Student Exchange Experience from Kevin Naufal at Jeonbok National University (JBNU)
Student Exchange Experience from Kevin Naufal at Jeonbok National University (JBNU) – Hello everyone! I am Kevin Naufal Eryogia, people usually call me Kevin for short. I am an undergraduate Management student at IPB University, entered in 2020. I am keen to share with you my exchange journey and how I get to experience becoming a student at Jeonbuk National University (JBNU), South Korea. The story started in early 2022, I was saddened because I got rejected from the Kampus Merdeka IISMA program. But with the encouragement of my friends and lecturers from the Department of Management, I applied to several other exchange opportunities, and got an acceptance letter from JBNU. My program started at 29 August 2022 till 19 January 2023.
At first, I was hesitant because I didn’t understand anything about Korea, nor have I even dreamed of going to university there. But with a leap of faith, I decided to embark on my adventure in South Korea for one semester! This exchange program really provided me with the opportunities of not only experiencing the education system in South Korea, but also enables me to enrich my knowledge and perspective beyond education. I learned the language from zero, as I was unfamiliar with the characters as well.
During my first few weeks, I made so many new friends and exchanged ideas together. It even went so far as to having to say “Hi, My name is Kevin” at least a couple times a day. Both the lecturers and the students there were very welcoming of the incoming exchange students. For me, they are truly the home away from home. Along the way, I participated in several campus activities and took part in the student body (organization) there. We had a lot of bonding events including a 2 day 1 night outing at a villa near a village.
Aside from that, I also explored the cities and cultures in Korea. I went to the border of North Korea and see the landscape of North Korea with my own eyes. I also experienced the cultures like pottery, traditional music, going to museums, etc. All in all, I am very grateful for the experience and this really had a pivotal change and development inside myself while I was there. I highly encourage all of you to go and try it out for yourself!
