading the books.
ReplyDeletehello my name is Hoyoung. i read well your essay and i think i did and doing as the same. :-) at the point where you go to find books for time management is so realistic to me. also your first paragraph show two concepts apparently, freedom and responsibility. it is interesting. if you revise, i think it would be great to share the thoughts you had after reading the books.
ReplyDelete201300729 Eunwoo Kim
ReplyDeleteHer essay topic is very interesting and I can sympathize with her because I am an university student just like her. I’ve also had that dilemma between freedom and responsibility, so that made me it seems to be real. For me, I have many things that I want to do in limited time, so my recent issue is that how to use the time more effectively. Because I have the same concern with her, I could be more into her essay. She started her essay with a famous quotation, ‘you are free to choose but you are not free from the consequence.’ I think this is very effective introduction. It perfectly matches with her essay. I also like her usage of vocabulary. She didn’t use the common words, but tried to use various words, which is another effort to make her essay more fun to rea.
Overall, actually, I was very impressed by her essay. At the same time, her essay made me to feel ashamed myself. I could feel that how she tried hard and thought deeply before this one assignment. Comparing with her, I feel like my effort is nothing. I want to emulate her and want to give her a big applaud.
201403683 Yeonjae Hwang
ReplyDeleteWhat I learned after entering university.
‘You are free to choose but you are not free from the consequence’ is a famous universal paradox known to many. Likewise, ‘freedom’ and ‘responsibility’ cannot be apart from each other in any case. The most intriguing dilemma that I faced after my entrance in HUFS is how to use the given freedom and at the same time how to take full responsibility of the aftermaths. My past two years of thoroughly considering the two coexisting terms brought numerous intangibles that could both be regarded as a process of becoming an adult and a precious life-long lesson: time and human relationship.
In the middle of the two unavoidable concepts is an absolute term called ‘time’. When thinking of freedom and responsibility, I couldn’t help myself but to unconsciously coin it with time usage. I realized that the key for me to utilize freedom and take full responsibility is to make the best out of my limited time. And as soon as this enlightenment hit me, other thoughts instantly popped into my mind: ‘Shouldn’t I go for a long trip before it becomes too late for me?’ ‘Why is time flying by so quickly?’ ‘I can’t believe it’s already September! What have I done until this day?’ I became nervous to the fact that I haven’t achieved anything in particular and it just felt like I was going around in circles, not heading toward my goals. Then I began to question myself whether I am on the right track of effectively using my time or am I just wasting the freedom for granted. So I started to search on the web and read book in terms of time use, and learned ways to efficiently make use of my time by planning. Instead of just ideally planning what I want to do and what I have to do, I pictured the whole procedure and then shifted on to a more realistic frame. For example, through this process I learned that writing a ‘not to do list’ rather than a ‘to do list’ is more effective to me and that making one appointment a day or setting a trivial goal a day works more than scheduling many. To my surprise, I started to feel fulfillments and for the first time of my life nervousness disappeared; it was substituted with confidence and satisfaction. As I planned my days in detail and depth, I found another valuable gem, opportunity. I reached to a conclusion that when making the best use of my limited time and sticking on to it hard, opportunity approaches in the mist of business. Metaphorically, it is like a fog for it can fade away without any forewarning which means that I have to catch it before it runs away. Opportunity is wearing time. In other words, it is unlikely to come back when you miss the exact time. Surprisingly, this led to another conclusion that missing a chance is also my own responsibility of my time and freedom misusage. After all, it actually was a universal paradox: ‘You are free to choose but you are not free from the consequences’.
‘Treasure all the relationships, you never know when you’ll meet again’ is another ancient wisdom from the very past. Yes, ‘human relationship’ is the next chapter within my university life. After my entrance in HUFS, there were all types of students with distinct characteristics and personalities such as I have never seen since. So to get along with them, I had to adjust myself within the novel atmosphere and sometimes had to change my personal traits according to whom I was with. On the surface this might sound as a great difficulty, however I actually gained priceless lessons and abilities through it. Staying in good terms with those who I liked, changing my traits at times, and taking not much of a deal to those who didn’t suit me helped me to grow stronger. I became harder than ever and at the same time fully indifferent. I learned to distinguish the rights and wrongs, while gaining the ability to select the appropriate ones for me. Also, I found my own color within the crowd and knew more of myself. This was specifically achieved via accepting each other’s differences. Even if I could not understand other’s thoughts, I learned to at least show respect for I could also be the one who others cannot understand. Thus, I directed my energy to knowing the differences and being in others’ shoe when it came to relationships. The common sense but hard to be taken into action, such as expressing the gratefulness or always remembering people’s names were gradually practiced as time went by. Most of all, investing myself into human relationship aided me to discover my hobby which I never had thought about, meeting people. I found out that I loved meeting all sorts of people and enjoyed the procedure of getting to know more about them in person. As gaining acquaintance with individuals became my hobby, I learned to exchange the stresses earned from people to satisfaction. By talking with them in person, I realized that I was being filled with enlightenment as every single one of them knew something that I never knew ever since. Either way, meeting people was a win-win strategy for me in that I could find their value which was truly above that of diamonds and the incomparable preciousness of who I was.
ReplyDeleteThe mentioned two intellectual themes ‘time’ and ‘relationship’ could bring a social consensus among the university students as they could have already went through the same process as I did. Yet, the last lesson I learned but not the least within my ongoing university life, which also could be called as the common denominator of time and relationship, was becoming my true self. The experiences were entirely my own. I once had waited for fairytale revolution of my life; I once have thought that I have already flown so high and once have realized that I was the biggest failure I knew. Just beneath the threshold of gaining such valuable lessons, I have undergone minor ups and downs which in retrospect were a humbling and inspiring experience of my university life. Most importantly, I learned to stay beyond from the boundaries of ‘criteria’ and mock at the concept ‘by nature’. I learned to enjoy my everyday as ‘I’ am the only one who stays with me forever, and that everything else is secondary. I learned to believe in my own instinct through my struggle with time and relationship, and to never stop as the path I am heading to is always right. Though I cannot be the best technically as there is someone who’s better than me at all times, I realized the only thing I can be the best at is developing my own self through beauty of the particulars that are surrounding me.