Although many may view a leader as very charismatic, a good speaker, bold, strong and having people follow him or her, leaders come in a variety of shapes and sizes. Indeed, from a Christian perspective, in Matthew 20:26 it says, “Not so with you. Instead, whoever wants to become great among you must be your servant…,” ultimately saying that to actually be great, one must first be the greatest servant.
Knowing this, Handong Global University accepted foreign students to take part in their undergraduate and graduate programs, living up to its name as a global university. And in turn it took the obligation of educating the future leaders of the world, both Korean national students and international students. But is Handong Global University’s society the right atmosphere to correctly nurture leaders for the future? There are many types of leaders, but all of them have one thing in common, confidence. Does this school help international students gain confidence?
It cannot be said that Handong Global University is not trying to educate leaders for the future. Such endeavors as naming the whole entire freshman class as the School of Global Leadership and mandating all students to take classes such as “Understanding of Leadership,” make it very evident that Handong is trying to sincerely nurture leaders for the world.
But international students seem to have very different views upon this subject. One thing that every international student interviewed agreed upon was that they were indeed being “educated” to become leaders, but is being educated truly enough to nurture world leaders? Another thing they agree upon is that their human resources in this school are very limited. The faculty is well aware of this problem and has created two additional divisions within the administration to help the international students when the language barrier is too difficult to overcome. This may sound avaricious, but international students are not satisfied with just this. The OIA (Office of International Affairs) and the OICA (Office of International Community Advancement) help with administrative affairs, but what about school life?
It is rumored that there is an international students club in the making, but rumors like these come and go to appease the international community’s occasional need to feel involved. Involvement in school affairs is such a big issue, that some may go as far as to say that international students do not actually feel like Handong students at all. Their inactivity in school government or even joining school clubs creates another barrier between them and Handong. Because of the extremely conservative culture, international students are forced to change their personality so that they do not cause controversy during classes or even on campus. “Because of the pressure to conform, you cannot bring out everything in you.” (Mbah Acha 05) As the saying goes, “If a man stands out in society, he is hammered down.”
But these ongoing dilemmas have been here since Handong Global University accepted its first international student. With the lack of human relationship, the lack of being involved in something bigger than life, and the lack of freedom of expression, can international students truly bloom into future leaders of the world?
There are many alternatives to radically changing Korea’s culture and getting the international students involved is not too difficult. For example, there is the MUN (Model United Nations) that Handong is currently involved in. Handong Global University is one the three colleges sent from Korea to take part in the MUN, a mock UN meeting with students from colleges all over the world represent their appointed countries, in English. And there are various other competitions which require students to go in front of a mass of people and make a well prepared speech. Such things cannot hurt the nurturing of leaders.
Handong Global University has just past its twelve year as a university, making it still a relatively young university. The charter undergraduate class has already graduated, but students and especially international students at Handong are still pioneers and need to persevere. And the dream of educating world leaders won’t seem so far off.
Jin Kim(GM&UIL 05)