It’s the third time I’ve slept at 4 a.m. this week, and it’s only Tuesday. This is the reality of November for most KAIST students. As we inch towards the end of the semester, most days are like fighting the Hydra — finish one homework, and two more appear in its place. The cycle of projects, presentations, and lab reports spawn a monster I feel I can never beat. Sometimes, I even question what exactly it is I’m fighting for. I spend most of my time and energy on homework and lab reports that, let’s be honest, I will not remember in a couple of years. I cannot help but feel guilty for the insignificance of my daily worries, when there are so many more pressing issues going on around the world.
In the Philippines, consecutive typhoons brought widespread damage and displacement in the past two weeks alone. Entire cities have been submerged in floods, with countless families trapped on the roofs of their homes awaiting rescue. Evacuation and rescue missions are ongoing, but with the lack of resources as well as difficulties from the pandemic, many people are stuck with uncertainty. For students in the country, online learning has become even harder because of failing internet connections and power outages. Amidst these crises, the Filipino people are once again reminded to be resilient — which, due to the national government’s incompetence, is a euphemism for having no one but yourself to rely on. Seeing the news about my home country facing all these difficulties fills me with a restlessness to actually do something to help, and subsequent frustration that there is not much I can do beyond trying to spread awareness through my writing.
It is on these occasions that the pen feels more like a leaden weight than the proverbial sword it is meant to serve as. I’ve restarted this letter countless times, looking for the right words and the correct syntax to articulate the conflicting emotions in myself this month. Reading and editing the articles in this paper can make it harder to find my own voice, but at the same time motivates and challenges me to see the bigger picture.
In this issue of The KAIST Herald, we reflect on the broader shortcomings and injustices in society. In KAIST, students are burdened with the over-placed value on academic fairness and the cookie-cutter grading system. In social networking sites, the unforgiving cancel culture and the deliberate spread of misinformation paint the picture of a growing toxic online culture that is negatively influencing real communities. But although the world undoubtedly faces a lot of challenges, in these pages we also see stories of hope. Two KAIST teams won in the Global Cybathlon — taking them a step further to developing a technology that can help people with paralysis, and volunteer teachers from KI House have shared inspiring stories of using language to make an impact on the lives of international students. On a wider scale, Biden’s win in the US election is a step towards stability in global leadership. And in this month’s Feature, we have highlighted progress towards gender equality in STEM, as well as looking forwards to future improvements.
The next time the overwhelming bleakness of ongoing world events threatens to defeat me in the hazy sleepless hours between night and morning, I will try to remember these small stories of hope. Each of these stories began with the thoughts and words of individuals, and each of us has the potential to make a difference. Hopefully, one day I can look back at this letter as the starting point for my own small story of hope.
Jaymee Palma
Editor-in-Chief