Quick Roadmap update:
This post is meant to serve as a bridge to the last posts of both departure and post-departure. It is going to be a bit short and just a brief summary of my last two educational weeks here in Korea.
The following post should be a bit more interesting, filled with a bunch more pictures and "adventure-y" type things.
The last post will be more of a recap for my entire study abroad experience and a bunch of recollections and learnings that I have once I get back.
Academics:
As I talked about in my previous post, these last two weeks were intense in that there were lots of heavily weighted things crammed into this short period of time. I just want to provide what the last two weeks involved for each class as well as just overall thoughts on the class now that the semester is over.
Understanding K-Pop:
This class was probably the easiest class that I had this semester, but yet it was also one of the most enjoyable and relatable classes that I had. For the final, it was structured similarly to the mid-term except being weighted at 50% of the overall grade. For me, I can't emphasize enough how much of a great guy, Professor Steven Capener is. He might not be truly Korean by blood, but that is what makes his class that much more interesting. The insights and experiences that he can share is something that would probably be hard for native Koreans to share. Overall, he likes to teach from Powerpoints but if you're even the tiniest bit engaged during his lectures, you can learn so much and passing the class hardly becomes a question.
Intro to Korean Studies:
To reiterate, this class is also taught by Professor Capener but carries a different tone to it as it focuses much more on history and how literature is able to capture the multiple aspects to Korea's past. The class is structured the same way as his other class and as such, the final was worth 50% of the overall grade. For this class, if you complete all the readings, and participate during the discussions for the respective readings, that is the best way to make the most out of the class. At the beginning of the semester, I was hoping that the content would be different enough throughout the semester that it would be worth taking both classes from him. While the content did start to diverge at the very latter half of the semester, if the class continues to be structured in a way where it's based on 50 students in attendance, I think you can pick either of his two classes and you can fill your gap with a different class. To his credit, he mentioned that this is the first time where his class size wasn't 20ish students so the course was structured as such, so if you want a little more intimacy in terms of class discussions then maybe keep an eye out for smaller class sizes or look for alternatives. Overall, this class was great in its own regard as well and despite the overlap was still a very enjoyable class.
Corporate Finance:
This was probably the class I was aiming to learn the most from as I am hoping to return and finish up a Finance major in my last semester. While up until this point, the class had been pretty straightforward (including the presentation) the final was another beast. The presentation by our group went pretty well in my opinion. One thing that was mentioned leading up to the final was how it was cumulative but at the same time not cumulative, and that kind of put me in a weird spot to prepare for it. This was one of the roughest finals for me in quite a while, but I did my best so hopefully, we'll see decent results (the final was worth 25% of the overall grade). Other than that Professor Auh was incredible only second to Professor Capener. I honestly had felt like I had been learning a lot of things especially in terms of basic real-world application thanks to the company valuation project.
International Management: Out of all my classes even at the end of the semester, this class seemed to be lacking in some manner. The final presentation for the class went pretty well as it served as a final checkpoint for the final written report. Having to collaborate with two other members on a final report is not something I haven't done thanks to ITM 354, so luckily it didn't seem that bad. The final (worth 30%) was identical in format to the midterm (20 Multiple-Choice questions) and was fairly easy to prepare for using the list of keywords Professor Choe provided. Overall, the class felt like I had already been introduced to a lot of the ideas that were presented and didn't really add much value throughout the semester. I definitely enjoyed and appreciated Professor Choe's enthusiasm for teaching the course, but in hindsight, I would maybe have taken another business course. Good course, just not for me.
Tips: Yonsei sent out reminders to complete both course evaluations and study abroad program surveys. Both are important to complete not just because they provide feedback to the respective party, but they are also tied to things such as receiving an extra free transcript (completion of the survey) and being able to view your grades and dispute any discrepancies during a later period. (completion of course evaluation). I don't have prior knowledge of how this system works so your experience may vary.
Food for the blog:
With all the stress that can come with studying for finals and the potential group presentations and reports, if you're not eating at the cafeterias and looking for a quick bite that's affordable and not fast food, try this! If you walk down the main street in Sinchon from the main gate and make a right at the intersection you can find this place. Basically it's a chain place that sells "rice burgers" and rice bowls too. There's a wide variety of options and the people who work there are really nice. They can be busy sometimes and the menu is only in Korean, but don't let that stop you from trying it out. This is a picture of a rice bowl I got.
I have some errands that I have to complete and adventuring to do, so check back in for what will hopefully be a much more in-depth and colorful post.