Saturday, April 11, 2009

두려움을 버려라

It may seem like it is all fun and no work. The truth is there is actually enough homework to make me stay back in dormitory over the weekend. Earlier, I completed making 16 sentences for 4 different grammars and had them submitted. I have another 3 outstanding homework. A 600-word essay to be handed in by Monday. A project proposal to be handed in at the same time. Finally, I have to prepare and submit my arguments for next Friday debate by Thursday. I will be arguing for the motion to reveal the photograph of sexual criminals. I don't expect the motion to be hotly debated because all my classmates are quite mild and gentle people. Although the topic is quite controversial, we will probably joke more than debate.

On top of the extra homework I was given, I have to prepare for my daily lesson a day before. It is quite tough following my daily lessons if I do not first check out the meaning of all the difficult words. Also, twice a week after class, I have to give my Vietnamese classmate English tuition. I find it hard to reject her request for help because she is quite serious about improving her English. Just to show the amount of hardwork she put in, she attends English lesson in the morning from 7-8am at an English tuition centre and then make her way to class by 9am. Every alternate afternoon, she has to work part-time. From my encounter so far, I am quite impressed by the diligence and learning attitude of Vietnamese students. Vietnam definitely has a bright future because of its hardworking people.

When there are so many works to do, there is always this fear in me of whether I can carry them out well. My professor told us that for us to learn to like writing in Korean, we have to first abandon our fear for it and that set me thinking about fear itself.

Fear is an innate survival instinct. In the face of danger or whenever we sense that our well-being may be compromised, the brain will stimulate the release of adrenaline within split second. Adrenaline, a hormone, has the function of making the heart pumps harder and provide the "power surge" necessary for us to either fight or flight. It may sound counter-intuitive that fear can be felt even though our life is not in any way threatened. However, I have rationalised that nature works on the logic of erring on the safe side. At the slightest sense of discomfort, the fear mechanism will set in and prepare the body to protect itself against any surprises.

I understood what my professor is trying to say but realistically speaking, fear cannot be abandoned because it is involuntary. We cannot control it to even abandon it. However, between the choice of fight and flight, I shall always choose to fight. 파이팅이라는 말을 어기에 쓰면 정말 어울린 듯 싶어. 항상 두려움에 맞을 때 무조건 파이팅 해야지! 항상~

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