Thinking back, when I went through high school and university, I don’t think I ever had the same text and essay anxiety as others. I wrote my papers at the last second, and I always opted to stop studying the night before an exam because I knew cramming was futile. I was lucky; I was a good student, and so even being an incredibly lax student when it came to testing, I was able to get through school with not too many problems.
But I think that if I were in Korea, it would be a different story.
Today, November 18th, is what people refer to as D-Day. CSAT day. The biggest day of their lives, up to this point, and perhaps afterwards too.
Imagine being a Korean teen today, waking up knowing what’s ahead. You’ve been studying pretty much your entire life for this one moment. Ever since you were in elementary school, there has been regular school, followed by English school, piano lessons, extra science and math lessons, and probably lessons in a third language (normally Chinese). This day has been on your mind, and your parents mind, for so long, it’s almost impossible to remember a time when life was more than just trying to prepare for this test.
If you do well on this test, rest assured, life will be easier. You’ll get into the school you want. Which means you’ll get the job you probably want. It doesn’t mean you’ll be happier, no, but it means that all that hard work has been merited.
But what if you choke? What if you get into that hall, and go completely blank? 10 hours of English, math, science, Korean, and another language, and… *poof* It’s gone. Over ten years of hard work, and it’s all over. First choice university, gone. That job you’ve wanted is suddenly unachievable…
This was what 700,000 students were facing this morning. Traffic was redirected, elementary and middle schools were closed to keep things quiet, and the entire nation bent over backwards to make sure that those students could get to the school on time. Enforcement went so far as to ban flight takeoffs and landings close to the schools to keep the noise pollution down.
I honestly can’t imagine being brought up where one day will influence your entire life. In Korea (and Japan and other Asian countries), your university name influences your employment options just as much, if not more, than your qualifications do. It’s a well known fact that Korea has the highest suicide rate in the industrialized world due to this pressure. A sobering statistic: In 2009, 202 elementary and high school students committed suicide. That’s a little over 1 student dying every other day.
Goodness knows, I’m not envious of those students today. While part of me is thinking there has to be a better way for students in Korea to show their worth, for the time being, all I can do is hope that those students today all are able to do the best they’re able to do, and get the schools they’re aiming for.