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| Photo Caption: RAS Dongducheon members pose at the central school garden. As the members are minors, names are withheld for their protection. / Courtesy of RAS Dongducheon |
By Steven L. Shields
Put a handful of enthusiastic high school students together, and what do you get?
Lots of energy and teamwork for a common goal. That's what is happening at Dongducheon Foreign Language High School. Busy people get things done, which couldn't be truer for the Royal Asiatic Society Korea's (RAS) Dongducheon chapter members.
RAS Dongducheon was organized four years ago by a group of exceptional students at Dongducheon Foreign Language High School. They learned about RAS Korea through a late 2018 feature in the Chosun Ilbo (daily newspaper). From that humble beginning, the Dongducheon chapter has continued to grow and develop, surviving the challenging changes in school operations and study formats during the pandemic.
RAS Dongducheon's members are enthusiastic high school students who elect their officers and gain new members toward the end of each school year. The faculty adviser is the head English teacher, Mr. M. J. Lee. He encourages the students, helps with logistics between the RAS group and the school and keeps the principal informed of the group's activities.
RAS Korea council members have been invited to the school to make presentations about Korean history and the work of RAS since 2019. During 2020 the school was online, but during a brief gap in COVID-19 infections in 2021, three RAS members visited the school and shared an afternoon with about 50 students. RAS Dongducheon members have written essays for RAS Korea's annual journal Transactions, and have participated in RAS's annual essay contest. One year, the members at Dongducheon put together an illustrated dictionary of Korean culture, available online.
Members attended the annual Founders' Day celebration in June and made a short video introducing RAS Korea to their classmates and others.
I was honored to be asked to visit the school this summer and represent RAS Korea at the school's annual career day event. Unlike past years when a small team of RAS members were asked to attend, this year was a solo invitation due to various reasons from the school. The all-day event featured career guidance counseling, future job ideas and the training needed. At the end of a long day of events, I joined the first- and second-grade students (about 350) in the school gymnasium for an hour of Korean history lecturing with a question-and-answer session. Mr. Lee and the RAS members invited me to join them for dinner in the school cafeteria. I hadn't eaten in a school cafeteria for many years, so sharing the table with the group was exciting and enjoyable.
Kim Minjae, president of RAS Dongducheon for the 2022 school year, gives excellent leadership to the members and encourages them to participate as time allows. Since she is in her final year of high school, she is swamped. The all-important college admissions exam is just around the corner, and those familiar with the Korean education system know how crazy things can be when kids are preparing. The exam is almost a life-or-death proposition. Despite those challenges, Ms. Kim has organized the group so younger students can move into leadership roles, which gives the small chapter an injection of new energy for the future.
Let's give three cheers to the young people at RAS Dongducheon and the great hope they represent for the future of Korea and the world. RAS Korea is proud to sponsor the chapter and to be a small part of the leadership development of these future CEOs and presidents.
Rev. Steven L. Shields is president of the Royal Asiatic Society Korea (www.raskb.com) and columnist for The Korea Times. Visit raskb.com or email royalasiatickorea@gmail.com for more information about the society.
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