There is a Community Service Center in our school. They manage not only volunteer work on campus, but also support the local community, a faculty volunteer group, and the overseas volunteer corps of Jin-SungAe, which dispatches students abroad every vacation. However, quite a few students are still not aware of it's existence. Therefore, the Pharos met Lee Pil-beom, head of the Student Support Team, who is in charge of the Community Service Center, to find out what the center does

Please introduce yourself.

Hello, I’m Lee Pil-beom. I’m in charge of the Community Service Center and the head of the Department of Newspapers and Broadcasting in Kyonggi University.

What does this organization do?

The Community Service Center is one of several departments under the Student Support Team. Besides curriculum learning, research, and education, which are common tasks of universities, this organization was created to support extracurriculum learning such as social participation by universities, social responsibilities, and the community service of university students. In other words, the center was established to encourage the university to serve and band together with the community. The main tasks we are doing are community service, opening and managing volunteer subjects and social service scholarships, and hosting overseas volunteer work.

What is the criteria for selecting the overseas volunteer corps?

Overseas volunteer groups change every year, but the selection criteria are almost always the same. First of all, we try to determine the concept of the overseas volunteer corps, whether it is educational service or more hands-on service, and select students who fit the purpose well. For example, if the purpose of the program is to build a house, there will be less education service involved and more hands-on labor required. Most of the overseas volunteer corps projects have a high competition rate, so we consider the candidate’s performance of volunteer work in the school, not grades or anything else. We usually select people who have a lot of volunteer work experience, and also consider the ratio of students between the Seoul and Suwon campuses and the ratios between genders, grades and so on.

Please introduce the volunteer course.

The volunteer course is a two-credit course and a pass/non-pass subject. If you apply for the class, make sure you understand that you will be taking a general education course. After that, the individual must volunteer for more than 40 hours. If a student does volunteer work at a service center, the agency enters the time of service into a portal site called 1365 or VMS. 1365 is controlled by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and VMS is managed by the Ministry of Health and Welfare. Then you should upload the certificate directly to the school’s system. The Community Service Center will check whether it is real through the unique number of the certificate or correct the student’s mistake. If you volunteer for more than 40 hours, you will be qualified to pass. Finally, you should submit your comments and then you will be recognized as having met the requirements for a grade. Moreover, for half of the service time, students will automatically be awarded KGU+ points. In consequence, you can get credits and also KGU+ points if you volunteer for more than 40 hours.

Please say something to the students of Kyonggi University.

In my opinion, volunteering should be a pleasurable, daily life activity, not a special activity. I think volunteer work should be a part of college life like club activities, and I hope this culture will be established. Solidarity should be an integral part of our lives like work, love, and play. Moreover, I hope that many students will think about solidarity with their classmates, community, and the world, and find pleasure and meaning in it.

In order to deliver realistic information about the Jin-Sung-Ae Overseas Volunteer Group, which is considered the biggest program managed by the Community Service Center, we interviewed a student with experience in overseas volunteer work.

Please introduce yourself.

I am Kim Do-hyun, a senior majoring in the Department of Security Management in the College of Arts and Sports at Kyonggi University.

Why did you apply for overseas volunteer work?

In 2016, when I was a sophomore, I joined the student council of the physical education college. The Colleges of Arts and Physical Education combined to apply for admitance to the Jin-Sung-Ae Overseas Volunteer Group, and after passing various tests, we were accepted.

What kinds of activities did you do in your overseas volunteer work?

We started with activities such as name tag making in Korean, drawing the Taegeukgi and simple Korean language education. Then since we were from an art college or a physical education college, we prepared activities such as face painting, origami, fan, paper cup doll, and soap making, and coloring bags. We also taught basic hygiene education, taekwondo training, and folk games. Since the fence at the school that we went to was very old and broken, we volunteered to reinstall the fence ourselves.

What did you feel when you were in the overseas volunteer group?

In fact, I had no idea about volunteering abroad at first. I didn’t know the country of Cambodia, and I didn’t even know what the environment was like, but I thought it would be fun to go there. However, I think I went and learned more than I gave them. I was ashamed of myself for always grumbling, complaining and laughing at the children’s innocence. In terms of volunteer work, I was rewarded because the kids followed and enjoyed the programs that I had prepared for them. I also realized that people can make others happy in this way. It’s been 4 years since I came back from the volunteer work, but it remains in my heart as one of my unforgettable memories. I still remember those times vividly, and I want to meet them again.

The interviews show what the Community Service Center at Kyonggi University does and how it is managed. The Pharos hopes that students interested in volunteering can donate their talents freely through Community Service Center.

Management Editor•CHOI SOYEON•clara3003@naver.com

74th Cub Reporter•KIM GANGTAEK•rkdxor753@naver.com