One Test to Determine the Rest of Your Life

(Image Source: Zimbio)

This coming Thursday morning (November 12th) most of Korea’s commerce is suspended until 10am – including the university where I work. The reason for such freezing of Korea is the dreaded annual SAT (School Admission Test / Scholastic Aptitude Test), aka as the College Scholastic Ability Test, where Korean high school students’ futures will be determined. The SAT exam is probably one of the biggest life-determining events in the life of a Korean, as this single exam has the power to fate the university you are allowed to attend; and in Korea the university you attend can establish whether you will work for a great company, or a mediocre one. If you work for a great company you can become a huge success. If you don’t, you’ll just be average the rest of your life. Or, at least, that is the general theory; and the reason why Korean children are primed from kindergarten age in preparation of the SAT.

The tradition of taking such a test which will determine your future is a Korean tradition that stretches back for centuries. Only the smartest people, getting the highest scores on the appropriate tests, were able to work in the king’s court. To this day the traditional heroes of Korea’s long history are often associated with scholastic achievement. Take for example, the scholars Joong Gun, Twe Gye, Ahn Do San, Yi Sun Shin, and so on. Every Korean child knows who these people are, and know how smart they were. It is believed that the Yi Dynasty which lost against the Japanese during the early 1900s to become a Japanese colony, lost because they over emphasized learning over battle-readiness; intellectual pursuits over training soldiers for self-defence.

In recent times the so-called SKY-universities are everyone’s dream – Seoul National University, Konguk University, and Yongsei University. Those that make it to these universities, it is said, have a smooth sail ahead. Others should at least try to get into a university in Seoul, for it is believed that universities in the capital are better than universities outside of the capital. Failing at that, you are pretty much doomed to being average and you are likely to become a labour worker.

Of course, in reality life is not so black-and-white, but for many Koreans this is their reality. And for the poor Korean high school students, this coming exam is a pivotal moment. It is the reason why they haven’t slept properly for days, haven’t eaten a decent meal in weeks, haven’t hanged out with their friends for months. Or at least, that is what I am led to believe.

One thing is sure, I am glad I did not grow up in Korea. The pressures are unbelievably high, the expectations even more so, and the competition even worse than that. I am not very competitive, neither am I one to go with the flow or blindly succumb under peer / culture pressure. I don’t think I would have made it if I were to grow up in such a funnelled society.

Good luck to all the SAT-candidates! May their efforts, and their parents’ inhumane pressure, pay off.