If you’re a freshman at KAIST, then you’ve signed yourself up for a hell of a ride. Your bumpy road towards graduation will have lots of ups and downs, laughs and tears. But hey, you’re young, you might as well enjoy college while you’re at it and gain the most out of the next four years ahead of you. In this “guide”, I will give you my humble opinion on how you can make your journey to an undergraduate degree fun and efficient.

Starting from freshman year, let’s be honest, nobody really “needs” to study too hard during their first couple of semesters. Freshman courses are a lot more forgiving than major courses, thanks to the S/U and P/NR systems. Don’t be too harsh on yourself during your first year With a relatively light academic workload, you'll find yourself having a reasonable amount of free time. A good way to spend this time is by joining a club.You don’t need to be super passionate about what the club does; your priority should be sticking to a group of people, because only from others will you learn a lot and get emotional support when you need it later. Also, make sure to buy yourself a bicycle and get out of the campus often, as it is always a good idea to get familiar with and know your way around the city. It’s also important to point out that language is something you would benefit from learning earlier on when you have the time. Especially for international students, you should get serious about learning basic Korean during your first few months in Korea. Taking the Korean language camp during the winter break might help kick-start your learning journey, but you should take the initiative to learn beyond what the camp will teach you. I would highly advise you to pass TOPIK early in your undergraduate years, because taking the exam in your senior year would not be the best way to spend your time.

Your second year is when you decide on your major. It would be wise to ask senior students for guidance before making your decision. If you genuinely have a passion for a particular subject, major in that. However, a lot of students are not necessarily passionate enough about any particular major. If you consider yourself as one of these students, I personally think computer science is a pretty safe choice. Alongside your studies, it would be good to start conditioning yourself to a work-study regime and making some money. There are plenty of opportunities on campus to fund your undergraduate life, and with enough effort, you might start making well over what you spend. With that money you saved up, consider traveling abroad during the break while you’re still a sophomore with a lot of free time. Experience life before the grind starts! Southeast Asian countries are relatively close to Korea and are more affordable, so I’d start from there. If a couple of weeks is not enough for you, go for an exchange program, but to somewhere culturally different from Korea like the US, Canada, or Europe. Avoid cooping yourself up in your dorm; instead, start exploring different places, and you’ll keep growing spiritually.

Throughout your college life, there should always be a balance between work and play; however, your third year should be the year of grind. Join a lab, get an industry job, take more credits — do all of that. This will toughen you up and help you enter the last year with more confidence when you need it most. Despite the risk of burning out, I find that everyone should go through that experience at least once during their undergraduate years to get a taste of how tough it can actually get. 

The fourth year is the scariest period. At this point, you’re essentially qualified and ready to contribute to society in your field. There are two paths — industry and academia; both require preparation, so get ready to start applying to jobs or graduate schools in the beginning of your last year of undergraduate studies. Your fourth year will likely be a turning point in your life, and you will be tested on what you learned and what kind of person you’ve become over the past three years.

I hope this guide has cleared up some of your concerns. Generally speaking, if you work hard enough to grow considerably while enjoying your time here, you should be fine. At the end of it all, life puts us on different paths, and we should teach ourselves how to get the most out of any stage of our lives. Do not waste your time. Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it.