Hi everyone! We recently just finished our time in Korea and I can proudly say that this was one of the most unique and impactful experiences of my life. Living in a different place and environment has opened my eyes to so many lessons that I can take into my career not only at Pitt but beyond that. Our classwork was focused on smart systems and how they are used and implemented in Korea. Though I am going to take plenty of valuable lessons from this focus into my career, I would argue that the lessons learned outside the classroom are going to be more important for me in the future. Two main ones I want to focus on in this blog are having more respect for strangers and appreciating my past. 

To start, I wanted to touch on the idea of having respect for strangers. This may seem like an obvious lesson that I could learn anywhere, but I think this was one of the most prevalent themes in Korean society that we as Americans do not utilize enough. As I mentioned in my last blog, respect shows itself in even the most common aspects of Korean society. Everything from meals, transport, and talking to people on the street come with an understanding of respect. In our culture here in the US, respect is often one of the last things that people think about. We bump into people on the street, cut in line, and don’t clean up after ourselves. We could all take a page out of the Korean book here and show more respect in our day to day lives. In terms of my career, respect goes a very long way. Having respect for my professors, classmates, and the general public will give me a leg up in my career as it will lead to better relationships with everyone in my life.

Next I wanted to talk about understanding our past. Another thing that I noticed when in Korea was how much they valued the history of their country. They showed this by preserving so many historical fortresses and temples in the middle of their big cities. This is meant to honor and understand where they came from compared to where they are today. This was very prevalent at the DMZ where the history of the Korean war and difference between north and south Korea is something that the Koreans do not forget. They use their past to define their future and to continue to improve from where they once were. In my professional life this will help me in many ways. Understanding where I came from will help me stay grounded and motivated through struggles I may face as my time as a student and when I have a job.