Week3 Paragraph Final Draft/KIM Juhee

Change is Needed

 

Have you ever fallen asleep during the whole class in your high school days? For me, I quite frequently did, because I couldn't sleep enough in those days. The same phenomenon is still taking place in many high schools, and I think it's time to change the tough school hour system. As we all may know, education is a very important social issue. Especially in Korea, where parents are so enthusiastic for their children's academic process, debates over the educational system have always been controversial. Many changes are being made to the current educational system, but it's not enough as long as the current school hour system is alive. Many Korean high school students are forced to stay at school for a long time to get a good grade in the university entrance exam. In my case, I had to study at school until midnight in my high school days. When I got back home and went to bed, it was almost like 1 or 2 in the morning. What's worse, I also had to get up early in the morning, around 6 a.m., because there was another class before the first regular class. It was so hard for me to follow the time table, and still I can see many high school students who are suffering from this system. The main problem of this system is that it is not likely to be effective, because it makes students tired and sleepy all day long. Being exhausted from lack of sleep, students keep sleeping in classes and may miss some important parts for their study. Also, it can be harmful to students' health. Not only do they lack sleep, but also they are not able to work out enough because they have to stay at school all day. When I was a senior in my high school, I weighed much more than I do now since I had eaten a lot and never worked out at all. Unfortunately the same thing still happens to many students, and their health just gets worse and worse. Another bad outcome of this system is that students hardly have their own free time. People tend to think that students, especially high school students, do not need a free time because they have to focus on studying. But I don't think so. Since they get a lot of stress from the school life, they really need time to relax and feel free. Therefore, the current time arrangement of Korean educational system is not effective at all. I think if schools could shorten the school hours, I'm sure that they would see much more students studying with passion and concentrations.

 

A Scary Confrontation With a Crow

 

Last winter, I experienced the most frightening moment in my life on the street of Sapporo, Japan. Walking down the street covered with snow, I got hungry. So I bought bread and ate it on the street. Suddenly, there appeared a huge crow in front of me, blocking my way. It actually was the biggest bird I had ever seen, which had huge wings and a long bill. Since I'm a person who has a serious phobia of birds, I quickly looked around to ask for help. But it was early in the morning so there was no one. I couldn't move or say a word at that moment. After a few seconds, it started to threaten me, making its body bigger and croaking loudly. I even thought it could kill me soon and nobody would notice it. Then, fortunately, I remembered that I was holding bread in my hand. "Maybe this bird just wants the bread. Let's throw the bread" I thought. But at the same time I thought, "what if it attacks me when I throw this? Should I run away?" All these thoughts occurred to me in just a few seconds, but it felt like hours for me. Even though the weather was freezing cold, I was sweating like it was summer. Finally I decided to give the bread to him and took a deep breath. Slowly, I picked the bread and threw it right in front of the crow. Fortunately, that seemed to be what it had wanted. He picked the bread with his bill immediately, and flew away. Still frightened, I couldn't move for a few minutes after it had gone. It was the scariest experience in my life and I don't eat something on the street anymore.