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Studying that is boring for someone is a lifelong longing for someone. Elderly people who could not continue learning due to difficult family circumstances entered high school belatedly, learned Korean and English, studied physics and chemistry, and published a book of poetry together. The recently published (published by Humanist) is a collection of poems written by 113 first-year students at Kyungbok High School’s Affiliated Broadcasting Correspondence High School. Most of the poems written by late students from their 60s and 70s to as many as their 90s vividly capture the moments of sadness and beauty that have been brought up in a difficult life. The pathetic feelings for her mother who worked as a street vendor all her life, the story of her rolling on a hill after carrying dumplings on her bicycle and going out to sell, and the sad memories of the customers who ran away after eating only rice when she was working at a restaurant are drawn like a watercolor painting. On the 11th, I met five of the authors and their guidance teacher on the campus of Gyeongbok High School, Jahamun-ro, Seoul, and heard about the background of publishing the book and the story of Manhakdo’s life.

113 late-entrant students in their 60s to 90s
At the recommendation of a Korean language teacher, he published his first collection of poems, ‘One Hundred Words of Thank You’, ‘Expressing the Joys and Sorrows of Life’, a study for a year. “I am just thankful for my belated school life”

Royalties Donated to the Korean National Commission for UNESCO

Provided by Humanist

During the first Korean class in March of last year, teacher Choi In-yeong (54, Seoul National University Buyeo Middle School) started class by reading ‘Visitors’ by poet Jeong Hyeon-jong. “For people to come / Actually, it is a tremendous thing. /For he /comes with /his past, /present, /and /his future. /Because a person’s life comes. /Fragile/That’s why /the broken heart comes.” After reading this far, I started to hear sniffles here and there. Teacher Choi found it difficult to read the following passage. “I made a promise then. I have to study really hard.” Not a single student fell asleep and went to class with their eyes shining. At the beginning of the second semester, when I suggested to the students that they write poetry together and publish a poetry book, most of the students shook their heads, saying, “It is impossible.” To those students, teacher Choi taught them how to use everything in their lives as a source of writing, and she gave “stormy” praise to the students’ poems that hesitatingly put forward in fear of being scolded. Then, she started to write several episodes at a time. Each of the students, who chose the one they liked the most, exchanged feedback with the tutor, cut and polished it several times, and presented their ‘first work’ to the world. Ko Ji-hwan (70) said, “I tilted my head to see what the teacher praised my poetry for, but later I realized that my heart was still reflected in my poetry.” In fact, 113 poems contain the joys and sorrows of life. Lee Do-hwan (69) said, “When I showed my husband a eunuch, he shed tears as he remembered the difficult days of the past.” Park Gyeong-ok (67) said, “Reading other people’s poems gave me an opportunity to reflect on my life, saying that I wasn’t the only one who lived such a difficult life.” All five of them jumped into the front line of livelihood after graduating from elementary school as children, and after graduating from broadcasting and communication middle school in their mid-60s, they entered high school right away. Although he was 50 years later than others, the joy cannot be expressed in words. They study hard in national, English, and capital cities, jump rope or play with rubber bands during physical education class, have picnics in spring, and sports competitions in fall. I choose and participate in about 20 club activities, raise my hand as class president and vice president, and run for student council elections. Lee Do-hwan said, “Since I did everything I wanted to do in those days, I get excited from the morning on the day I go to school. School life is the vitality and driving force of my life.” Park Kyung-ok especially cannot forget her school uniform experience. He said, “I was so envious of the school uniforms hanging on the laundry line when I was young that I secretly tried on my younger sister’s uniform.” I get thirsty just thinking about it,” he said. Best of all, you will receive the ‘diploma’ you’ve only dreamed of. Lee Soon-suk (66) said, “I had to submit documents a while ago, so I wrote ‘middle school graduation’ in the academic background. How nice it is. Two years later, I can write ‘high school graduation’, so I’m excited just thinking about it.” I recommend it a lot about how good it is to attend.” Choi Jae-seo (72) said, “I don’t know if there are people who haven’t been through it, but it was really difficult to ask ‘Where did you go to school?’ in my social life, but now I can say it confidently, so it’s nice.” Park Kyung-ok said, “I came to school to try to make the bag straps longer because the bag straps were short, but I realized that the contents of the bag are more important than the bag strap.” “It was people, not knowledge.” At that, everyone nodded and said in unison that the greatest pride was being able to make good friends here at once. Mr. Choi Jae-seo said, “Since there is a consensus among the students, the speed of understanding each other is very fast and the trust in each other is deep.” Mr. Koh Ji-hwan said, “I am so moved that my heart is pounding when I sing ‘Teacher’ for the first time in 50 years since I entered middle school. It is indescribably moving to have a class reunion with so many friends through studying as well as the teacher who teaches me.” said. All five of them have dreams of going to college. Park Kyung-ok is studying Korean literature and is trying to carry on her dream of becoming a debutant. Lee Soon-sook majored in art and she dreams of a second life as an art therapist. Ko Ji-hwan said, “Originally, I didn’t intend to go to college, but after studying, I came up with the goal of majoring in landscape architecture.” ” he laughed. Teacher Choi In-young, who was in charge of her guidance, also said, “She only went to elementary school, so she volunteered to be a Korean language teacher because of her mother, who had a great longing for her lifelong study.” Regarding the reason why the book of poems is titled ‘A Hundred Words of Thank You,’ he explained, “Most of the students belatedly said thank you so much for being able to attend school, so I gathered their hearts together and put it in the title.” In fact, throughout the interview, the five Manhak students endlessly expressed their gratitude to the school, classmates, and teachers, saying, “Now is the happiest time in their lives.” The royalties from the collection will be donated to the Korean National Commission for UNESCO. Ari Kim, guest reporter ari@hani.co.kr