With the annual influx of talented freshmen into KAIST, difficulties in taking care of all the new students are inevitable. This is where Bandaehyup, which roughly translates to Class Representative Association (CRA) comes in. The role of the organization is to both represent and aid these newcomers. The KAIST Herald took a closer look at who they are and what they do.

Can you briefly introduce yourself?
Hello, my name is Joonhee Min and I am a sophomore. I am the chairman of KAIST’s seventh CRA, better known as Eoulrim (Harmony in Korean).

Could you explain more about Eoulrim?
Our main goals are representing the freshmen and making their transition into KAIST life as comfortable as possible. CRA has been operating since 2004 and the current committee is the seventh. Over the years, the specific roles we carry out vary slightly, but the overall purpose of working for the freshmen always acts as our founding principle

The reason why we are better known as Eoulrim among the students, rather than as CRA, is because we decided to become more approachable for the freshmen by adopting a less formal name. Eoulrim means bonding and friendship, and this is what we want to encourage the freshmen to be like. Also in accordance with our name, we want to be companions who aid and represent this year’s freshmen students.

The areas we have recently been in charge of for the freshmen were Seteo 2011 (a freshmen welcoming event organized by us) and HSS090, otherwise known as Happy College Life

How was Seteo this year? Were there any accomplishments or difficulties?
We started to plan for the 2011 Seteo since November of last year. In December, we picked two groups of committees consisting of KAIST undergraduate students, one for planning the events and the other for supervising the freshmen. We only had a total of fifty days to prepare the entire event, but with everyone working together we were able to hold a successful Seteo for the freshmen this January.

Two events that we incorporated into Seteo for the first time were handing out sweaters to everyone involved and holding a class project session. As members of each class wore the same type of sweater corresponding to their class, it was possible to achieve some unity and closeness between each individual. Also, due to the class project, the students in each class were able to interact with each other actively.

One thing that I regret is that if we had more time to prepare Seteo, the entire event could have been even more fun and useful for the freshmen.

Could you tell us more about the new HSS090 course?
HSS090, Happy College Life, is a new course which has replaced Freshman Seminar. It is held during both semesters of the first year at KAIST and it is a compulsory course. The main objectives of this course are to make adaptation to the KAIST environment as comfortable as possible for the freshmen, to allow members of each class to become more familiar with each other and to check on the students during the year to see how they are coping. Another important goal of this course is to allow students to take a break from the lectures, quizzes and tests to enjoy their university life.

The regular meetings are held fourteen times a semester and the irregular meetings are held seven times a semester. During the regular sessions, each class gets together with the professor in charge to have dinner together or do various activities such as build domino systems. The irregular meetings are mainly for special events such as sports competitions and dormitory parties.

What are Eoulrim's future plans?
Unlike the previous years, we are going to extend our period of responsibility to the end of this semester. This way we can make sure that all of the plans we are putting into effect gets carried out successfully without much trouble. After our period is over, we are plan on continuing helping our successors in making the transition of power as smooth as possible.

Is there anything you wish to say to the freshman students?
This year we are attempting numerous things that have never been incorporated in the freshmen program before. Therefore there will be times when we will not be as efficient as we should be. We would appreciate it if everyone would continue to be understanding and supportive of us in the future.

The program that we planned for the freshmen this semester is going to be really fun and exciting, so it is worth looking forward to!