The COVID Undergraduate's Efforts to Bring back Campus Spirit
COVID undergraduates, who never experienced in-person events during the pandemic, are now leading such events. They have pledged to do their best to ensure freshmen enjoy their university life to the fullest.
The campus events which had been scaled down due to the global spread of COVID-19 since December 2019 have finally regained their vitality in 2024. Freshmen are enjoying various events in departments and colleges, gradually adapting to Pusan National University. The students who lead freshmen are the “COVID undergraduates.”
The neologism “COVID undergraduate” refers to students of the 20th, 21st, and 22nd admission years who were unable to fully enjoy various offline events at the university due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They seem to have experienced difficulties in preparing for events such as freshman welcome ceremonies, inauguration ceremonies, club activities, and retreats, which they had not experienced. In March, “Channel PNU” interviewed executive members of student councils leading departmental and college events and asked for their thoughts.
■Challenges in realizing what they haven’t tried
“COVID undergraduates” who were preparing for events said that planning events was a challenge due to their lack of experience. This was because everything during their first semester was conducted entirely “online” three or four years ago. Chu Kyung-Ju (Dept. of Media and Communication, 20), the president of the Department of Media and Communication Student Council, said, “To be honest, I can’t understand in what way the new student learning program, freshman welcome ceremony, and orientation were different until I became the president. Because I didn’t experience these events as a freshman and they had been suspended for several years and were reactivated this year, it was difficult to set the direction for events without recent databases.”
They also mentioned that they had to discuss specific details from the beginning to manage the events. Kim Da-Hye (Dept. of Political Science and Diplomacy, 22), vice president of the College of Social Sciences Student Council, said, “For the new student learning program, it was difficult for inexperienced executive members to handle details such as how much alcohol should be allowed and when they should impose sanctions. We had to gather the staff on the day of the event to discuss these details.” The same was true for club activities. Jung Sang-Hoon (Dept. of Atmospheric Sciences, 20), president of the central club UCDC, said, “The club’s recruitment was difficult because we didn’t know how to decorate the booth and promote it, when and how to recruit new members, and how many to recruit.”
The student council executives also expressed regret that if they had more experience, they could have created even better events. Kim Do-Eon (Dept. of Business Administration, 20), president of the College of Business, said, “The biggest difficulty I felt in preparing for events is that I lack the most valuable component, “experience.” Every time we organize an event, we try our best to create enjoyable and memorable experiences for students. However, since I don’t have experience, there were limitations to my imagination.” He continued, “I often think that if I had experienced events like New Student Learning Space or Orientation during my freshman year, I might have come up with more creative ideas based on my experience.”
■Creating Good Memories
The current “COVID undergraduate” students leading the student council also seek advice from seniors who organized events before the COVID-19 pandemic. Jang Seung-Chan, president of the School of Global Studies Student Council, who entered the university in 2020 when COVID-19 broke out, said, “I was able to learn operating methods and other things from the previous student council president.” Cho Seok-Hoon (Dept. of Bio-Industrial Machinery Engineering, 20), president of the College of Natural Resources and Life Science Student Council, also explained, “I sought advice from senior students around me and worked with the student council members to complete the project.”
The “COVID undergraduates” said they are trying to create good memories for their juniors during their university life. President Jang Seung-Chan said, “We put a lot of effort into reaching the level of events that were smoothly held until 2019.” President Chu Kyung-Ju also said, “We joke “I envy the students who enter the university in 2024 because they can participate in all events and frequently hold gatherings.” I will do my best to make freshman life more meaningful than anyone else.” Jung Se-Young (Dept. of Organic Material Science and Engineering, 20), president of the central club “Pulnaeeum,” also expressed, "Freshmen can realize 100% of their dreamed university life, so I hope they try without regrets and hesitation.”
Reporter Yoon Seo-Young
Translated by Ha Chae-Won