123 university students including GMUK patriots have successfully completed a role as the interpretation volunteers for the 5th UNESCO ICLC.
Photo Credit: Onhappy
The fifth International Conference on Learning Cities (ICLC) took place in Songdo, Incheon, from 27 to 30 October. The conference holds a great significance to achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs), especially goal 4: quality education, through a decent international learning environment. Many important figures were invited to this conference, including the President, Deputy Prime Minister of Education, Minister of Foreign Affairs, President of the National Lifelong Learning Cities Council. In addition, many interpretation volunteers from universities worldwide participated in the conference. Through the volunteering experience, students of George Mason University Korea (GMUK) could hold the opportunity to work at the international conference, improving their understanding of global institutions and their passion for contributing to the worldwide society.
The ICLC is a series of conferences that emphasizes the massive impact of education on the sustainable world. It was conducted by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) Institute for Lifelong Learning (UIL) in order to set up a beneficial and resilient learning environment. This series of conferences first started in Beijing in 2013 and has been continuously held where it was qualified to be represented as learning cities. The 5th conference in Incheon focused on the learning environment in the post-COVID era, a peculiar situation. Its topic was crucial to the current state; hence, it was enough to attract interest in the system in lifelong learning and its role from GMUK students interested in the international community. Students learned many lessons by directly observing how various countries gathered together to proceed with the decision-making process.
The tasks of volunteers were to interpret and guide guests for this event to be led efficiently. They were placed in different roles based on their ability and language skills. They helped the visitors and participants join the activity with comfort throughout the event. GMUK students have been learning the related topics of international organizations and their issues through various seminars and symposiums in Mason Korea. Thus, this volunteering opportunity served the practical role of allowing the students to understand what they have learned in the university. Jungwon Youn (GMUK, Global Affairs, ‘24) volunteered as a manager, and she mentioned that this experience allowed her to learn the actual tasks in global conferences. “All I could learn through in the university were in texts, which made me focus only on the conclusions, not the process.” She continued, “through this opportunity, I was able to go beyond the limitations that I had felt. I could see the substantive methods and process of conducting in a global conference, which was a valuable experience that I couldn’t have had before.”
This volunteering experience also expanded their enthusiasm for joining the international community as a future career. Yu Bin Kwon (GMUK, Global Affairs, '23) explained how this volunteering motivated her to yearn for global health education. "I have been studying global health and global education in Mason Korea. So I was glad that these topics that I have been interested in were covered throughout the conference." She added, "I was also honored to serve and interpret for someone who has already been successful in the field that I have wanted to work for in the future." She was not the only one who was motivated like this. "I am determined to become a person who can contribute to creating a society where everyone in the world is not excluded from the benefits of education," Jungwon Youn explained.
The fifth International Conference on Learning Cities in Incheon provided GMUK students with hands-on experience in the international environment that they have learned in the university. As this conference was a part of the journey to achieve goals to make a manifold sustainable world in the near future, the volunteering opportunity enabled students to have a better understanding of international society and missions as global citizens. Furthermore, students were motivated to pursue their future career goals in the fields. Jungwon Youn commented, “I felt every moment during the volunteer work was learning. Besides, interactions with the volunteers, speeches, and advice from great people, and the collaboration with my teammates were indescribably valuable.”
Written by Suhyoung Ji | Staff Writer
Revised by Yu Bin Kwon | Managing Editor
Comments