My reflection on my Internship at English Summer Camp sponsored by EPO
by Jeeah Lee
Ohio State University

As I look back on my times spent in Seoul over this past summer, I can’t help but notice how much I’ve grown as a person. Of course, this might seem a little bit cliché, but the truth is the truth. It was by pure chance that I actually ended up applying for the internship and the summer program while I was browsing online. Since the university that I have applied was my mother’s alumna school I was aware of their high academic standards. I was eventually accepted into the International co-ed summer program at Ewha Womans University and got an internship as an English tutor at their English Department. The English Program Office of Ewha Womans University was a highly reputable English program in South Korea. The department was responsible for creating and overseeing this special English Summer Camp for undergraduates recently. When I first arrived on campus, I was confident in my ability to communicate effectively in Korean as my parents came from South Korea. Thus, I was utterly surprised when I found myself completely lost for words when I attempted to talk or ask the locals about something or for simple directions. I did not expect to be hit so hard with culture shock from my own culture. As I slowly found out, there were so many intricate layers within their culture. I became fascinated yet somewhat dismayed by their unusual customs. However, my initial impression slowly changed. I quickly noticed as an English tutor, that in South Korea, English was considered the golden tongue, and everyone was frantically trying to improve their English skills. I was enthralled by this enthusiasm at first. I didn’t know how hard and diligent these people studied in order to have the opportunity to study abroad someday in America. I almost felt lucky and rather ‘blessed’ that my parents gave me the opportunity to live in America.

My job as an English tutor was to foremost aid the students in improving their speaking ability, and recording their daily activities and areas they should focus more on…etc. I expected it to be fairly easy as in neither as boring nor exhausting as maybe doing just clerical work, editing and grading papers. Of course, that was not the case at all. It was no doubt exhausting since I had classes from 9:30 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Thursday, and had to tutor in the evenings as well. The intensity of the summer program really tested my endurance and patience. In the end, the workload did pay off. It required dedication and hard work for I had to talk about different topics for about 2 hours, each student allotted to 30 minutes. Thus, it was definitely