Christina Tran, '21, Harvard Summer School in Seoul, Korea Program, Summer 2019
These past 8 weeks have made up one of the best summers of my life. During the Harvard Summer School Program in Seoul, I not only explored the issues of North Korea with unprecedented depth and experienced great dynamism in my opinions on North Korea’s leadership, learned and fell in love with Korean language, and interacted with Seoul’s vibrant culture, but I also developed lifelong friendships with both the Harvard cohort and the Ewha students.
With regards to my academic development this summer, I was surprised to find that the North Korea class not only taught me the subject matter, but allowed me to grow my research and presentation skills. I initially expected the class to be composed of mostly lectures, but the interactive style of the class was very engaging. In particular, I really felt that there was no better time to be taking a North Korea class, as exemplified by how the weekend before the class began, the first ever meeting between a North Korean leader and the standing U.S. president took place just an hour away. Similarly, every class meeting began with a debrief of developing events regarding North Korea, from statements from the Kim regime to early morning missile launches. This was truly a unique experience.
Furthermore, after experiencing this program, I hope that I can find a way to incorporate more Korean language classes into my schedule at Harvard. I was so thrilled with my experience with Harvard’s Korean language program, and every teacher in this summer program was absolutely brilliant and made learning Korean a blast. Learning Korean has been so rewarding and also such a highlight of this summer, and every time I practice speaking I am left wishing I could study more.
What really helped me to learn Korean was the level of immersion we were able to experience living in Seoul and exploring the city. On the first day of the program, I walked into the bakery next to campus and communicated with the sweet grandma who ran the shop exclusively through emotive noises and hand gestures. The best feeling in the world is walking into that same bakery 7 weeks later and being able to speak to her properly in formal, honorific language and blowing her socks off. Beyond that, I could practice reading Hangul every second of the day, and because of that I as well as the other students in the class could become literate quickly. Because of the language partner and travel blog component of the Korean language class, I was able to have great support in exploring Seoul and practicing my speaking with a Korean person. I had a lot of fun visiting Seoul’s multiple imperial palaces while I was there, and I got a chance to wear a beautiful hanbok and take lots of pictures!
Thank you so much to the David Rockefeller International Experience Fund for allowing me to have this once-in-a-lifetime experience. I will look fondly upon this summer for the rest of my life.