Day 9:
Today we started our day by meeting up with some of POSTECH’s student ambassadors, who led us on small group tours around the entire campus. One thing I really liked was their GROW building and how they encourage students to start their own startups and ideas. They even had spaces designed for students to relax, including a music lounge, ping pong tables, and even life-sized chess. One of the buildings even had a slide you could go down, which honestly made me jealous that Pitt doesn’t have that.
After the tour, it was time for lunch. We ate at a place on campus where we were literally served by a robot. Yes, a robot. It brought our food out and everything, which honestly felt very on-brand for POSTECH.
After lunch, we headed over to POSCO, which is one of the largest steel manufacturing companies in the world and plays a huge role in Korea’s industry and economy. Before the factory tour started, they asked for four volunteers, and I was one of them. They took pictures of our faces, but they wouldn’t tell us why at first.
Then they led us into this dark room filled with giant screens, and suddenly the whole room lit up. Honestly, I think it was one of the coolest things on the trip so far. Remember those pictures they took of us? They ended up creating 3D-rendered versions of me and the other volunteers and projected us onto the giant screens surrounding the room during the presentation. It genuinely felt like we were inside some futuristic sci-fi movie.
After the presentation, we explored POSCO’s museum, where we learned more about the company’s history and how much it has grown over time. Then we got to tour the actual steel mill. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take pictures, but trust me when I say it was insane. You could literally feel the heat radiating off the steel, and the entire mill felt like its own city.
