I am so sad to say that this is my final blog. I loved the two weeks I spent in Korea and it has become a favorite memory. I can’t wait to go back one day. We got back to the states last Friday and things are so different here. It’s louder, there are tips on food, and trash cans are everywhere but somehow the streets are not clean. I think I will always be comparing things back to Seoul and how beautiful it was there. The final thing to do to finish the study abroad program is to reflect on my experiences both professionally and overall.
One thing I would like to go over is ethical issues in my profession. They weren’t specifically talked about in any of the site visits. They were more trying to sell their company, product, or work so bringing in ethical dilemmas would be counterproductive. The company I would like to talk about is Posco. Which was the steel plant and a founder of Postech. This huge steel plant sits right on the ocean in order to better ship in and out materials. But it got me thinking about the environmental impacts of the plant. When I was on the beach there it was so pretty and it looked clean. I found some clams so there was life. I was picking up some trash because that’s the right thing to do even if it is slimy and gross. My roommate asked why because there’s a big steel plant there anyway. And I said I’m saving something, maybe a turtle or fish, preferably a turtle. But she pointed out “I don’t think there’s any life in that water”. So, my question is, is she right? Is there really no life in the water next to the steel plant and my attempts to clean were pointless. Or did the plant find a way to coexist with the nature beside it?
So what I found is two things, one, Posco is building a new HyREX plant which will reduce carbon emissions and help Posco go green. However in order to do that it needs space to build, and they’re getting that space from the sea. Taking 1.35 square miles of water to make new land for the steel plant. This has caused a lot of debate and activists worry about the effects on marine life around the area. Which means there is marine life so I might have helped a fish, but building that plant would not be good. They do plan to monitor the area for their effects but by then it might be too late you can’t unbuild a plant that big. And throughout research I found that biodiversity and the water around is not as healthy as it can be, no surprise but Posco worked with the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, the Korea Fisheries Resources Agency and the Research Institute of Industrial Science & Technology to create a marine forest! They used repurposed steel to help make fish banks, which I googled and got amazon piggy banks with fish on it so that was not helpful, but basically it is an artificial rock or reef that helps accelerate the growth of the ecosystem. And donated close to a million dollars to the project, which is not a lot given that their revenue per year is close to 50 billion USD but the important thing is that it was a donation.
I think today it is especially important to look at the environmental impacts of these big companies, companies that we could go work for. I mean I thought Posco was cool. I would work there if I got to see steel made all day, but the question is if they are doing enough to protect the resources that they are using. The land they take out of the sea are they breaking even with creating a forest or are they doing more damage than they can erase? And there isn’t a clear answer. I think the only thing to do is to push forward and try to break even with the HyREX plant and maybe donate more to the reestablishment of the environment around them. So back to the question did I save fish… probably not but I’m also trying to break even.
Another point to discuss is the educational breadth. For me that was basically this whole trip. I know for the engineers they got to see things outside of their majors like maybe materials science at the steel plant and mechanical engineering at the car plant, but I saw something completely out of my field. And I want to take time to thank the people who explained the little things to me that I didn’t get. Especially Dom who at Postech when we were shown all the research, I would turn to him after and be like explain simply please. And that was so helpful. I definitely learned so much on this trip that I would never get to learn at school because those credits just don’t count for my major. I loved it really because it gave my brain a stretch and took me outside of my comfort zone. I think all the things I learned on this trip will really help me in the future whether it be a different perspective in my classes or future career.
Another thing I would like to discuss in this blog is lifelong learning. I love to learn new things. That’s why this blog is taking me so long to write because I keep getting sidetracked reading about fish banks, which by the way is also the name of a video game. I would love to do another study abroad like this something out of my field over the summer when I’m not really learning anything new or trying to figure out linear algebra so I can put all my time into it. Also, something I would like to discuss wasn’t a site visit or a big engineering breakthrough, but it is something new that I learned how to do and that was video edit. We decided that we should have one person do the video and all others work on the presentation and I did the video. I thought it would be good for me to learn, especially with a double major in DNID. And I got a lot of help. I would like to shout out Emily who told me how to get sound, and the basics of CapCut, Jake who gave me the end credit scene idea, and Rohit who gave me the 10 second silent temple clip. And my group who came up with the organization structure of the video. I think it’s important in a process like video editing to listen to other people’s ideas and incorporate them with your own because they are often really good and can make your clip connect with the audience more. And as in any experience, listen to the people who know more than you and study their work, thank you Emily. She used to edit videos on TikTok. I think having someone I could come to for questions was a lifesaver. I was so happy to have edited and made the video and I think I got far more out of it than I would have if I had done the presentations, like how to entertain, video structure, how to use a new app CapCut (it was not revolutionary but I’ve always wanted to check it out), and improved soft skills.
Finally I’m going to combine these last two professional points: the social environment of professional life and multidisciplinary teams. Basically this is a teamwork point! Before we started the study abroad I was nervous because I heard that there were supposed to be two SCI students in each group but I was the only one in mine. There actually ended up being only like 5 SCI students in the program. That’s about how many of us showed up for 5am morning mediation. Anyway, I was worried that I won’t understand what was going on in conversations and in site visits. But I was wrong. I didn’t understand everything, but I had great people to help me out. And for some reason this never clicked. Engineering has different majors and they all specialize in different things. So, in a team which I thought was one solid engineering box was actually very diverse. And I think that helped our group grow. We all had different perspectives to bring and different talents. I found out I love working with engineers. I think our two fields blend very well together and I can see a lot of overlap in my future working with them because of how good my experience was here.
Also, I suppose it would be good to talk about teamwork in general. I think that my group, group B, worked very well together. A little too well we keep getting sidetracked talking and not working on the project. But we had a good group leader, thank you John, who made sure we were all okay to participate in our schedules each day. And we were able to lock in when it counted. I worked one day for three hours on the video when I wanted to be at the beach because it was beautiful, and I never saw it in the daytime. Very sad, but I think the sacrifice was worth it. And in order to divide up work I didn’t do the slideshow to focus on the video, and Gabby took my slide and told me what to say (I did a little extra research). And she picked a good one for me, that I think fits my interests and something that I could easily talk about. Like it was the cultural impacts of Samsung and not how a fridge works. Because I have absolutely no idea and have no interest in ever knowing how a fridge works, the fact that Gabby gave me a slide I could actually do well and I didn’t have to tell her… I’m very grateful for that. That was just one instance to reflect on. Overall I think I gained improvement to my soft skills and worked with a really great team of people.
I loved this trip. I did a study abroad because everyone always says it’s the best and a highlight of their college experiences and they aren’t wrong! It’s awesome! I was able to connect and talk to people I have never met in my life and over the trip we were like going to dinner every day. And I still text them after the trip is over, and I can’t wait to see everyone back at Pitt! I came out of my shell with the K-pop dance class, learned new perspectives of life at the temple, and was offered educational experiences at Postech. Overall I wouldn’t change a thing, except maybe buy a Hechi plushy. I got his friend but now I’m thinking I should get the whole set. I would also like to take a moment in this reflection to thank the people who made this possible for me. My mom, my dad, and my brother for their support. My friend Rujuta who went to get a cardigan with me at 8pm the night before we left cause I didn’t have one. My roommate on this trip, Sophie, who was excellent to live with and showed me rice cakes. A thank you to Emily Bennett who made it so SCI students could go on a Plus3! And to Chris, Dr. Yun, Esther, and Aakash for guiding us through Korea and making our experience what it was! I hope to go on another study abroad trip and someday get my family over to Korea to show them how amazing it is. I think it was the perfect end to freshman year at Pitt. H2P!
[1]
POSCO at odds with environmentalists over coastal development in Pohang
“POSCO at odds with environmentalists over coastal development in Pohang,” The Korea Times, Aug. 2, 2023.[2]
Posco leads effort to revive ocean ecosystem off Pohang
“Posco leads effort to revive ocean ecosystem off Pohang,” Korea JoongAng Daily, Nov. 28, 2024.