SENIOR WINS KOREAN ESSAY CONTEST

Last school year, students taking Korean participated in an essay contest that would grant them the opportunity to go to Korea and learn about the culture firsthand. This was a nationwide contest and students from all over the U.S. submitted essays with topics of their choice. The essays were submitted to the Korean Education Center (KECLA), which is under the Ministry of Education in Korea. The KECLA reviewed the essays and chose the winners based on a criteria and teacher recommendations. To meet the criteria, the student must have attended school for at least four years in the U.S., be currently enrolled in Korean language class at their school, have a current GPA for Korean class that is above 3.0 and showcase a great interest in learning about Korean language and culture.

Senior Shanaya Sirimanne was selected as a winner of the contest and traveled to Korea from July 4 to July 28. She and the other winners stayed at Kyung Hee University in Seoul, South Korea. Sirimanne visited many places while she was there that exposed her to Korean culture, including the Korean American National Museum, the Korean War National Museum and the Namsan Tower.

“Korea went through a lot to earn their independence,” Sirimanne said. “It was really eye opening because we did not learn about that in class. When you take the language at school, you only learn a little bit about the culture. However, you go to the actual country, you learn so much more about it.”

Korean teacher June Choi was very involved in the contest, and required that all her students participate. The prompt given to them by the KECLA that asked them to explain what Korean culture and language meant to them and what they wanted to learn more about.

“It was a great opportunity for students to learn more about the culture and what it would be like to attend school in Korea,” Choi said. “Shanaya really cared about going and learning more about Korean culture, rather than just the language.”

Senior Kyle Tanimura enjoyed the fact that they would learn about the culture and language upfront. He saw it as a great way to understand Korean history better because of his experience with the language.

“I really enjoyed the essay contest because it was a different way of immersing us into the culture and the language,” Tanimura said. “Instead of just learning the language and taking the tests, you could learn about what is behind the language. It took us beyond the classroom.”