Hello everyone! Do you remember when I mentioned in a Face Mask Friday (blog post here) that I would be announcing some big news around April? Well, I received a few notifications earlier on Thursday, so I’m able to share the news with you all today: I’m going to Yonsei University!
For those of you who don’t know, I’m currently a second-year junior at San Jose State University in California, United States of America studying business administration with a concentration in marketing. I’ll be continuing my studies abroad in South Korea through California State University International Programs at Yonsei University. I received the news that I’ve been accepted into Yonsei University on Thursday, and I could not be more ecstatic!
I actually applied to two programs back in earlier winter – CSU IP and ISEP (International Student Exchange Program). For ISEP, I applied to Yonsei, Korea U, Hanyang, and Ewha Women’s University with preference in that order. Thursday morning, I got the notification from ISEP that they placed me at Hanyang University, which unfortunately wasn’t my first choice but I was still glad that I made the cut (plus, it wasn’t my last choice!). Hanyang is ranked fifth out of all the universities in South Korea so I was pretty happy about it. I still had hope for Yonsei University since CSU IP stated that I would receive a notification on March 15 but honestly was not expecting much. I mean, it’s a SKY school after all! If you’re unfamiliar with SKY, it is the acronym for South Korea’s top prestigious universities (Seoul National University, Korea University, and Yonsei University). One of the study abroad coordinators at my university told me that Yonsei specifically would be really hard to get into as the competition is fierce.
Therefore, I had a tiny amount of hope because the CSU IP results had not come back yet but in reality, I wasn’t expecting to get in. However, surprise! A few hours after I got into Hanyang, I received an email congratulating me on my acceptance to Yonsei! Clearly, I was in shock. I was with my best friend (who is also my roommate) when I read the email and I literally screamed from the news. I couldn’t believe what I was reading because first of all, this is Yonsei we are talking about. Second, the results were not supposed to be back until March 15. I had to reread the email and double check through my application portal because I didn’t want to make a mistake.
I literally got up from my chair squealing and dancing with delight. My best friend Marissa was so happy for me and told me she wanted to hug me because she knew how much I wanted to get into this program and the slight dismay from being placed at my third choice for ISEP. I had to go to a night class in about ten minutes, but I could not calm down and collect myself. I wanted to tell everyone I know!
Funny side story: later that evening, Jin from K-pop group BTS announced that he would be continuing his studies at Hanyang Cyber University. I jokingly said to a friend that the universe wants me to go to Hanyang because what are the chances that BTS Jin would announce his studying at Hanyang on the exact same day I received my notification of acceptance into the same university? Obviously, I was joking. Yonsei all the way!
I still have to go through tons of paperwork and wait for my second confirmation from Yonsei University before I apply for my visa, so I haven’t told my family in Korea just yet. However, it will be really exciting to be able to reconnect with them and be close for a whole year! I have a lot of younger cousins that I’ve met only a few times so it will be great to spend more time with them. One thing that makes me a bit sad is that I am unable to spend a lot of time with my cousins on my mother’s side of the family due to the fact that I live in America and they in Korea. I am happy that I can be around them for a year, especially the little ones, and hopefully have a more meaningful impact of their lives rather than being remembered as a distant cousin who lives abroad.
Now you know why I’m doing Face Mask Fridays every other week until I go to Korea. I still have to finish up paperwork, attend orientation events, and take a summer 100W class in order to take my upper division courses in the fall. But do not fret! Once I’m in Korea, you can be sure that I’ll be doing Face Mask Fridays on a weekly basis again! Plus, with Korea’s awesome skincare products, Face Mask Fridays will be on another level! Let me know if you have any recommendations or things you’d like me to try out while I am there!
I’m also planning on vlogging my adventures there. I think I’ll vlog my trip from the U.S. to Incheon Airport and Yonsei University. I might also film a video of campus as I’m walking around. If anything, you already know I’ll be posting pictures of unique cafes and street adventures! If you want to subscribe to my YouTube channel, I’ll link it here so you can stay updated on future videos. I only have one video up from over a year ago. It’s in pretty bad quality since I used an old phone to film it, and it was my first time vlogging and editing, but rest assured! I have a better camera now and know how to edit better. It’ll be a learning process, but we can go on the journey together!
Thanks for reading this long post and sharing the excitement with me! I guess the moral of the story here is don’t lose hope until the very end because unexpected surprises may come your way. Please look forward to my adventures while studying abroad at Yonsei University!
Until next time,
