Did you know that a weekly study gathering of part-time students took place in Seoul?! The four students Seul Ji Park, Yoon Ji Lee, Sujin Baek and Sira Kim have held weekly study gatherings in Seoul since the beginning of the spring semester. They are part-time students who work on weekdays and take classes on weekday evenings or on Saturday. Why would they gather together on weekday evenings even though they must be tired from work? Let’s find out more about it!

[Three things in common]

All four students have three things in common. First, they recently joined the MDP program during the spring semester, 2020. Second, they are taking the exact same courses this semester: AMPP (Analysis of Market & Public Policy) and IDP (Introduction to Development Policy).  Third, they are highly passionate about and understand the pleasure of learning. These commonalities have brought them closer and allowed them to have a study gathering each week.

[Why a weekly study gathering?]

“If it were not for them, I would have given up the AMPP course earlier,” says Sira Kim. The main purpose of the gathering is to share knowledge. They review what they learned in the previous class and review the questions they had while taking the class. “What surprised me the most from this gathering was that even if we take the same class and learn the same things, we may have completely different views and understood things differently. It is always interesting to see how my thoughts are different to the others,” says Yoon Ji Lee. The gathering appears to be successful in that it not only enables them to study individually prior to the gathering but also encourages them to actively cooperate and support one another at the same time. Of course, the gatherings were placed virtually because of the COVID-19 situation.

[School life of part-time students]

If it had not been for COVID-19, they would have normally needed to wake up around 5 a.m. and take the bus to Sejong campus on Saturday. As the Saturday class begins at 9 a.m. apart from a 1-hour lunch break, they would have had to stay on Sejong campus and study for 8 hours, including the TA sessions. “It’s energy-consuming to take 2 classes on a day! It takes up the whole Saturday! Even on Sunday, I have to spend my time digesting what I have learned on Saturday. I am literally dedicating my whole weekends for the two years!” says Yoon Ji Lee. Of course, it is not easy for them to work on weekdays and study on weekends, but they are getting used to it. “Although it is challenging, I feel proud of myself in that I am learning new things and exposed to the environment where I get to meet a lot of people from all over the world!” says Sujin Baek.

[Last words to the prospective part-time students]

Here is some practical advice for all the prospective part-time students who wish to study at KDIS while working or living in Seoul:

“It is not easy to both work and study at the same time. However, it is definitely worth it! Please don’t miss your chance to broaden your knowledge and experience the things you would have never experienced before!” – Sira Kim

“The good thing about part-time students is that you actually get to apply the theory you learned from the class into work directly. Sometimes, it might be easier for part-time students to understand the concept or the theory we learn in class.” – Yoon Ji Lee

“One of the greatest perks of KDIS is ‘networking’. As ‘development policy’ is a specialized field, outside of the school it would be difficult to meet people who work in this field. However, at KDIS, just like how the 4 of us met, you would be able to meet people who share the same interest.” – Su Jin Baek

“I would like to encourage those people who are working in a completely different field to join KDIS! Even if you are not in the field of public policy, it is still worth trying out if you are interested in this field and willing to find out more about it” – Seul Ji Park