Thinking about leaving KAIST is the best and worst at the same time. I’ve joked about being desperate to escape this school for so long that now it’s almost a reality, it hardly seems real. I’m finally going to graduate, move on to studying something I actually enjoy; perhaps even grow up and become a real adult, whatever that means. But it also means I have to leave behind the life — the friends — that I have made over the past four (and more) years, the parts of this university that have defined me. 

Of all the influences upon me and decisions I have made, joining Herald has been the most consequential. I’ve learned to write both from my heart and to a deadline; I’ve found the things I care about and the confidence to say my piece. And I’ve built friendships that at first seemed so incidental, but that I now don’t know how to live without. This newspaper and the people it has comprised are the most important, most cherished part of my life. How do I find the words to say goodbye?

I’ve long thought about what my final article should contain, how I would round off this part of myself. What could I possibly discuss that would be worthy of being the last? In this, my valediction, no single topic seems to encompass enough of my emotion. There’s so much I still want to say, great reams of words in my mind that haven’t yet been organized into neat rows on the page. In the paragraphs of mine that have been published so far, I’ve always been so particular and painstaking about every word choice, hashing out the phrasing until I’m satisfied that people will appreciate my effort and find me to be an accomplished writer. In doing so, I think I’ve stifled some of the thoughts I wanted to express — or perhaps just now in losing the opportunity to do so, I am more confident in them. But this won’t be the last time I write; I won’t let it be. So I’ve chosen something not from now, at the end of this chapter, but from the middle.

I wrote this poem two years ago, back when I was Editor-in-Chief, probably one late night when the combination of physics homework and unwritten articles was driving me insane. I never had the confidence to publish it at the time, too concerned about how people would judge my writing or that they would find my rhymes immature. But I’ve realized that it mostly doesn’t matter if my ramblings hold deep meaning or are in carefully constructed verse. I’m just happy to write them; maybe, in this case, I can simply put a smile on your face. Though it may be cheesy, or childish, or all the things I spent four years trying to make my writing not, this poem is fundamentally my own. It’s a snapshot of my experience of KAIST, of my voice, of my life. I’ll dedicate it to all of us, in honor of everything that remains to be written.

Oh! The Trials of KAIST

By Ada Carpenter

KAIST conversations begin in this way:
“When’s your next homework deadline, is it today?”
If your friend replies “now”, it’s probably clear
that they’re not so much fine, an all-nighter’s near

This treadmill of work
It really seems never-ending
Hard to feel any perk
When your time limit’s impending

I’m sure you know well of the stresses I speak
For you probably have a due date happening this very week
Perhaps you are worried about how you will do it
But I’ll let you in on a secret, to help you push through it

You can help out your friends, 
and they can help you out too.
For there’s nothing better than friendship
Now that’s really true!

If you’re feeling tired of this burdensome, difficult school,
you’re not a lonesome exception; in fact, it’s the rule.
Tell your friends of your troubles, for they have troubles to tell;
They probably are feeling the same way as well

When you’ve got yourself into a terrible flump
A friend can help you to get over the hump
Though they might not understand your particular task
If you need a hand feeling better, then you should just ask!

Because surviving KAIST itself is a marvellous feat 
and to stay on your feet is no easy test
Don’t worry about what it seems others can meet
If you’re trying your hardest, your personal best

Do what you can do — so that you can feel proud
Tell your friends you support them; laugh and shout it out loud!
Though we have deadlines to meet, and problems to solve
Together we push through it, we grow, we evolve

If KAIST is getting you down, you don’t want to get out of bed
Remember this thing old Dr. Seuss once said
When you’re feeling sad, feeling stressed, feeling blue,
Just think: “There is no-one alive who is you-er than you.”