Yonsei University

By Brandan Tang, Foster Undergraduate who participated in an exchange with Yonsei University in Seoul, South Korea.

 While abroad in Korea I had the opportunity to study at Yonsei University, one of the top colleges in South Korea. Located on the northwestern end of Seoul, Yonsei’s campus is in a perfect location for college exchange students. Outside of the beautiful campus, Yonsei is close to the Sinchon area, which has a multitude of restaurants and cafes.

On campus, I spent a majority of my time in the business building which was built last year. Looking inside, it is pretty evident how modern and high tech the building is. Even coming from a nice building in PACCAR hall I was blown away by the facility, and found myself coming back to study often.

My classes within the building definitely had a different atmosphere compared to my classes back at home. With a majority of the classes being native Korean, I found myself learning so much about the Korean culture through simple conversations. While many of the students are shy with their English, there are a few that want to improve and love to have conversations. It was encouraging when students wanted me in their presentation group in order to have a native English speaker help them present.

Compared to the United States I feel that the culture of studying is much more intense in South Korea. While jobs are competitive back in the states, it is even more competitive here in South Korea. There are a few giant companies that a lot of students strive for such as Samsung or Hyundai. Also, after talking with a few students, I found out that internships rarely transfer into a full time offer, meaning that landing a full time position is more stressful than usual.