It's a New Year, It's a New Start

Jubilant revelers witness the first sunrise of the New Year at Haeundae Beach in Busan, Tuesday. / Korea Times photo by Lee Seong-deok

By Rachel Lee, Jun Ji-hye, Baek Byung-yeul

The New Year is with us ― a time to let go of our past and make a fresh start. To start anew, some people, standing at the crossroads, choose a path that is rarely trodden.

They want to make their life different from others, refusing to remain complacent at status quo and imposing on themselves daunting challenges.

What are you going to do to make sure you have your best year ever? Life is yours to make of it whatever you desire, and some people are already putting the pledges they have made to themselves into practice.

Taking a different route

The vast majority of students in Korea enter university straight after graduating from high school, so those taking different courses might seem slightly off the rails.

Jeong Yoon-hyuk, a 19-year-old who will graduate from his high school in February, has opted not to apply for college. Instead of joining the ranks of youngsters striving to land a prestigious university position, he will enroll in the Navy this year, with a goal to become a naval officer later.

"When I visited Pyeongtaek naval base and Memorial to the Cheonan ship, I became enthusiastic about becoming a member of the Navy. There, I made the decision to join the Navy," he said.

Jeong said that while his friends were studying for college entrance exams, he has been preparing for a written examination to join the Navy, slated for Jan. 5.

"I need to pass the written test before an interview and fitness test. There are various subjects I need to study. It's harder than I thought but I will do my best," Jeong said.

He is determined to carry out all the mandatory requirements once he passes all the tests. Jeong believes that it will be one of the ways to improve himself.

His own definition of university is a place where people learn in depth about their favorite subjects.

"So, I don't think age matters when going to university. I mean, you don't need to go university simply because you become 19 or 20. You can go later whenever you want to learn something more specifically," he said.

"To be honest, I think going to university at my age only becomes a financial burden. I will have to get a student loan as I don't want my parents to pay my tuition. Then, it will only increase my debts," he said.

Big challenge of career

You Hyoung-seung, 29, had worked as an engineer for LG Display since 2010. Although LG Display is one of the respected companies here, he quit his job in September to change his career path. Now he seeks to earn an MBA degree in 2013.

"My job at the company was to examine how much costs we can cut if we substitute humans for machines in a particular area," he said. "It is usually regarded as one of the important jobs at the company and I was actually proud of it."

However, he said there was a moment that he suddenly started to feel the need to upgrade his competence as he wanted to earn bigger money.

"There is a limit to the amount of money I am capable of making in this job. And with my background in science and engineering, joining somewhere else like strategic planning departments, which contribute to making money for the company, is quite difficult," he said. "So I decided to study a relevant course. Of course it was not an easy decision to quit my job because it means I give up my decent salary plus saying goodbye to my colleagues was not easy either," You said.

"But at the same time, I feel like it will be too late to do it if I don't do this right now."

He is now studying TOEFL and GMAT to enter an MBA course in August. He said he wants to work again in the relevant company where he can do what he wants after successfully completing his study at a prestigious MBA school.

Tying the knot

Kim Hee-yun, a 29-year-old office worker who lives in Yongin City, Gyeonggi Province, begins a whole new life in February.

He is to marry Antonette Gwyneth, a 24-year-old middle school teacher originally from Cebu, Philippines. They have been in a relationship for six years.

Kim left for Cebu after his military duty in 2007 instead of going back to university because he wanted to pursue what he wants: working at a travel agency. He decided to go to Cebu Island, a place where he could study English and tourism management at the same time at a relatively low cost.

Kim transferred to the University of San Jose in Cebu later and met Gwyneth who was also attending some classes there. She was a high school student back then. They got along well as friends. Gwyneth even helped him find a place to live at an affordable price; her house. He lived there till he graduated from university.

When Gwyneth graduated from high school and entered university in 2008, their relationship deepened. Even after Kim came back home to get a job, they still kept exchanging love letters to keep in touch.

When they talked about their future, marriage, they faced rather unexpected hurdles.

"Though my father respected what I wanted, my mother desperately opposed the idea of an interracial marriage. She was concerned about communication problems and cultural differences with her daughter-in-law," Kim said. "She also said she heard through the media that Korean people have bad reputation among Filipinos."

His girlfriend's parents also wanted their daughter to marry and live in the Philippines.

"When our daughter marries him, she will have to give up her job as a school teacher. What on earth can she do in Korea?" her parents said.

But the couple persuaded her parents persistently and finally Gwyneth's father agreed on their marriage. He came to that decision since he had seen Kim's considerate and sincere personality during his stay at their house.

They already know there could be some difficulties in the future but Kim's only concern is whether Gwyneth will adapt to the new surroundings in Korea.

"I hope she won't have a hard time here since she is very optimistic about this and likes Korean culture," he said. "Gwyneth worries about the relationship with my mother, whom she feels doesn't like her, but she is doing her best to get close to my mother."

Kim added, "In Korea, there still exist some prejudices against interracial marriage with woman from Southeast Asia. I don't see this as a problem though. I will live with the woman I love. The year 2013 will be a totally new start for me."