The new semester has started. There are newcomers who are dreaming of romance and the freedom of college students, a life that is different from that of high school students. In addition, they will ask for advice from college seniors and professors about activities to do and how to decide on their careers in the future. The Pharos would like to introduce some foreign TV shows so that these students can have more diversified views. Characteristically, in TV shows and movies, you can easily see what the lives of people in other countries are like. Then let's see how students in foreign TV programs spend their school days, what kinds of club activities they do and what their lifestyles are like. After that, we will find out how their lives differ from Korean college students’ school lives.

1. Pretty Little Liars

Broadcasting period: from 2010.06.08

Cast: Troian Bellisario, Ashley Benson, Lucy Hale, Shay Mitchell, etc.

Four high school girls (Aria, Hannah, Emily, and Spencer) are separated after the disappearance of their best friend (Allison). A year after that happens, they are reunited as they begin to be threatened by an anonymous person called “A.” "A" threatens to expose their secrets and the girls try to fight back against this adversary. As shown in the title, the main characters deceive each other with small lies. It is a lot of fun to see how their small lies are magnified by the Butterfly Effect and how their friendships develop. “Pretty Little Liars” is currently in its seventh season, so you can see the main characters going through their high school days and college days, and even see their employment situations and various club activities. In addition, the frequently held parties seen in the episodes are the biggest difference from Korea. In Korea, it is hard to find a party with a comfortable atmosphere where we can meet with other alumni and people who we do not know well. It would be nice to have those parties, so we could meet more people and network.

2. How to Get Away with Murder

Broadcasting period: from 2014.09.25

Cast: Viola Davis, Alfred Enoch, Jack Falahee, Karla Souza, etc.

It is a thriller that tells the story of ambitious law students and their criminal defense professor as they become involved in a murder plot that will make a big difference in their lives. The professor in charge of the criminal law class deals with the actual ongoing events in the class. Excellent students in this class are given the opportunity to work together in the law office of the professor and even accompany the professor to crime scenes and court. Students compete fiercely with each other to get excellent grades even as the situation becomes progressively more urgent due to the murder plan. This highly competitive environment seems not much different from the one experienced by many Korean students.

3. GLEE

Broadcasting period: from 2009.05.19

Cast: Matthew Morrison, Lea Michele, Jane Lynch, Chris Colfer, etc.

"GLEE" is a TV show set in the musical "GLEE" club in McKinley High School. The plot of the drama is about the break up of the "GLEE" club, and then the recruitment of a new member. And through participation in various competitions, the "GLEE" club and the members of the club are shown growing up. There are various kinds of people in the U.S.A. because there are many more races living there than in our country. But our university has an exchange student system, so we can meet a greater variety of people than when we were in high school. In the drama, we can see people help and understand each other because they experience various problems through each other's differences. I think that I need to understand and respect other people, as there are more people come from diverse backgrounds than in middle and high school. Also, they practice for various performances at important contests each season. Therefore, we learn that we should try harder and plan better so we can achieve bigger goals.

4. Awkward

Broadcasting period: from 2011.07.19

Cast: Ashley Rickards, Beau Mirchoff, Brett Bavern, Molly Tarlow, etc.

"Awkward" is a TV show about the life of a student named Jenna, who seeks to become more self-confident. She, who considers herself a loser, receives an anonymous letter and is falsely accused of trying to commit suicide. But she doesn't care about other people's opinions and behaves confidently. So she finds happiness. In the TV show, she gets advice and cheers up when she gets help because there is a good counselor in the counseling room. The counselor helps people feel happier and more comfortable by treating them like a friend. Although there is no counseling room for counseling at our university, I recommended the Association of Counseling centers. You can solve problems with them. I hope you will enjoy your university life as a new student.

By watching some TV shows, we enjoyed a visual experience of various kinds of campus life and people's lifestyles. We discovered some different ways to solve various problems such as through methods of teaching and doing club activities. Of course, teaching methods and behaviors cannot be the same for like us as in foreign school life. However, we experienced various possibilities by watching the TV shows. So I hope you will imagine a year of experience and make a delightful college life filled with various events and memorable occasions.