To collegians, whose vacation begins with the end of final exams, ?acation?probably connotes rest, relaxation, and relief, with no school and a chance to sleep late. However to some clubs at Ewha, vacation is a time of challenges, effort, and intensive training. Here are the busy winter schedules for three active clubs at Ewha.
This winter, the Ewha Debating Society (EDiS), the English debating club of the Division of International Studies, will be devoting their Christmas and New Year? holidays to fighting their way to the 2006 World University Debating Championships hosted by the University College of Dublin L&H in Dublin, Ireland. Four teams of two debaters each will be competing against university debating societies from all over the world, accompanied by three adjudicators.
Before the members of EDiS depart for Ireland, intense debate practices and ?atter sessions,?where members review individual research of various news sources and thesis papers, will be conducted to get in shape for the tournament. Although a heavy schedule of training is difficult to pursue while keeping up GPAs and pursuing other interests like internships, Shin Youn-a (International Studies, 2), co-president of EDiS, says, ? wouldn? call it a hardship because I put in my time and effort out of passion for debate.?EDiS was established in the spring of 2002 and its 2005 achievements alone have added up to the strongest showing in Korea? history of English debate. At the Northeast Asian Open Debate Championship (NEAO) that took place at Yonsei University in November, EDiS won the championship, advanced two other quarterfinalist teams, and had five best speaker awards. Kim Jung-yeun (International Studies, 3), one of the champions at NEAO 2005 and the other co-president of EDiS, says, ?inning the championship at NEAO 2005 was the comprehensive work of EDiS as a whole. It would never have happened if it had not been for EDiS? closer bonding among all teams.?
The first priority of the members of the Ewha Symphonious Amateur Orchestral Sounds (ESAOS) for this winter is practicing for its 26th performance in March 2006 by coming to school three times a week during vacation for three hours of intensive practice, each time. Moreover, ESAOS members will go into a music camp for three to four days to have final practices. ESAOS? hard practice paid off this year when they entered the finals at the first Seoul Citizen? Arts Festival hosted by the Seoul Foundation for Arts and Culture.
Other activities that keep ESAOS members busy throughout the winter vacation are their annual Christmas performances at Ewha and their invited performances at wedding ceremonies. They also visit Seoul National University? Children? Hospital every month to give birthday performances to congratulate birthday children of the month. One of the members of ESAOS, Yoo Han-na (Korean Lang. & Lit., 2) expressed her hopes for the future of ESAOS by saying, ?lthough we are just amateurs united by a passion for music itself, we hope to be second only to the orchestra of the College of Music.?
Civitan is a volunteer service club, and its major emphasis is helping people with developmental disabilities. This winter, Civitan members will share its warmth of love with the children of Raphael? House, a children? welfare center, who need special help and assistance in their studies because they are born with mental disabilities. ?e help them rehabilitate by helping them learn how to purchase goods at a market, training them to build concentration, and assisting them in arts and crafts classes. Also for these children, we hold the Grand Festival for Children with Disabilities on every Children? Day,?says Moon Ji-hye (Public Administration, 2).
Civitan members are also currently visiting ?algeumteo,?a Christian rehabilitation center for mentally ill women. The Civitan volunteers also assist these women to rehabilitate themselves and return to interaction with normal people and society. Han Esther (Public Administration, 2) says, ?hen we see people trying to write how much they like us in their letters, despite their limited Hangul skills, we realize, compared to the little knowledge and skills we give to them, they return us a lot more love. And we are so thankful for that.?