The Spec War

This is what happened to me on the first day in Korea, in the academy that prepared you for college interviews.

Mr.? Ms.?Teacher: "Wow, you have a very nice spec!"

Me: "Oh.... Thanks... (what the $#!t is he saying?)"

I sank deep in thought and came to a conclusion:

'Ohhhhh...

You know, you ask what some electronic device's specs are when you want to know what kind of functions it is capable of.

I'm just a robot, aren't I?'

Except, my specs were not about what I am capable of, but about numbers.

Toefl scores, SAT scores, AP scores, SAT2's, highschool grades and such...
For worse, they degraded my passion for music and the valuable experience of being one of the leading role Eponine from the musical Les Miserables into some numbers.

I don't even know how they do it.

This is what spec means in Korea.

It's not for iPods and laptops, but for humans.

It's a "machinification" of humans, and makes them a product or a tool for colleges or companies to buy. It's your price tag.

Thanks to population increase followed by large numbers of job and college applications.

Because there are too many applicants, there is no way to meet
and know all of them in person.

So instead, we write down our specs in our resumes in order to "sell" ourselves.

Recently, there has also been many academies that help people
prepare and get into large companies.

Although it costs more than $1,000 a month, people go there anyway.

In fact, it's very popular, and you are the odd one if you're not attending the academy.

  

When college and companies tried reducing the
money spent on these academies by creating interviews as one of the evaluations, it has created a bigger problem. Academies for interviews sprouted all over the country, and people were going overseas for social services just to make their stories impressive for the interview.

Korean men are required to go to the army anywhere from 18~30 years old.

Men are willing to go to a harder division in the army even when they know that the harder it is, the more stress and work they have to do. They are doing this just to look good in the resume or interview.



Today, students start to get ready and attend academies in their freshmen year of college.

It's harder to see students studying their major subjects than to see them studying for their jobs.

Imagine what kind of hardships they will face when they get the jobs they want, but lack the knowledge for their work because they were too busy in college preparing for jobs, making better 'SPECS'

But companies do not want to use the students prepared for their job but not for the

work they must do, do they?

This is why great people who graduated in great colleges are jobless sometimes.

Preparing only for jobs are no different from growing only one wing. You can't fly with one wing.

People cannot rest assured anymore in this unstable society. Thus, they cannot dream.

They eventually lose their dreams.

This is the cold reality the young people are facing.

But I hope that they can take this hardship as an advantage to make themselves and thier dreams stronger.



"No risk, no success."

To twenties!



"Bring it on!!!"

Try listening to:

Price Tag

by

Jessie J