When I was preparing for school exams, I found an announcement for the Hawaii program. I applied for it without thinking much, but after I was selected it really made me feel like I was flying.
After about a 9-hour flight, I arrived at the Gachon dormitory. I was very surprised at the location of our dorm! In the briefing session in Korea, they strongly emphasized that our dorm is located in Waikiki, and I found out that it really takes only 5 minutes to walk to the beach. Even the bus stop is located right in front of the dorm, so I think no other university’s English program can be better than ours. Admiring Waikiki’s scenery every day, my Hawaii program started.
  In Hawaii program, we stay in our dorm and go to the IMPAC that gives us lessons to study. First of all, we took a test to divide our class into three levels even though it is only a month-long program. I got into class B, and in the morning class we prepared short presentations about any articles we chose. I think it was very helpful because deciding topics, thinking about the contents, preparing and practicing to present in front of the class made me familiar with speaking English. Also, in the afternoon class, most of the time, we had activities outside the classroom such as at Ala Moana Ward Centers. We went out with our teacher and made a plan for activities, especially interviews. Teacher gave us some topics and we prepared some questions for interviewing people. At first, it was very hard to interview the foreigners, but later I began to feel comfortable meeting new people and was even amazed by how freely talked with those people!
  And we were given two opportunities to meet UH (University of Hawaii) students. It was a very interesting event for me. The first time they came to IMPAC to meet us. It was really nice. I made friends there. The second time was even more awesome. We went to UH and took a morning class and then we met UH students again. We toured around UH and talked about lots of stuff. That day was the best day among all the days that I’ve been in Hawaii.
  In fact I still have one more week to stay in Hawaii. I have really enjoyed the past 3 weeks and I’m also expecting a lot for the remaining days. So, what I want to say is dreams can come true! Just try it! You can be one of us. I think it is a sad thing to just stay in the campus while we are college students. I think the ability to take all the advantages offered by the school and take our chances is one of youth’s privileges.

Lee Eun Young Dept. of Nursing Science