GSIT, Here and Beyond

 

 

I will never forget the day I had the final interview for the HUFS Graduate School of Interpretation and Translation (GSIT) entrance exam. It was a sunny Sunday, on which I woke up very early, already nervous. Waking up in the morning with thousands of thoughts in my mind surely does not characterize an ideal picture of a Sunday. Still, I was also excited. A few hours later, I was waiting in a big hall inside the GSIT building with other applicants, all of whom I was competing against, without knowing when my turn will come. I grew more and more anxious as I sat frigidly in a chair. Soon my name was called, and I went in to a room for my interview. I spent about 15 minutes answering questions and interpreting texts, from English into Korean and Korean into English. In certain parts I got stuck in the middle of a sentence, but I think I dealt with them fairly well without looking too nervous. 

 

As I stepped outside the room after the interview, I was glad by the simple fact that everything was over. Was I satisfied with my performance in the interview? Not really. Then, did I want to go back in and redo the whole process again? No. I was glad that it is over, and I did not want to think about it again. Nevertheless, I want to say that it was one of the most unforgettable moments of my life, not only because I ultimately got the admission to the school and led me to a new path in life, but also because going to the graduate school reminded me of certain things that I have forgotten while studying merely to get into the school. Of course, getting into the school is the primary goal when preparing for the entrance exam, but one should think about what will come after that.

 

But first, let me talk about the preparation period, for it is the first part that anyone needs to get through to be a student at the GSIT. During the preparation, the undergraduate department of EIT, or English Interpretation and Translation, played a major role. It helped me both academically and mentally; without the experience I have gained from being an EIT student, I would not have made it. Before anything, I would like to point out that there are no secrets or know-how’s in preparing for the entrance exam. In my opinion, in exams that require not just the knowledge but specific skills, “secrets” do not work. You need to have knowledge and skills that come from accumulated experience and a deep interest in the field. What everyone normally knows and does to prepare for the exam—keeping up with current events, practicing interpreting with a study group, learning useful expressions in Korean and English—is all there is. The crucial factor is the level of your sincerity and engagement in doing the above.

 

The reason why I said I would not have made it without my experience from being an EIT student is because I made a rather belated decision to apply to the GSIT. In the two years that I spent as an EIT major, since I transferred to the school in my junior year, I wasn’t much interested in further studying interpretation and translation after graduation. I genuinely liked and enjoyed what I was doing and learning in the classes, but going to the GSIT seemed too much for me at the time. So in my senior year, after a million thoughts about my future, I was planning to enter the job market like many other college seniors, writing many versions of my resume and statement of purpose to apply to different companies. However, in the second semester of my senior year, I said I would give it a try to go to the GSIT at the encouragement of a professor and the support from my family and friends. Although it was a difficult decision to completely change the direction from getting a job to studying for the graduate school entrance exam, I did not lose my focus.  

 

If I were to start everything from scratch, I would have been incredibly hard. Fortunately, I had the past experience as my weapon. In retrospect, the two years at the EIT department were a systematic process of preparation for the entrance exam. I had studied and dealt with hundreds of texts from newspaper articles to speeches to business documents, and it was as if I had two years of “brainstorming” for the exam. Yet more than anything, the EIT course designed to prepare students for the entrance exam was particularly helpful. In that class, we covered general topics such as politics, economics and environment, and familiarized ourselves with essential vocabulary as well. When practicing interpreting, we listened to a talk or speech and interpreted relying on our memory instead of taking notes, just like the exam. After each person finished his or her interpretation, others were given a chance to offer constructive criticism, in addition to positive comments, to the student.

 

As the day approached for the exam, the course became more directly organized to prepare us for it. In any type of exam or interview, the biggest enemy for applicants is nervousness. Yes, fundamental skills are important, but even if the skills are strong, nervousness could affect the overall performance level. In order to be ready for anything unexpected that might make us uptight, we practiced interpreting under different circumstances. To get ourselves more accustomed to high-pressure environment, each person, when interpreting, sat in a chair in front of the room facing the rest of the class. One day, there would be a desk in front of the chair, and the next day, the desk would be removed, leaving no defense mechanism for us. The class was also conducted in different classrooms around the campus, with different people reading scripts for the interpretation. This way, everyone was able to get accustomed to different accents, volumes, or speeds in a speech. Studying can be done by oneself or with a few friends, but things like these cannot be done without a help from a class. And thanks to this class, I was able to relax and not get frustrated in the exam, although I did make a mistake and forget some parts in the middle.

 

I am now two months into the master’s program at the GSIT. During these two months, I have come to realize something paramount in life that I have forgotten while preparing for the entrance exam. The question I constantly need to ask myself is “why”; why am I here and why should I be here? Which part of my life does the GSIT occupy? It is easy to forget the initial motivations that have made us follow a certain path in life. We get so caught up with merely performing well and getting in to the school that these important questions become secondary. However, identifying the purpose and reminding oneself of the importance of keeping the purpose all along the way would be helpful in staying focused. Otherwise, even after getting into the school, it will be easy to get swept up and overwhelmed by the demands of the program without a clear understanding of the purpose.  

 

In terms of my experience at the GSIT up to this point, it is so far so good. And I am delightfully looking forward to the days ahead while trying to keep in mind why I am here.