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| Lee Joo-hyun /Courtesy of Ewha Womans University |
By Bahk Eun-ji
Lee Joo-hyun, 20, a student of political science and international relations at Ewha Womans University, recently ranked third in the International Cybathlon competition held at KAIST, Daejeon.
The Cybathlon is an international competition where people with disabilities and engineers form a team, and the people with the disabilities wear bionic assistive devices and compete against each other, completing activities that require accuracy and speed.
"I wanted to find a new turning point in my life and challenge myself by participating in the Cybathlon competition," Lee said.
She became paraplegic after a car accident last year when she was a high school senior.
Lee said she could have been discouraged by the shock of the accident that occurred when she was preparing for the college entrance exam, but she thought things could be different.
While hospitalized and receiving treatment at Yonsei University Hospital, professors Shin Ji-cheol and Na Dong-wook, who treated her, introduced her to the Cybathlon competition and she decided to become a participant.
"Being frustrated about the bad things that had already happened wasn't helpful at all for my life, so I thought about what to do in the future," Lee said. "I wanted to find a fresh turning point in my life and participating in the Cybathlon competition was one of them."
She joined the KAIST research team IN June last year and has been training with the aim of participating in this year's competition.
Earlier this year she was selected as one of the national team members for the competition and passed the entrance exam for Ewha at the same time.
However, it was not easy to pursue the life of both a student and an athlete.
"There were times when it was difficult to take classes because I had to spend about 12 hours at the training ground, especially during midterm exams," she recalled.
But she overcame the difficulties, and was able to finish the first semester with an excellent score of 4.08 out of 4.3 as well as winning the international competition.
Lee also spoke positively about the support system for students with disabilities in the university.
"Before the school decided to have a full-scale online lecture in the first semester due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the school's support center for students with disabilities tried to provide a service that helps disabled students when moving between classrooms. Dormitory rooms and many elevators for disabled students are also installed in the campus, so I knew that I could go to school comfortably," she said.
Lee is currently majoring in politics and diplomacy, but she said, "I have not yet decided what to do in the future in detail, but I want to be in a position that contributes to promoting human rights for women and the disabled.
"I really want to solve problems related to light punishment for sex crimes targeting women in the country, and do something to improve the right to mobility for people with disabilities," she said.
