Photo 1: Korean streets
When I first stepped off the bus and saw this, the first thing I thought of was how cold it was. Then, I realised how different a Korean street is from Singapore. The space is much bigger and we normally don't have an amusement park in the street.
Photo 2: Korea's waters
While waiting for dinner, we explored the Wolmido area and saw this seaside view. I noticed the difference between Korea's general infrastructure layout and size compared to Singapore as it is rare to see such an open space in Singapore.
Photo 3: Korea's food service
When we first entered the restaurant, I saw all the food laid out on the table. That made me think about how in Singapore, the waiter waits until the customer sits down then brings out the food from the kitchen but in Korea, they set up the table before we even sat down.
Photo 1: Debate prep with our buddies (Reflection photo)
During this time, we were supposed to prepare for our upcoming debate. As soon as we settled down, our buddies helped us connect to the school wifi and shared their prior research with us. I was really impressed with their research and points.
Photo 2: The view from IASA
During cleaning time, our buddies led us on a school tour and I managed to take this photo of the view from the school. I found this view very visually appealing and thought back to SST and how different our school views are.
Photo 3: The moon
At night, we had a short lesson on a little bit of astronomy and were able to go up the school’s observatory and look at the moon and a few stars. When I first went up, I was fascinated by how bright the moon was. Then when I looked through the telescopes pointing at the moon, the moon was even brighter and I was able to see a few details of it.
Publish /Share
- When/where did the experience take place?
- The experience took place in the Foreign Language classroom.
- What did I do? What did others do?
- I was researching on the debate topic. My Korean teammates were organizing their previous research.
- What happened that was significant?
- Throughout the whole 50 minutes, the Korean students were super hard working and kept on focusing on preparing for the debate.
- Their research and points were also quite different from the points I was thinking about.
Process
- How did this experience make me feel (positively and/or negatively)?
- It made me feel that I should be more focused and dedicated like them, meaning I should have researched more about the topic beforehand. It also made me feel like I should have considered the debate topic from more POVs prior to that day.
- What personal skills did I draw on in handling this situation?
- I used humility and focus to try and catch up to what they have already done.
- What personal skills would I like to have had I order to have handled it better and how might I develop them?
- I would like to have had more motivation and self-discipline so that I would have prepared better beforehand, and would be able to stay focused for the whole debate prep time.
Generalize
- How does this experience enhance my knowledge of a specific reading, theory, or concept?
- It made me think about how motivated and dedicated the Korean students are, and how I should learn from them to be more efficient and responsible.
- It also made me think that I should look at things from different perspectives.
- Does it challenge or reinforce my prior understanding?
- It challenged my prior understanding of how hardworking they are and my personal work skills.
- It also challenged my prior understanding of the debate topic
Apply
I learned that I should be more self-disciplined and dedicated so as to be more prepared for future projects in my school life. I can also be more focused when doing my work. I should also look at things from different POVs.
I learned this when observing my Korean teammates during our debate prep.
This learning matters because it will help me be a better student, a better person and in the future, a better employee.
In light of this learning, I have set a personal goal to consider things from more POVs before making a judgement and also to work harder and be more focused on anything I do.
Day 3
Photo 1 & 2: IFEZ (Reflection photos)
We went to the IFEZ tower for a tour and also went on a river ride to see the IFEZ area and learn more about how IFEZ was built. During the river ride, I realised how successful IFEZ was in such a short period of time and found that the area was really pleasing to look at.
Photo 3: A talk by an Asteroid Expert
In the evening, we had a talk by a Korean expert in asteroids. I was intrigued by the high numbers of meteorites that the speaker’s team found in Antarctica as I did not know that there were so many. I also did not know that collecting and analysing asteroids samples can help to inform us about more of the history of Earth and the galaxy we live in.
Photo 4: Dinner group at Songdu Street
For dinner, we went to Songdu street with our buddies. They brought us to a rice cake buffet which enabled me to try different kinds of rice cakes, which was really enjoyable. Then, we went to a supermarket to buy some snacks to bring back to Singapore.
Publish /Share
- When/where did the experience take place?
- The experience took place in the IFEZ tower and along the river.
- What did I do? What did others do?
- The tour guide was talking about how IFEZ was created and the video showed how it was because of people's dedication and hard work that Incheon is now so successful.
- At first, I was not very interested about IFEZ and was listening to the tour guide but not processing what she was saying
- What happened that was significant?
- Though, on the river, I realised the amount of success that IFEZ has achieved over such a short period of time was actually really impressive.
Process
- How did this experience make me feel (positively and/or negatively)?
- It made me feel that if I am dedicated and passionate about something, I will be able to make it happen.
- Do I believe I should have felt differently than I did?
- No
- What assumptions or expectations did I bring to the situation (including my assumptions about other persons involved) and how did they affect my actions?
- I assumed that the tour would be very boring and that I would not understand what the tour guide was talking about.
- What personal skills did I draw on in handling this situation?
- I used my reflective skills to think about why IFEZ achieved so much success so fast and how I can be the same.
- What personal skills would I like to have had I order to have handled it better and how might I develop them?
- I would like to have had listened and understood what the tour guide was talking about better/
Generalize
- How does this experience enhance my knowledge of a specific reading, theory, or concept?
- It enhanced my knowledge of if I work hard towards something, I will be able to achieve it.
- Does it challenge or reinforce my prior understanding?
- It challenged my prior understanding of how I deal with situations when I find them not very appealing.
- It also reinforced my prior understanding of the sayings about hard work paying off and how you can succeed as long as you try your best and be dedicated to the cause.
Apply
I learned that if I am dedicated and passionate about something, I should put it all of my efforts and try my best to achieve what I want, in order to achieve it.
I learned this while thinking about what the tour guide said after the tour and during the river ride.
This learning matters because it will help me be a better student, a better person and in the future, a better employee.
In light of this learning, I have set a personal goal to work even harder towards my goals and what I am passionate about.
Day 4
Photo 1: Biomedical research presentations by IASA students (Reflection photo)
Photo 2: Titration Experiment
One of the activities we did today was a titration exercise during a chemistry lesson. We have only learnt about direct titration and have not covered back titration so it was really interesting to learn about it during this lesson. The skills we needed to carry out the experiments were the same but the procedure and the calculation method differed slightly.
Photo 3: IASA campus
I took this photo of IASA while exiting IASA for the final time. The entire programme with the school was extremely fun and enriching so I was disheartened that it had come to an end and that I would no longer be able to see my buddy or make any more memorable experiences. Though, I will make use of everything that I have learnt during the programme and from the students in IASA.
Publish /Share
- When/where did the experience take place?
- The experience took place in a Life Science Lab in IASA.
- What did I do? What did others do?
- The IASA students were presenting their primary research about their selected topics in the Biomedical field.
- Each group explained what their topics were, the different researches already done on their topic and their conclusions about the researches.
- I was listening to them present and asking them questions about it.
- What happened that was significant?
- After listening to the presentations, I realised that all the groups chose topics that are extremely complicated, and are not that commonly talked about.
Process
- What did this experience make me think about?
- It made me think that the IASA students do not take the easy way out, but instead, chose to tackle their assignment head-on and challenge themselves to take on a more difficult topic.
- It also made me think about how I deal with the assignments given to me in school.
- Why do you think the IASA students chose to take on a more difficult topic?
- I think that the students chose to take on a more difficult topic to try to challenge themselves and improve themselves while doing so. More specifically, they wanted to improve their Biomedical knowledge, their research skills as well as how they handle challenging situations.
- What do you think about their actions and reasons?
- I think that their reasons are extremely valid as wanting to improve yourself is always a positive thing. Hence, I think that their actions are something that I should aspire to follow.
Generalize
- How does this experience enhance my knowledge of a specific reading, theory, or concept?
- It enhanced my knowledge of inventions in the Biomedical field.
- It also enhanced my knowledge of my personal values and goals.
- Does it challenge or reinforce my prior understanding?
- It challenged my prior understanding of my personal values and goals when it comes to improving and challenging myself.
I learned this while thinking about why the students chose challenging topics for their graded assignment.
This learning matters because it will help me be a better student, a better person and in the future, a better employee.
In light of this learning, I have set a personal goal to challenge myself more often by taking on difficult tasks.
Day 5
Photo 1: National Science Museum
After looking at the science exhibits in the museum, my group and I went outside to the Wildflower Hill to look at the view and take a few pictures. It was really beautiful and peaceful.
Photo 2: Cheonggyecheon Stream (Reflection Photo)
After lunch, Jason, the tour guide, took us to Cheonggyecheon Stream to learn more about its history and to look at the multiple displays on the stream. He explained why this stream was so special and told us a local fable about one of the characters on display.
Photo 3: Sunset at Namsan Park
We went to Namsan Park for dinner. Before dinner, we had some time to look around the place and take photos. We spent about an hour outside, in the 3 degrees Celcius weather so we were freezing. Around dinner time, the sun started to set and I managed to take this picture.
Publish /Share
- When/where did the experience take place?
- The experience took place on the tour bus.
- What did I do? What did others do?
- Jason was introducing our next location, which was the Cheonggyecheon Stream. He then explained that this stream is so special because of its history.
- I was listening to him talking about the stream.
- What happened that was significant?
- Jason explained that the stream was covered with cement some time ago. During that time, Incheon was developing extremely fast so the quickest way to build roads was to cover the stream and build a highway over it. Incheon was just focused on developing so there were no natural parks, streams or original features of the place. Hence, there were no natural environments that people could go to in Incheon.
- Though, after Incheon was developed, the youths wanted to go to places that are the original features of Incheon that show their roots and where they came from so they fought for the stream to be uncovered and restored. And they won. The stream was restored and is now used very frequently by the people working near it.
Process
- What did this experience make me think about?
- It made me think about the reasons why the youths wanted the stream to be restored, which was the want to go back to their roots and be in a natural environment, not the ones made by man.
- What assumptions or expectations did I bring to the situation (including my assumptions about other persons involved) and how did they affect my actions?
- I assumed that the stream was always there so I was surprised when Jason said it was actually previously covered up to build the highway.
- Do you think that restoring the stream was a good choice by the Korean government?
- Yes, I think that it was a good choice. Remembering where you came from and going back to your roots are extremely important in helping someone stay grounded. Incheon is now very successful so it is important for the citizens to realise that it took a lot of hard work to get from their past to their present and that they should not take Incheon's success for granted. Instead, they should try to contribute back to Incheon by helping it to develop more.
- How does this experience enhance my knowledge of a specific reading, theory, or concept?
- It enhanced my knowledge of the importance of staying humble even when you succeed and remembering your roots.
- Does it challenge or reinforce my prior understanding?
- It challenged my prior understanding of the stream and reinforced my prior understanding of the need to stay humble in the face of success and giving back to what made you.
Apply
I learned that it is vital to stay humble even if you succeed and that you should give back to your community by helping to improve it or other various means.
I learned this while thinking about what Jason said about the history of the stream.
This learning matters because it will help me be a better student, a better person and in the future, a better employee.
In light of this learning, I have set a personal goal to contribute back to society more often.
Day 6
Photo 1 and 2: Samsung Innovation Museum
On our last morning, we went to the Samsung Innovation Museum. We learnt about the history of electricity, electronics and the marketing of electronic products, as well as Samsung's achievements in the IT field. We were able to see many first of its kinds; for example, Photo 2, which is the first washing machine ever created.
Photo 3: Outside Incheon Airport
I took this photo while the bus was very near to Incheon Airport. I wanted one last photo of Korea's amazing scenery and even though this picture is very blurry you are still able to see the beauty in everyday things in Korea like the trees.
Overall Summary
Before going to Korea, my expectations for this trip was just that I would be able to experience a new culture and learn a few things from the Korean buddies and IASA. I never expected to take away so many valuable life lessons that will stay with me for a very long time. This trip has taught me many things, from how different the culture in Korea is, to the many real-life problems that we as scientists have a responsibility to tackle, to how to be a better person. My biggest takeaway from this trip would have to be how important it is for everyone to contribute back to society because that is how humans evolve and improve; when different people set aside their differences and focus on improving society through their knowledge and real-life experiences. I have set many personal goals based on what I have learnt during the trip and I hope to accomplish them and better myself in the process.
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