My sources and slides are in the link above. Overall, my presentation was an attempt for me to understand why academics are so heavily valued in South Korea. In South Korea, the one test that holds the most importance of measuring a student's academic aptitude is the College Scholastic Aptitude Test. With this exam determining the future of a student's life, it is extremely prepared for and prioritized by the country. With such emphasis on doing well on this test, it also comes with negative side effects such as South Korean teenagers being chronically unhappy and often resorting to drastic measures to alleviate their struggles, such as committing suicide. Though South Korea's education system is often heavily praised, including by President Obama, it comes at a high cost. It left me thinking about how even though I was in America, I am also accustomed to this way of life to a degree because of the large Korean population in Los Angeles.
I had some difficulty uploading the cultural presentation. It currently says that it works, but I am not sure if something strange will happen to it again.
If anyone would like to see my cultural presentation and is not able to, feel free to email me at sharon.shin@richmond.edu so that I can share it with you in Google Docs.
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