Greeting the spring of 2019, George Mason University Korea wore new spring clothes and welcomed a large number of new Patriots. The new clothes mean that many facilities have been renewed and newly opened such as the Student Lounge, Student Study Center, Career Development Center, Academic Resource Center, Global Lounge and so on. With these new changes at Mason Korea, a lot of new Patriots also got a great opportunity to spend time with each other in Mason Korea. According to the Office of Admission and Enrollment, 118 students entered as freshmen to Mason Korea in total. This number is higher than the number of freshmen in last spring 2018 semester, 88.
With the influx of new students, the diversity among new Patriots seems to have grown significantly this semester. Especially, there are diverse domestic students who have experience studying abroad.
One of the freshmen, Woong Jae Huh (Management ’22), spent his high school years in Frankfurt, Germany. He said, “During the 3 years, I felt that the education system toward creative thinking and widening one’s own perspective for everything is totally different with the Korean basic education system.” This led him to choose an American institute, and studying at George Mason University Korea campus is a big merit for him. Also, he said, “Sharing my daily life and making a bond with students from diverse countries is quite impressive for me, even though I have been abroad.”
Another freshman student, Ryoga Yoon, (Conflict Analysis and Resolution ’22) is a third-generation Korean-Japanese. In his case, because he didn’t spend his time on living in one country when he was young, both Korean and Japanese University is not perfectly appropriate to start his new learning. This reason led him to choose Mason Korea. He said, “My life in George Mason University Korea is expected as a new start and communicating with diverse friends from different countries is a good factor to enhance the ability of English and learn various cultures.”
Also, this semester, there is a Global Gateway program from Fairfax, which is a program that lets freshman in Fairfax study abroad to places like South Korea, Ireland, Spain etc. In the first semester of freshman year, students take a class to prepare for studying abroad trip in the second semester.
One of the Gateway Students, Desiree Denis (Foreign Languages ’22) said, “As I grew up, I was always invested into other cultures other than my own, so when I started experimenting with K-pop and then diving into the culture and lifestyle of Korea. Especially since I’m a Foreign Language major with concentrations in French and Korean. I thought going to George Mason University Korea would finally fulfill my dreams and the immersion process would help with my Korean.” Therefore, she is expecting to have a relationship with the Korean students in Mason Korea.
Along with these new arrivals, the spring of George Mason University Korea has started. Those renewed convenient facilities and the harmony of diverse freshmen symbolize the astonishing, lively, exciting, rising and active image of the new spring in Mason Korea. Hopefully, this new beginning will be the first page of a great year for all Mason Patriots.
Written by Haeun Choi | Staff Writer
hchoi34@masonlive.gmu.edu
Comments