2013 Ewha ICSC :Janet Linares


Making Memories in Korea

Traveling and experiencing different cultures has always been one of my dreams. When I first got the call, from Sandy Cajas, telling me that I had the opportunity to go to Korea. I immediately started working on getting the scholarship.

At the time, I did not know much about EWHA, or Korea. Therefore the excitement was even greater, the simple thought of going to a beautiful far away place, where I would have the opportunity to learn about a new culture was incredible.

Just days before I left to Korea, I was able to meet and enjoy my first Korean meal with the EWHA Alumnae Association. Sonia and I were able to share our background and future goals with amazing successful women. They also gave us some great tips that helped us during our stay in Korea.

It is amazing that I can say going to Korea and studying at EWHA is the absolute best thing that has ever happened to me. I would not trade that experience for anything in the world. There are so many things that amazed me about the Korean culture. The main one, and the one that learned from the most, would be the people. Everybody was genuinely nice and helpful, and that made my experience that much better. In the short time that I was in Seoul, I can say that I consider EWHA a second home.

I also learned a lot from the two classes that I took, these were Cross-Cultural Psychology, and Biology. In my Cross-Cultural Psychology class I was able to learn about many different cultures. One of the things that was amazing about this class, was the fact that we all came from different places around the world, and we were able to share our cultures with each other. I am currently majoring in Biology, therefore taking a Biology course was a great learning experience. My professor was one of the best that I have ever had. He was very helpful, and had a great relationship with all of the students in the class.

The program itself was very organized, I enjoyed everything about it, especially all the field trips. They were all really fun, and helped me learn and experience the culture. We were able to do things like make our own kimchi, and go to the Korean Folk Village where we learned about Korean culture and traditions. The one that I enjoyed the most was when we went to the DMZ, it was the last field trip before the program ended. I was able to learn about the Korean culture, and we did fun activities like going in one of the infiltration tunnels leading to North Korea.

This experience was more than I ever expected. The friends that I made while I was in Korea became part of my family. The memories we now have and all the adventures we were able to experience together will be in my heart forever. I leaned so much about every single one of them, and they helped me learn about myself.

I am so thankful for this opportunity, and for all the people that made it happen. This is an experience that I will never forget. Seoul is a place that I can call home, and it will forever be in my heart.