In this blog post, we’ll summarize at a glance the academic efforts, learning experiences, club activities, examples of collaboration, and career plans you’ve built up during high school to support your application to the Department of Applied Mathematics at Kumoh National Institute of Technology.

Describing Academic Experiences and Reflections

During high school, I achieved particularly outstanding grades in math, which naturally led me to consider how to connect my passion for math to my future career. At first, I thought grades in subjects like Korean or English would be more helpful for my career, but as my interest in math deepened, I concluded that it would be more effective to develop my talent in that field.
Once I realized that math plays a central role in various fields, I decided to shape a future grounded in mathematics. To this end, I categorized the principles of fields where mathematics is applied—such as engineering, computer science, information and communications technology, and finance—and devised a study plan that allowed me to delve deeply into each area.
While maintaining my grades, I focused on thoroughly mastering fundamental concepts to enhance my mathematical ability, and built upon that foundation by continuously solving challenging problems and keeping a notebook of my mistakes to develop problem-solving strategies. By maintaining a study attitude faithful to the fundamentals and systematically organizing problem types, I enhanced my ability to perform under real-world conditions. Based on the skills and achievements I’ve built up in this way, I hope to achieve deeper academic growth in the Department of Applied Mathematics at Kumoh National Institute of Technology.

Description of Major School Activities and Reflections

In high school, I joined the Financial Investment Club, where I participated in simulated stock investing, economic debates, and research paper writing and presentations. Through simulated stock trading, I gained firsthand experience with profits and losses and learned how to interpret financial trends, realizing that I needed to develop my ability to analyze economic trends and companies.
As I continued discussions while reading economic theories and related books, I discovered that the mathematical principles used in finance are more deeply interconnected than I had imagined, and I gained indirect experience with the practical application of mathematics in the industrial field. After acquiring basic knowledge of stock trading and learning how to read financial statements and income statements, I developed my own investment strategy based on advice from my professors and upperclassmen.
I built a portfolio centered on stocks in the automotive industry, researching key issues facing related companies as well as factors driving price declines and increases; thanks to this meticulous research, I was able to achieve relatively good results. Through this process of conducting my own research and putting my strategies into action, I systematized my investment approach, and this experience helped me develop my own analytical methods and decision-making criteria.
In the school’s economics reading and debate competition, I performed exceptionally well by drawing on the experience gained through club activities and the knowledge from my reading. My hands-on experience with investing and strategy formulation allowed me to bridge the gap between theory and practice in my explanations, which served as the foundation for demonstrating expert understanding during the debate.
I also developed the ability to persuade an audience by presenting my own perspective on economic trends and discussing related values. As a result, I won the competition and gained recognition on campus for my expertise in economics and investment. These experiences made me realize the importance of presentation skills and logical reasoning, and they motivated me to continue developing my ability to apply mathematical analysis in the fields of economics and finance after entering my major.

Examples of Compassion, Sharing, and Collaboration, and My Reflections

During my sophomore year, as a senior in a club, I was responsible for training new members and took on the role of mentoring them. Rather than simply imparting knowledge, I personally planned the educational goals and curriculum, structuring them so that the new members could easily understand the material.
When disagreements arose among club members during the curriculum development process, I first had everyone document and share their thoughts in writing. I believed that relying solely on verbal discussions could lead to misunderstandings. By clearly understanding each other’s intentions based on these written opinions, we were able to efficiently combine our ideas to create a final plan, which resulted in a more effective educational experience.
Teaching younger students was also deeply rewarding. Furthermore, the cross-year reading discussions blurred the lines between seniors and juniors and provided opportunities to freely exchange ideas among people with shared interests. Through this process, I learned to move beyond an attitude of clinging solely to my own perspective, to accept different opinions, and to broaden my horizons.

Efforts and Preparation Related to Motivation for Application and Career Plans

Based on my mathematical achievements and interest, I chose the Department of Applied Mathematics while searching for a field of study that offered broader practical applications. Applied Mathematics aligns well with my career goals, as it is a discipline that applies mathematical principles to solve problems across various industries, including finance.
In the Department of Applied Mathematics, I plan to study the mathematics applied to finance and economics in depth and, during my undergraduate years, develop my data analysis and financial modeling skills through relevant courses and projects. Furthermore, drawing on my experience writing articles that bridge mathematics and economics—which were published on the university website—I would like to continue engaging in activities that help students understand the practical value of mathematics.
My goal is to develop the ability to apply mathematical knowledge in real-world contexts through the educational and research opportunities provided by Kumoh National Institute of Technology, and to grow into a professional who designs and applies mathematical models in the financial industry or the field of data analysis.