Woo Jungmin from Korea

When I first came to Canada in grade 9, I was shocked because it was completely different from what I expected. The school system was different from Korea, and it was stressful to make friends because of the language barrier. Therefore, it was tough to adjust to the school. However, there were teachers and classmates who supported me. They gave me additional explanations with kindness and understood the difficulties I encountered. With their help, my attitude has changed over the years. My experience in Abbotsford made me grow up to be a bold person. I also learned independence from studying in Abbotsford, which I think is valuable. When I lived in Korea, I was too dependent on other people: parents, friends and tutors. I could not choose something important by myself, and felt afraid of being alone. Tutors were also necessary for me to understand the major courses because almost every student in Korea gets tutoring to study further in advance, and they rarely ask questions in school. In contrast, most students in Canada learn new things from school teachers, not from tutors. They ask lots of questions in class, and all the students learn together at the same speed. Therefore, I could efficiently concentrate on school classes and started solving problems by myself. The learning environment was more comfortable for me, so I didn't need tutors. Even without tutoring, my grade was about an average of 90%, which I had never imagined in Korea. Moreover, decision-making became easier after trying to do everything by myself. Canada made me accomplish many things and allowed me to gain confidence. The diversity of courses was what I loved the most about studying in Canada. I had lots of choices in electives, which means I had huge opportunities to find my interest. The Business Leadership course was a fascinating class for me. I had to operate school stores with classmates, and working and communicating with them was an absolute joy. I was able to feel fully involved in the community. In addition, since the class consisted of a lot of group projects, I was able to build my teamwork skills and confidence in sharing ideas. All the experiences I have had in this class were meaningful to me, and they also made me decide on my future plan, which is to major in Business Management. I think studying in Canada has a lot of advantages, and I enjoyed those advantages while living in Abbotsford. I was able to experience not only Canadian culture but also other international cultures like Chinese and Japanese. Meeting people from various nations was a unique experience. Abbotsford's International program made me start challenging myself and realizing there's nothing I can't achieve if I put in a lot of effort. I think I have made lots of unforgettable memories in Abbotsford. 

Activities

Volunteered for Korean tutoring online program, Vice President (December 2020 - June 2022) Operating RBSS school stores (April 2021 - June 2021, February 2022- June 2022)

Post-Secondary Plans

I recently applied to Stony Brook University Korea campus (The State University of New York) and George Mason Korea campus. I chose Business Management and Marketing, and I'm waiting to be accepted. I haven't planned my future career in detail, but I'm willing to work in the marketing section.