In this blog post, I will summarize and present my academic efforts and school activities during high school, examples of consideration and cooperation, my educational environment, and my career plans for admission to the Department of Tourism at Kyung Hee University.

Academic Efforts

I grew up in Busan, an international port city teeming with tourists and famous landmarks. Witnessing Busan’s development as a MICE hub with a thriving tourism and convention industry, I decided to pursue a career in the tourism sector and enrolled in a tourism high school. While studying in the Tourism and Convention Department at that school, I took a variety of courses designed to help me grow into a professional specializing in international conferences, events, and expos. The practical, hands-on education I received in specialized courses—such as Convention Practices, Tourism Management Practices, Tourism Marketing, and Tourism Event Practices—laid the foundation for my future career. While these courses were crucial for my academic progression and career path, above all, I found every single one of them fascinating, making every moment in class a joy. In my first year, I took general tourism courses that covered the various sectors and trends of the tourism industry, as well as the professional mindset required of a tourism professional, which helped me establish a foundation for my major and a framework for my future career. In my second year, I took advanced major courses focused on practical training, and in my third year, I completed a practical course in convention planning. Among the practical courses, I was particularly interested in “Practical Tourism Management,” which covers the travel industry, and “Tourism Marketing,” which focuses on advertising and public relations. This was because, within the tourism industry, I primarily wanted to work in travel agencies planning travel packages or organizing travel-related events, exhibitions, and trade shows. As part of the Practical Management course, I learned practical skills such as travel package development, tour guiding, and IT applications in the travel industry. The process of gathering information, planning budgets, and editing digital data to create travel products ignited my passion to start my own travel agency. While studying Tourism Marketing, I came to view the entire marketing process—from market research to sales promotion—as the crown jewel of the tourism industry. Through this, I defined tourism as a series of steps that requires a clearly defined target audience, information to gain insights, and strategies to effectively advertise that information. This also connected to the work of planning international conferences and events, and I felt a synergy as I studied these related subjects in sequence.

Campus Activities

Within the Department of Tourism and Conventions, where I was enrolled, there was a “Convention Planning Club,” and through my participation in this club, I was able to gain experience planning various mock international conferences and exhibitions. Although we sometimes set aside time for club activities on campus to conduct mock planning sessions, our club primarily spent more time going out into the community to gain hands-on experience in running actual events, which I particularly enjoyed. The most memorable events for me were “Volunteering at the Busan Job Week Flea Market” and “Participating in the Korea MICE Industry Expo.” The flea market volunteer work took place during the Job Week Expo held at Citizens’ Park when I was a freshman in high school. This event was planned as part of the “One Team, One Company Partnership Project,” which was implemented under the Human Resources Development Program for Specialized High Schools Focused on SMEs. Specifically, it involved teams of high school students partnering with a single company to participate in hands-on activities. Our club recruited students separately for these activities, and nine students, including myself, volunteered to plan the details of the flea market volunteer event. To ensure the event ran smoothly, a company called My Plan was assigned to partner with our team. Company representatives visited our school to hold meetings with our team regarding the event planning, and it was during these meetings that the idea to operate a “Flea Market” booth was conceived. Thanks to the efforts of the company representatives to make this a success, the Busan Young CEOs Association dispatched an event mentoring team and provided a promotional booth. While discussing the two-day event with the assigned event mentor, we had many conversations and received helpful advice. After the mentoring session, we participated in the promotional event by working directly at each booth, guiding visitors and selling merchandise. Having previously only engaged in mock planning, the experience of not only planning an actual event but also receiving feedback on its execution made me feel like I had taken a step closer to the career path I’ve always dreamed of.
In the case of the Korea MICE Industry Expo, the event was organized by senior alumni who were already active in the trade show or incentive travel sectors, and we participated as attendees. Our club selected seven students to participate in the event as part of our career exploration, and I volunteered to join as well. Seeing our alumni—who were gaining real-world experience during the event—made my heart race; it was as if I were looking at my future self. At the booths run by event management companies operated by our alumni, we had a meaningful opportunity to explore our career paths and receive counseling while listening to detailed explanations about the fields we were interested in and those we hoped to enter. Through these meaningful experiences in the club, I realized that the future I dream of isn’t just a dream—it’s a real possibility that’s constantly being realized right around me.

Consideration and Cooperation

While taking the “Tourism Marketing” course, I was particularly drawn to the fields of public relations and marketing. Even during club activities, I found it as fun as a game to explain and promote products I knew well to customers at the booth I was in charge of. That’s why I applied to become a school ambassador—I wanted to promote “what I know well.” After being selected as a school ambassador, I primarily participated in various external events to promote the Tourism High School and assisted with event operations. Additionally, as a promotional model, I posed for photos that were posted on the school’s website. Furthermore, I gained a detailed understanding of the school’s history, features, and signature programs, and used this information to create promotional brochures. First, I attended various events—such as college admissions information sessions, parent-teacher meetings, and guest lectures by university professors—and went directly into the venues to take photos. While my classmates handled tasks like setting out refreshments or adjusting the projector during the events, my main role was photography, so I focused on capturing the essence of each event as accurately as possible. I also collaborated with a classmate who edited the photos, explaining my photographic intent and the content of the shots as we worked together. As for photo shoots featuring me as a promotional model, I posed in front of school facilities about twice during my time as a promotional ambassador. It was fun to discuss poses and act out scenes with my teammates while capturing moments of students studying passionately or engaging in lively discussions. Above all, when creating the promotional brochures, we all put our heads together to brainstorm ideas and paid close attention to every detail—from the design to the wording—to bring the project to completion. When the draft of the brochure was completed, we held meetings to discuss improvements in an atmosphere of mutual respect and consideration for each other’s ideas. We strove to create promotional materials that would appeal to a wide audience by reflecting the diverse perspectives of as many students as possible, and when the final product was completed, we were all satisfied and exchanged words of encouragement. It was especially rewarding when our advisor praised the brochure, saying it looked like it had been produced by a professional company.

Educational Background and Career Plans

I attended elementary, middle, and high school in Busan, a city known for tourism, and was raised by my father, an English teacher, and my mother, who works in the trade industry. As they raised me, their only child, they often expressed their hope that I would pursue a career with an international focus that would involve frequent travel abroad. In particular, since both my parents are fluent in English, they spoke English at home to help me become proficient, which greatly aided my English conversation skills. My mother, who works in the trade industry, recommended the booming MICE industry and conventions, and with this in mind, I enrolled in a tourism high school and applied to the Department of Tourism in college. Among the various fields of the tourism industry, I became interested primarily in travel and aviation rather than hotels or services because I simply love “travel.” Thanks to my parents’ active support, I went on a solo backpacking trip to Japan while still in high school, and I also traveled to Jeju Island and Dokdo with friends as part of a national hiking expedition. Because I have an adventurous spirit and enjoy challenges and new experiences, I have decided to pursue a career in the travel industry where I can plan and manage travel packages myself.
If I am admitted to the Department of Tourism at Kyung Hee University, I will diligently complete the various theoretical major courses within the department and actively participate in related practical courses. I am particularly interested in the courses on service marketing and tourism storytelling. By studying these subjects, I aim to become a marketer who can move customers’ hearts by developing travel products with distinct themes and narratives when I create them in the future. Furthermore, I will make full use of the “English for Cultural Tourism” course and the internship program within the curriculum to prepare for a career at an international travel agency. After securing employment, I plan to expand my scope of work to gain practical experience in conventions related to travel events and trade shows. Ultimately, I intend to prepare to start my own travel agency. In particular, I will thoroughly analyze the challenges facing the existing travel industry and conduct market demand research to plan and operate a new-concept travel business that goes beyond simply providing travel packages—one that is seamlessly integrated with “convention services.”