"Time and tide wait for no man!" Recently, this proverb is in my thoughts more than ever. Regardless of whether I want to or not, I must finish my participation in The Dongguk Post.I recall when I was first counseled by a senior reporter as a freshman applicant for the Post. I asked: "I think my talent is limited for The Dongguk Post. Can I really become a reporter who is good at writing articles in English?" After being Editor-in-chief of the Post, I can confidently answer: "Anyone can be the Post reporter if he/she has hot eagerness. Because it will eventually make him/her the best."From the 319th issue to the 335th, I have participated in publishing a total 17 editions of the Post. The articles that I reported on are part of DU history and campus life.I can't deny that being a student reporter was my most meaningful role as a student. As a student reporter, I met various people from celebrities to the homeless as well as members of the DU community. And I realized how closely I examined and paid attention to all campus problems around campus over 3 years as a student reporter. It made me try to always keep hot eagerness.Now I'm retiring from my intense work at the Post. I hope the junior reporters perceive that they will be important as long as they speak out about social and campus problems. "The pen is mightier than the sword."
Here we have a glass. The glass is about half full. Someone has already filled the glass. We don't know for sure who this is. Sometimes we call this half-fulled galss hereditary. Or it's the education we received until now. It could also be called the opportunity of personal experience. Some will say it's the help we got from parents or a noble man or woman. Whatever it's called, half of our life's glass wasn't filled by us. It means that we have not determined half of our life.I think life is all about filling the rest of the glass to the brink. Some fill the glass with their own hands. Others wait for something to come along and fill it for them, as if their lives did not belong to them. But I believe the remaining half has to be filled through one's own sweat and toil.Which class do you belong to in your school life? Challenger? Or idle spectator? As you know, these days students tend to be idle spectators who do not want to passionately participate in their work. I was also involved in this idle group and did not do my best before I joined The Dongguk Post. When I joined three years ago, I asked my senior if it was possible for me to become a good reporter? My senior said that the challenging work of a reporter may not presently mean much. But you would realize your "breakthrough" when you finish your hard work.What he said was true because I made steady progress through persistent effort while my name and articles appeared in The Post and now I experienced "breakthrough" like Jonathan Livingston Seagull. I did not experience failure but a passionate mind to challenge.Now my official term at The Dongguk Post has come to an end. I am not sure how I influenced you with my articles for three years. However, I believe that they helped me live my dream confidently.Now it's really THE END. Through my experiences at The Post, I will succeed and tell my juniors that this experience was not a burden but a valuable opportunity to work to reach "breakthrough."
I started my Debut Essay with the following sentence; "I am sitting at my desk in The Dongguk Post." When I wrote my Debut Essay as a cub-reporter, it was an incredible thing for me to be a reporter. Now, I'm sitting at my desk again as International editor. All the many books, papers and pens on my desk suggest that I have stayed here for a long time.During the past three years, The Post served as the stimulus for my campus life. My reporter's life was a special experience because I was always concerned about social, international, cultural and campus issues. I used to ask myself a question about these issues: "Why?" I was interested in international issues, especially those of Third World countries which suffered from Globalization and Neoliberalism. I wrote articles about the Zapatista Army of National Liberation of Mexico, U'wa Tribe of Colombia and the internal war of Angola. I wanted to inform my readers about the situations and pains of inferior countries and peoples. And I thought that it was my duty as the International reporter.My reporter's life at the Dongguk Post has reached its last stage. Many memories were brought back to me in rapid succession. But I will tell my juniors about them with smile some other day. I want to round off my career by saying this: To my readers, there will always be The Dongguk Post because this magazine will be published by my juniors.