"I want to be a cook. I want to be a designer. I want to be a …." It is not difficult to imagine how Korean tiger parents will respond to this 'nonsense'. According to the 2011 nationwide survey of 15,978 elementary, middle, and high school students at 593 different institutions carried out by the Korea Research Institute of Vocational Education and Training (KRIVET), the number one dream job for all three groups was a schoolteacher. Although this may be due to the fact that teachers
are the people they come into contact with most, it is more largely due to the lack of information they receive before considering career paths. The reality is that in Korea students even choose their prospective majors according to an 'arrangement chart' that tells them which department (major) of which university they can get accepted into with their suneung score.
Nine students from SNU have now taken the initiative to help teenagers break out of the confinement of 'arrangement charts' and generalizations of 'stable jobs' deemed desirable by adults. They have voluntarily published a career counseling magazine for teenage students in the Seoul area—called MODU (meaning “everyone” in Korean). It is the first of its kind in Korea, and the first magazine to be circulated for free.
SNU students have always had an unrivaled reputation as mentors for middle and high school students in Korea. As"MO" stands for"Make Opportunity", one part of the magazine introduces studying skills, and as"DU" stands for"Dream Unlimited", a variety of different jobs are presented as well. Although there have been concerns the magazine may turn out to be similar to the many thousands of study guides prevalent in Korea, as much as it is created by college students not
much older than the targeted audience, the magazine also contains content of interest to teenagers such as trendy stationery and healthy eating. So far MODU has published interviews of people in a variety of work fields from lawyers to cartoonists and 'cultural planners'. It also offers a"finding your career" Q/A section written with an eye to the needs of the students, in the speaking style of the comedian KIM Won Hyo on Korea's comedy program Gag Concert.
According to a brief survey conducted this month of students in the Seoul area done by the KBS TV station, 45% replied that their source of information about prospective jobs was their teachers, while 38% mentioned their parents. However, the guidance of parents and teachers has obvious shortcomings due to the age gap, which has frequently been pointed out by students. This situation increases the value of such a magazine.
The editor-in-chief of MODU, KWON Tae-Hoon, explained that the magazine was designed"to address high school students like a close sunbae (close elder or mentor)." MODU was launched in April 2011, publishing its first special edition in May. Since then, it has published an edition every month, and in the near future plans to make MODU a biweekly magazine.
The magazine will be published and distributed to all high schools in the Seoul area (including Gyeonggi Province) after approval by the Korea Employment Information Service (KEIS). The Ministry of Education has plans to expand the distribution of the magazine to middle schools in Seoul as well later this year.
The editors expressed their wishes that MODU magazine would serve as a useful guide for all students—modu—in working towards their dreams.
Written By LEE Bo Young, SNU English Editor, bylee0708@snu.ac.kr
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Reviewed by Eli Park Sorensen, SNU Professor of Liberal Studies, eps7257@snu.ac.kr
Proofread by Brett Johnson, SNU English Editor, morningcalm2@gmail.com
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