As the headmaster for Carmichael College, I was pleased and thankful when I was asked to contribute to the Handong Newspaper and share the needs of our students. Since this is the first week of class, I would like to share needs of both our Korean students and our international students in Carmichael College.
You have probably noticed that students from Carmichael College combined for some activities during HANST, but most of the time we were running iHANST separately. Our incoming international students have unique needs during orientation such as a health check and immigration office visit during this week that Korean students do not need. Additionally, at this time, it is too much to ask the HANST be made fully bilingual though more can be done in the future for this such as in the area of games and club performances.
This is our fifth year as a residential college. During the first two years of orientation, Carmichael’s international students went through iHanst while Carmichael’s Korean freshmen went through HANST. During the week, these students never met. This caused international students to bond with international students and Korean students to bond with Korean students. Thus, when they were combined on team together in the first week of class, it was harder for them to come together as a group. This is why this year and the previous two years we have tried things a little different.
While this has been quite a bit of background, this actually leads into the needs for the students of Carmichael College. First, let me share some important needs of the Korean students who belong to Carmichael College. Because these students miss much information given in Korean during retreat, they need to know things. Some examples may be which classes to take, what clubs are available, resources available for help, and even Korean Bible studies and other programs. Carmichael also tends to have international Koreans who grew up outside of Asia. These students may need help in Korean language, learning nunchi, and navigating aspects of Korea that they haven’t even encountered before. This may include regaining Korean citizenship along with being put on a family register to obtain National Health Insurance.
Following this, let me share some needs of our international students. It is great that many Korean students have decided to be a part of Carmichael College. However, the feeling among many of our exchange students is that their friends are limited to those in Carmichael College. These students are happy to make friends with other international students. Yet, these students came to Korea to make Korean friends. They really wish to make friends with those in the other residential colleges. Study groups, practicing Korean, and eating together are some representative needs. Many would also like to be able to join various clubs on campus. If you want to help here, a good place to start would be with the I.S.U. (International Student Union). This semester, the president is Korean, and many Korean students are a part of this group.

Alex Bishop
Dept. of Language Education