Koreans work harder than you pt. 4

The Korean version of the SAT is the craziest academic feat I've ever heard of. It's called the Soo Neun, and it IS the lives of all Koreans in the final year of high school. The soo neun is 8 hours long, and tests English, 'social studies', and absolutely everything in between.

This test is the make or break between a Korean who is professionally successful, mediocre, or stalled (assuming everything beyond the test goes well). Korea is not a place where you can drop out of high school, start your own business, and find success in your mid 20's - as several of my friends have done. The rigidity of the professional structure, and the overwhelming power of large conglomerates pretty much makes that option an impossibility.

And so the soo neun is life or death. How do students prepare for this most-olympian of exams? They study... A LOT! They study more than I've ever even imagined. As a high school senior in Korea, you are required to be at school from 9pm to 10pm. Period. No choice. Sports, extracurriculars, after school ice cream with friends... not an option. Plus, you must take a practice soo neun every weekend FOR THE ENTIRE YEAR leading up to the test.

"These poor kids. They must be in the peak of misery throughout this whole ordeal." That's what I thought when I first heard of the exam. Though, I later discovered that's hardly the case. I asked a group of young, female teachers about the test one night at a school dinner, and they had fond memories to share. Most of what they recalled were stories about spending a lot of time with their friends, away from their parents (which is a huge deal in Korea), all engaged in the same activity. It seemed as if their sense of solidarity trumped any realizations of how intense their task was.

A week later I was walking home late at night, when I spotted a large group of students walking my way. I soon saw that they were just part of a larger group leaving their school. I looked at my watch: 10pm. So I asked a group of boys, "are you leaving school?"

"Yes."
"Soo neun?" I asked.
"Ah ha ha, yes. Big test. Very deepeecurt."

But here's the catch: everyone seemed to be having a good time. Nobody looked like a zombie. I saw smiles, couples holding hands, girls giggling in groups, soccer balls careening to and fro, and boys playing grab ass in just the way I would have at that age. I was shocked. It made me recall my countenance after the SAT prep courses of yore... it was certainly nothing like theirs. I'm pretty sure the only thing on my mind was a massive sandwich and internet porn.