제 31 호 In Our Own Way
Kicker: Editorial
In Our Own Way
By Sol-Mi Lim, Editor-in-chief
University life often seems to come with an invisible set of expectations. Some students spend their days studying, preparing for internships, earning certificates, and thinking seriously about their careers. Others want to travel, meet new people, enjoy their freedom, and make as many memories as possible. When these different lifestyles meet, it is easy to wonder which one is the “better” way to spend our university years.
However, perhaps there is no correct answer at all. Someone may feel happiest while working toward a clear goal, while another person may find meaning in experiences that have nothing to do with a résumé. Studying hard does not guarantee success, just as spending more time enjoying the present does not mean someone is wasting their future. Our lives are far too unpredictable to decide their value only by how productive or ambitious we appear today.
What matters more may be whether we are making choices that genuinely belong to us. There is little meaning in studying endlessly simply because everyone else is doing so. In the same way, forcing ourselves to enjoy every moment because university is supposedly “the best time of our lives” can become another kind of pressure. Especially during university, people seem to take very different paths. Some want to experience as much as possible, while others choose to prepare carefully for what comes next. Neither choice makes one person more successful, mature, or fulfilled than the other.
We do not yet know who will look back on these years with the greatest satisfaction. Perhaps that is exactly why we should stop searching for one perfect way to live. There is no single answer to life, and our future is not decided by one period or one choice. For now, it may be enough to listen to ourselves and spend these years in the way that feels most meaningful to us.
