Sam Quimby is a pretty typical college student: she balances school, work, the gym and the campus social scene, all while trying to figure out what she was to do with her life. However, in one aspect, Sam Quimby is strikingly different: this past summer she traveled to South Korea to teach local Korean school children English.
HC: What was the purpose of your trip to South Korea?
SAM: I taught English to young school children in a summer intensive program in Seoul, South Korea for four weeks.
HC: How old were the Korean school children you taught?
SAM: They were between six and ten years old, but they were very mature and often seemed even older than that.
HC: What was the program you worked with?
SAM: Gwanak SLP – The children in South Korea attend school for up to twelve hours a day. Half of the day is spent at a Korean speaking school while the other half is spent with me at an English speaking school. A friend of mine has been working with Gwanak SLP in South Korea for the past eight months, he mentioned that they had a part time summer position available and I packed my bag!
HC: What was a typical South Korean school day like for you?
SAM: I was always busy! I taught six different classes. Three classes were Basic English consisting of grammar, comprehension and spelling. The other three other classes were more fun. One was called “Pop Songs,” where we spent half an hour singing recent pop songs from the United State like Tao Cruz “Break Your Heart.” After going over verbs and nouns for hours, the kids would always go crazy in the fun classes.
HC: What was the best part of your experience?
SAM: Seeing the kids interact and look up to me as a role model. At first, they looked at me like I had two heads and didn’t want to listen to me. I was a foreigner and initially they had a hard time respecting me like they respected their Korean teachers. However, by the end of my trip they really looked up to me and showed so much respect. I was able to see them grow up and excel in their classes, which really impacted me.
HC: What was the weirdest experience you encountered while in South Korea?
SAM: One time my boyfriend and I were sightseeing and a local Korean girl came up to me and asked me to take a picture with her. At first I thought she wanted me to take a picture of her and her friend, but my boyfriend explained she wanted a picture with me! She probably thought it was so funny to see a blonde girl in the middle of South Korea where everyone has black hair. I almost always felt out of place because of it.
This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at UNH chapter and does not reflect the views of Her Campus.