In this blog post, I’ve summarized my experiences, focusing on my academic efforts, club activities, and volunteer work during high school, as well as my academic and career plans after college.
Achieving a Perfect Score in Korean History Using Textbooks
As a high school student, I was very passionate about history. I enjoyed learning historical facts and hearing new stories, and I found it rewarding to build my knowledge by examining cultural artifacts and historical records. This naturally led me to dream of becoming a history teacher, and I chose both Korean History and World History for my social studies courses. Of the two, I invested more time and effort into studying Korean History. Compared to World History, Korean History covered a much larger volume of material, combining traditional Korean history with modern and contemporary history.
To memorize such a vast amount of material while still being able to solve problems, I had to avoid rote memorization. This is because simply listing events in chronological order by year and time and memorizing them by heart increases the likelihood of getting confused later when solving problems. Therefore, to memorize efficiently, I utilized textbooks organized by grade level. While high school Korean history textbooks are typically published as a single integrated volume, the national history textbooks used in middle school, separately published history textbooks, and self-study guides for Korean history were available as separate publications. I decided to consolidate these four textbooks into a single set of notes.
The process of consolidating them was complex. Since I had to organize all four books, I first outlined the basic framework using the middle school textbook. The middle school textbook had less content than the high school one and focused on key points, making it easier to read. So, I used this as a foundation to complete my notes in chronological order. While the original textbooks organized content by political, social, economic, and cultural sections, taking chronology into account, I wrote everything in chronological order to make memorization easier. I then fleshed out the notes by summarizing the additional content and detailed facts found in the high school textbooks. When adding content, I also copied and pasted historical documents from the history atlas to make the material easier to understand. Finally, by referring to the teacher’s guide, I wrote down background information not covered in the textbook, completed my own personalized textbook, and achieved a perfect score in Korean History.
Forming a History Club to Study History and Provide Guided Tours
At our high school, there were many students who loved history and wanted to actively engage in history-related activities. As we studied Korean history, we naturally developed a sense of historical awareness and a mindset to use the past as a stepping stone to rewrite the history of the present. I gathered friends who shared this mindset and started a history club. Although it was an existing club, its activities had been rather lackluster; however, once we joined, the club began to thrive. In addition to the club’s core activity of studying history, we pursued the goal of serving as “citizen diplomats” through volunteer historical tours.
First, to organize a study group for history, we needed a certain number of participants. However, since only about eight of us had gathered, it wasn’t even enough to form two groups. So, we started by conducting promotional activities to recruit more members. On our promotional posters, we wrote, “Any student who likes people, loves history, and enjoys speaking English is welcome.” This phrase captured what our members had in common and also outlined the essential qualifications needed to participate in volunteer historical tours. Thanks to our recruitment efforts, our membership doubled, allowing us to form four study groups.
When organizing the groups, we had each group elect a leader to facilitate study sessions and allowed them to select both a common textbook for the entire club and any additional materials they desired. We selected the common textbook through a general meeting, while each group was free to decide on additional materials through their own discussions. In this way, we operated the club not as a structure led by a single president or supervised by a teacher, but as a system where each member could take the initiative in their activities. We did this because our goal was to provide guided tours of cultural heritage sites after completing a certain level of history study, and because during volunteer work, members needed to act individually with a sense of responsibility rather than moving as a group.
Our club’s operational model proved to be quite efficient. As originally intended, new members adapted quickly and showed enthusiasm for studying history, and since we conducted presentation sessions by group, everyone prepared their assigned portions thoroughly without fail. Since most members were already capable of speaking English, they faced no major difficulties during activities that required presentations in English. While continuing our presentation-based learning, we simultaneously began preparing the materials and tools needed for our volunteer work. Since this was a speaking volunteer program aimed at foreigners, we needed tools to supplement our explanations. So, we prepared flashcards with the English spellings of each cultural heritage site or artifact, as well as portraits of historical figures and dynastic family trees to aid in our explanations. Each group member independently created these supplementary materials using signs, designing them for ease of explanation and carrying them personally. Through this process of reorganizing the club and planning new activities, I was also able to learn about efficient ways to manage an organization.
Volunteering as Historical Guides at Seoul’s Cultural Heritage Sites
After a long period of preparation, we finally began our volunteer work as historical guides. Since we were working with foreign visitors with whom communication could be challenging, we needed to study even more. In addition to studying historical content, we also prepared in advance by practicing conversation techniques. In small groups, we took time to review eye contact, conversational etiquette, speaking techniques, and tone of voice with one another. Right before heading out for the volunteer activity, we paired up for a rehearsal and prepared by addressing any shortcomings individually.
The historical guided tours were conducted at various cultural heritage sites in Seoul with the support of a youth organization. Since there were members from other schools’ history clubs besides ours, it became an opportunity for new encounters and experiences. After greeting the new friends we met through the youth organization, we divided up the activity locations and began our volunteer work. The main sites where we worked included Gyeongbokgung Palace, Deoksugung Palace, Seodaemun Prison, and the War Memorial of Korea. Since I’m very interested in history, these were places I often visited, but I actually felt quite nervous when I had to explain things to unfamiliar foreign visitors.
But the important thing was that I wasn’t alone. Since my friends and colleagues—people I’d always studied with—were nearby, we could work together to solve any problems that arose during the guided tours. For example, while giving a tour, there were times when I couldn’t think of the right English word to use to explain something to a foreign visitor. In those situations, I’d try my best on my own, and if I couldn’t figure it out, a volunteer nearby would come over to help by adding to my explanation. Sometimes, visitors would ask for detailed explanations of terms unfamiliar to them, such as “jangdok” (traditional earthenware jars), “gudeuljang” (underfloor heating), “cheoma” (eaves), and “hanok” (traditional Korean houses). To explain these, I would refer to the supplementary guidebook I always carried with me during my volunteer shifts, or borrow a friend’s phone to look up information and continue the explanation. Working together like this not only helped build a sense of camaraderie but also made the volunteer work deeply rewarding.
The Dream of Becoming a Global History Teacher Who Values Storytelling
Because I enjoyed explaining and teaching historical facts and content to others, I naturally came to dream of becoming a history teacher. Among the various methodologies of history education, I believe the teaching technique known as “storytelling” is the most effective. When learners are presented with new material, simply presenting dry facts does not lead to effective memorization. However, when engaging stories are woven into a lively explanation, even complex concepts can be easily remembered and understood. Therefore, I aspire to become a history teacher who emphasizes storytelling in the future.
To achieve this, I plan to first enroll in the Department of History Education at Gyeongsang National University, where I will pursue deeper studies in history and pedagogy as a student in the College of Education.
During my college years, I want to focus above all else on my studies. I believe that teachers must possess a broad base of knowledge in order to adopt effective teaching methods and convey content to students. Therefore, I aim to become a well-rounded teacher—one with no gaps in my knowledge—so that I can deliver engaging lessons. Rather than studying alone by poring over introductory history textbooks and specialized texts, I will join study groups with several classmates to pool our strengths. Through these study groups, I hope to engage in more rigorous learning not only through presentations but also through discussion-based classes.
Also, before I enter my senior year and begin preparing for the teacher certification exam, I plan to study English diligently. In high school, I studied English conversation intensively and volunteered as a history guide for foreign visitors. Through this volunteer work, I was able to significantly overcome my fear of approaching foreigners and gained confidence in speaking English. In college, I intend to study conversational English at a more advanced level so that I can participate in history forums and serve as a student tour guide. Furthermore, once I become a history teacher, I aspire to be a competent educator capable of explaining historical facts to students in English as well. This is because I believe that in our globalized future, students will need the ability to explain our history in English.
