I get to know a lot of students through the courses I teach. Many students ask me for advice regarding their future careers: what should I do, what should I study, and so on. I’ve had many students in their final year of university tell me they really don’t know what they want to do after they gradu

For those of you who had been to academies when you were in elementary, middle, or high school, what kind of memories come to your mind when you think of those days? For me, not only teachers, the atmosphere of studying, and something related to education, but the moments of eating snacks, enjoying

About a month ago, an old student of mine sent me an unexpected e-mail. She reminded me that she took my course last winter, right before the COVID outbreak, and that the conversations we had in-between classes inspired her to achieve her goals: to be admitted into Law School. To share a bit more ab

​​​​​​​Right after I graduated from high school, I was really looking forward to putting on makeup to be a ‘pretty’ university student. I watched a lot of videos of makeup artists on YouTube and learned how to do it. I was worried that I will be fat, and if I was not ‘pretty’. After I entered univer

​​​​​​​When the world came face-to- face with the Covid19 crisis a year ago, we all had to quickly adjust to a “new normal” lifestyle. Among the many privileges that had to be placed on hold for the time being was the freedom to travel abroad. Many people enjoy traveling to a foreign country for dif

Do you want to live a different life from the present in the future? Or, is there any part of you that you want to change? So, what kind of effort can you make for the future? Where does change begin? Where changes begin is your ‘PRESENT’.You must have certain patterns or habits that have formed in

The gravest threats facing most people in the world these days are not related to the danger of war, whether interstate or civil, but rather are linked to famine (hunger), pestilence (diseases and pandemics), disasters (both natural and manmade), and extreme poverty. These threats are also interrela

​​​​​​​Two Koreans have been chosen as TIME 100 most influential people of 2020. These were Jung Eunkyung, the “Virus hunter” who saved millions of Koreans from this unrealistic movielike-pandemic situation, and Bong Joon-ho, the filmmaker who always portraits the absurd reality in his films. Intere

​​​​​​​Life is full of twists, turns, and traps. Navigating existence can be a frustrating endeavor. However, there is one way to ensure a smoother journey—it’s all about being specific! And here’s three scenarios where specificity can be your greatest ally.1. Get that JobYou’re interviewing for a r

Mask wearing during COVID-19 seems to have brought about a paradigm shift in makeup norms in Japan and Korea, the two leaders of the cosmetic industry. Whether or not people do makeup during this troubled time could unveil the motivations as well as rationale behind the application of makeup in the

​​​​​​​We are suffering from a pandemic crisis. Like the name of the disease suggests, COVID-19 started last year. It will soon be a year since its outbreak. Every day, there are many new confirmed cases and the total number of reported infections rises continually all around the world. Unfortunatel

​​​​​​​I have a friend who works at a vegan restaurant as a chef. His restaurant sells Hawaiian pizza and mint chocolate icecream, all without the dairy and meat and whatever includes animal-derived ingredients. Frankly speaking, I’ve never been to his restaurant, but he tells me about incidents at

​​​​​​​The first time I met my wife, I had just arrived as an exchange student from Germany at her university, UC San Diego. She asked what I studied, and when I replied her face took a slightly repulsed expression. As a physics major I had seen that look before and many times since. This response t

Sometimes, we become passionate for something in an unexpected way, just like the movie The Hobbit: An unexpected journey. This was exactly what happened to me during the long and stressful quarantine. It may seem paradoxical to get interested in something in such a difficult and hopeless time. But

Before I came to Seoul, my hometown was New York City, and I still pay attention to news from New York. These days the news makes me sad—not only is there the COVID-19 problem, but, also, New York seems to be experiencing an outbreak of gun murders and crime.This surprises me. Though New York, as Am

From stranger to savior. This is what philosophy is to me before and after the spring of 2020. The prejudice is that philosophy is an abstract farfletched topic. The prejudice is that philosophical pupils are those nested in their own cocoon, reading and thinking despite day or night. My personal jo

When I was trained as a psychoanalyst in the United States, a young man who was Korean American contacted me to see if he could receive analysis. I made an appointment with him over the phone and I gave him the address of my counseling office. I had never met him before. He appeared at the appointed

​​​​​​​You know how everyone’s always saying seize the moment?I don’t know…I kind of think it's the other way around, you know, like the moment seizes usBoyhood (2014)Living in 21st century basically means living in a world that pressures you to pursue extreme efficiency. As a Korean high schooler,

I have lived in South Korea for a total of nearly 20 years. In that span of time I have seen many changes occur here; both physically and culturally. I have experienced the best of Korea’s long and rich culture and occasionally the dark side of a supposedly homogeneous society; one that at times shu

It was seven months ago. On one of these crisp autumn days, I found out I was admitted to Ewha Womans University. I remember letting out a scream of joy—my mind was just filled with excitement and eagerness to start a new adventure, to enter into a new chapter of my life. Little did I know that I wo