▲ Photo by Kim Ji-sun.Students follow the energetic moves of jazzercise in Choi's class.

   A common misconception is that happiness is somewhere far away and always comes to someone else. However, here is a person who found it by following the path which her body led her to. Choi Se-kyoung ('89, Health Education) is an instructor of "jazzercise" (jazz dancing combined with aerobic exercise) in the Physical Training Room in the Student Union Building. She graduated from the Department of Health Education and enrolled in the Graduate School of Physical Education in 2000.    Nowadays, when success is measured so much by appearance, some people might say she has not achieved it yet. However, if a successful person is defined as one who fully enjoys life, Choi fits the description perfectly because aerobics is vital in her daily life.
   "I call myself a missionary of exercise," says Choi in an enthusiastic tone. She is an ardent advocate of exercise, always eager to lead others to the same feeling of contentment while exercising. So, with the jazzercise class she found a way to be connected to Ewha students. She says, "While I'm in class, I forget about my status and just think I'm in the same space, breathing and moving with the students." When asked about the benefits of aerobics, she said, "When I'm fully absorbed, I experience a moment in which my body is flying above everything, free from any obstacles. Everything that bothers me vanishes."

   Choi's career was not built in a day, but was constructed step by step as her interest in aerobics grew. She first got involved in aerobics by chance when she was a freshman after she saw a flyer on the department bulletin board. She continued taking aerobics classes until she graduated and became a middle school and high school teacher. She taught a course in military drill, a combination of physical education and military training, which was eliminated in 2003. Then she got married and had two children. Her passion for exercise, especially aerobics, did not die. She returned to aerobics only three months after her youngest child was born. She went back to school and enrolled in the Graduate School of Physical Education. Other students might worry that two years in school at this point might be wasted, but not Choi. She had been fascinated with the exercise for ten years, and she was motivated to delve further into the systematic study of exercise. She says, "If I had not gone to graduate school, I would have regretted it my whole life. I wouldn't be here teaching jazzercise with such joy." Choi’s life may seem rather ordinary, but it is not in that she is truly "self-actualized." She is remarkable in that she found happiness in the very thing she enjoys doing the most. Finding joy and pleasure in simple things which is jazzercise for her, leads to a happy life.

저작권자 © Ewha Voice 무단전재 및 재배포 금지