The Young Motivators performing in between speeches

On November 20th the SNU International Student Association (SISA) organized a Korean speech contest for international students. Various students participated for multiple prizes, including a grand prize of travel expenses worth 200,000 won.

SISA is the official organization which supports and represents international SNU students. It acts as the ambassador between the administration and the international students, and hosts multiple events throughout the school year to help them acclimatize to Korea. Such events include sports festivals, Korean culture trips, and international food festivals.

The Korean speech contest was a multi-cultural event attended by SNU International students from countries such as Bangladesh, America, China, France, and Peru. A panel of three Korean judges affiliated with SISA graded the speeches based on content, accent, style, and delivery. Each participant was given five minutes to speak about their experiences as an international student at SNU.

The speeches showcased a spectrum of content and style. A Mongolian international described how touched she was as she discovered compassion in Korean strangers while being stranded without money in the middle of the street. A French international presented an academic proposal of Korean culture preservation, explaining how K-pop culture was becoming indistinguishable from American pop culture. An American international recited a short love-hate poem, admiring the beauty of the SNU campus, while bitter about the biting winter chill. A student from Africa relayed the beginning of his love for Korea, which sprung as he witnessed “impossible grace” performance of renowned figure skater, KIM Yuna.

The night was brought alive by diverse musical acts. These included an exotic performance of a guiqin, a traditional Chinese instrument, by a Chinese international, an uplifting African version of “Hakuna Matata”, performed by the African trio, “The Young Motivators,” and also a cover of Jason Mraz, by a Peru international. Performed in between speeches, they set a theme that resonated with the multi-cultural atmosphere of the night.

Six people were awarded prizes, and one of the winners of the grand prize was undergraduate student Monisha Dias (Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering) from Bangladesh. Her speech detailed her volunteer work in Korea, during which she introduced her country to various middle school students around Korea, providing cultural exchange. She noted that she was proud to represent her country and enjoyed meeting curious students who were interested in hearing her story.

The Korean speech contest was concluded by a masquerade party, a joyous ending to a memorable contest. An international student from Ireland, Nini Jibukhaiam (Politics and International Relations Major) stated,"I really enjoyed it, and had a great time at the masquerade party. I thought it was interesting as it made me realize that I am not alone in my experiences. I also found it motivating as it made me want to learn Korean, as I aspired to be like them. Right now, my Korean is elementary but I hope to master Korean, and hopefully participate in this competition in the future."

Written by JUN Taehoon, SNU English Editor, taehoonjun@snu.ac.kr
Reviewed by Eli Park Sorensen, SNU Professor of Liberal Studies, eps7257@snu.ac.kr