Joel CP#1

For my first conversation partner session I met Bruce and Boram. Bruce is another American, while Boram is from Seoul, South Korea. These two cultures have some drastically different points and ideas, so we discussed a number of these differences and similarities between Korean and American culture. One of the points we talked about was the differences between American and Korean education. The Korean education system is one that places a lot of stress on the students to make as good a grade as possible so that they can get into one of the top three universities, also known as SKY (Seoul National University, Korea University and Yonsei University). Getting into one of these universities pretty much guarantees a good job in the future, especially if they get into Seoul National University. Because of this, the number of hours that students are required to spend studying is crazy. Many students stay at school till 10 o’clock at night and then go to private academies till 12 or 1 in the morning. Emphasis is also placed more on rote memorization and learning facts for a test. This differs from the American education system drastically. My high school let out at 1:50 in the afternoon and there wasn’t near as much stress. In the American education system, emphasis seems to be placed more on finding what you want to do and what you’re really interested in, rather than just making a letter grade for a test. I feel that there could be pluses and minuses to both systems. If not enough stress is placed on studying, then students will not be prepared for college and eventually the workforce. This could lead to a nation of people that simply aren't able to keep up with the rest of the work both technologically, as well as in other areas. If focus is placed solely on getting a good letter grade, then students will feel too stressed and a lack of creativity could also develop, which could hurt a society and an economy.