About 30 Ewha students gathered in front of the Welch-Ryang Auditorium after their chapel service on the dazzling sunny days of April 30 and May 1 to go on an Ecology Tour. The students, who had voluntarily signed up for the tour, began their tour with Professor Lee Nam-sook (Life Sciences), Lee Chang-shook (Life Sciences) and Yeau Sung-hee (Science Education).
     The theme for the chapel services during the first week of May was “Life and Peace” and as a part of it, the Office of the Chaplin provided an Ecology Tour around the Ewha campus. “We came up with this theme because Ewha is a Christian school and appreciating nature is a crucial part of its creed. I think our students not only need high intelligence, but also appreciation for all living existence to become female leaders. This program was planned to provide students with opportunities to develop deep understanding of about nature and life,” said Professor Chang Yoon-jae (Christian Studies).


     The tour started from the Welch-Ryang Auditorium and walked along to the little forest in front of the Student Union Building. On the way, the crew stopped by the statue of Mary Scranton, where a cinnamon tree was standing. “Let’s see what we’ve got here, a cinnamon tree. Please bring a rabbit and a mortar here,” said Lee Nam-sook entertaining the students.
Lee continued the tour to the Main Hall where three Ginkgo trees stand in a row. “Look at these three Ginkgo trees. This one is a male tree and these two are female. Even trees have love triangler like people, and here we can see one inside the Ewha campus,” said Lee. 
 The tour carried on to the Jinsunmikwan where a Metasequoia has been standing for over 60 years. The professor asked the students to join her in wrapping around the tree which took her and three students all together. “The Metasequoia was the most memorable tree for me, since I never expected it to be so large. I think this ecology tour has offered me a great chance to explore the environments around the Ewha campus more carefully than I normally would have. By doing so, I noticed wonderful things I could never have expected before,” said No Eul (Science Education, 1), a participant of the tour.
     On the way back to the Welch-Ryang Auditorium, the students passed by the large Zelkova tree in front of the Ewha-POSCO Building. “The hidden name of this tree is ‘fluttering wait,’ since this was the tree where many family members families and boyfriends waited for their Ewha students when the Jinsunmikwan used to be a dormitory,” said Chang.
 After 40 minutes the trip ended with Lee saying that she had only introduced the most meaningful trees in the history of Ewha since they did not have much time for the tour. “It would take more than a semester to get to know all about the various plants on campus,” said Lee.
     Students applauded as the tour ended. “This tour gives non-ecology majors a Chance to learn about the environment. I really appreciate this experience and look forward to participating in the future programs,” said Ok Soo-jeong (Economics, 3).
     “Students now are just too busy heading to classes, so they usually miss the great nature around campus. I wish they would pay little more attention to their surroundings. I am certain that this will fulfill their emotional needs. I also hope that students will discover the strong relationship between people and nature,” added Lee.
     In accordance with Lee’s wish, the school plans to continue hosting programs that will arouse students’ interest in the ecosystem on campus. “We plan to make this campus tour a regular one, with a choise of paths depending on how high students want to wear the heels on their shoes: ten centimeter heel path, five centimeter heel path and sneackers path. I hope the students will be able to learn about the importance of nature by participating in the tour,” said Chang.
     The Office of the Chaplin is planning to hold a related Nachin (an abbreviated word for “tree friend” in Korean) event where students can pick a tree on campus and take care of it. This event will also include a contest with an award for the student who taken the most delicate care of her tree. All of these events will be announced on a special nature website (club.cyworld.com/ewhatrees) and the first offline meeting for interested students will be held on May 27.

저작권자 © Ewha Voice 무단전재 및 재배포 금지