On the school badge, which all of students receive upon admission to the school, Ewha’s precepts are represented with three words: Jin (Truth), Seon (Goodness), and Mi (Beauty). But what do three words really mean to Ewha students? To explain the meaning of those precepts and to help our readers relate to the motto more closely to students, the Ewha Voice has picked some living examples who reveal how those three words apply to students’ real lives.
Jin (Truth)
Truth, as specified by Ewha Centennial Source Book, is knowledge: “If the university is neglectful in pursuing its quest for learning, it loses the value of its existence.” One typical group of Ewha alumnae who are persistent in the pursuit of knowledge are the professors who continue lecturing and researching at Ewha after graduation. Professor Kim Myoung-hee (Computer Science) is a good example. Kim graduated from Ewha in 1974 from the department of sociology and continued studying at graduate schools here in
Seon (Goodness)
The Ewha Centinnial Source Book states that “knowledge only has value when it is used in good ways.” At Ewha, one student who has dedicated herself to using her knowledge for good is Kim Na-kyung (Special Education, 2). Kim was admitted to Ewha based on her special record of doing volunteering work during her high school days at a welfare center near her house for students who have Down’s syndrome.
“Usually, those centers do not accept high school students because they are merely coming to the center to fill their required volunteer duty hours. However, I specially told a teacher in the center that I would be a sincere helper, not be like other high school students. Thus, I could work with the teachers who are regularly working at the center and since then I have developed my dream to become a special education teacher for disabled students,” said Kim.
Kim is now officially majoring the field at Ewha. “When I thought of my future path as a special education instructor for disabled students, my motivation came simply from my volunteer job but after taking the Introduction for Special Education course taught by Professor Park Ji-yeon (Special Education), I was able to think about the field of education in a more concrete and scientific way. This course was truly inspiring to me in my freshman year,” Kim said.
Kim plans to become a special education teacher for elementary school students, but says she may continue her own education later and become a professor herself in the end. “I want to teach students who are isolated, marginalized and deprived of the rights of the students take for granted first,” says Kim. “But if I start to develop affection for education itself I could devote myself to the other teachers who work with disabled students too.”
Mi (Beauty)
The meaning of beauty at Ewha is not the typical beauty of flowers or in the picture of a pretty woman. Beauty in the Ewha Centinneal History Source Book is defined as harmony, specifically, “developing one’s characteristics to their maximum level.” One student who pursues this concept of beauty is Kim Sun-young (Psychology, 2) who is also a musical actress as a member of E-MU, a musical club at Ewha.
Kim was interested in singing and dancing even when she was a young girl and she turned that interest into a real activity during her high school days. “I was a member of a play club and a band club and did not lose my interest in these activities,” said Kim.
After entering Ewha, Kim has practiced day and night to reach the level of becoming a musical actress in the performances that is E-MU holds twice a year – in the first or the second week after the beginning of every semester. In the second week of March, Kim played the role of a maid in “Fachde,” which reveals the hypocrisy of human beings and induces audience to contemplate on the nature of themselves. “It was quite a difficult job to play the role because I had to do all the singing, dancing, and acting without any help from a recording,” said Kim.
Despite the difficulties, Kim feels gratification when she is on the stage. “I blow away all the stress and exhaustion that I have felt during the rehearsal when I am up on stage and see the spectators watching me,” said Kim.
Kim is not sure if she will pursue a career in musicals, but she wants to stay involved in the club, and she says she can even apply her major, psychology, to understanding the characters she portrays. “One’s path is not only confined to one field, like psychology or musicals. I can pursue my dream either way.”