One remembers Ewha with only a few stone buidings with authentic style of architectures. Younger ones remember Ewha with a huge playground. The other remembers Ewha with the Pavillion and Ewha Campus Complex. This is the story of one of the families where three generations of females attended Ewha. The history of Ewha runs through these families.
Chun So-hyun, a student majoring in French Language & Literature, belongs to one such family. Her mother graduated from Ewha with a degree in Foreign Language Education, and her grandmother in English Literature & Language. She said she chose Ewha as it preserved lots of memories for her and also for her family.
“My mother and grandmother are wonderful women, who are always independent, smart and confident,” Chun said. “I have always wanted to be like them. I also wanted to follow the same path.”
Her mother, Lee Ji-won (’86) and her grandmother, Yoon Jang-soon (’60) mentioned that they both hadve supported Chun’s decision to go to Ewha.
“I have always been proud of attending the same university as my mother did, so I wanted my daughter to have the same experience,” Lee said.
In Lee’s memory, the Ewha campus is quite different from what it is today. At that time, stricter rules were applied to students regarding activities with men. No man was allowed to enter the school grounds except on the day of campus festival. Students even had to drop out of school in order to get married. The school’s appearance was also significantly different.
“There was a bridge in front of the Main Gate which crossed the railway,” Lee said. “It was said that when one steps on the tail of the train while walking down the bridge, she will be lucky that day. I remember running across the bridge to receive good luck when I saw a train going by.”
Describing Ewha as her pride, Yoon shared her most memorable experience in Ewha long time ago.
“There was a mandatory language program for senior students in English Language and Literature, which was to enter Yeong Hak-gwan and live with a foreign professor for a month in groups of 10,” Yoon said. “It was sad to hear that they tore down the beautiful building and got rid of the program.”
As benefits of having family members from the same school, they mentioned that there are far more things to talk about with each other than before. Since they can bond not just as a family but also as alumni, they share common interests such as Ewha’s news.
On the other hand, Shin Jo-won, a freshman majoring in English Language & Literature said that having family members from the same school prevented her from forming stereotypes about Ewha. Her mother, Nam Eun-jung has graduated from Ewha with a degree in Sculpture, and her grandmother, Park Gi-oak, in History.
“Ewha has a tendency of often being looked down on and misjudged,” Shin said. “However, seeing my mother and grandmother, I was able to be less judgmental and appreciate advantages of Ewha.”
As their reasons for supporting Shin’s decision to go to Ewha, Nam and Park mentioned the fact that Ewha is mission school. The others included specialty of women’s university and strong bonds between the alumni.
“Compared to co-ed schools, Ewha provides a freer study environment,” Nam said. “Also, education in Ewha allows women to nourish social adaptation skills.”