No time to relax
In Korea, most international students study abroad on their own or with support from their families. To get through their university studies, international students often have to work multiple part-time jobs.
For them, having to work and study at the same time is a challenging task, especially the issue of time management.
In fact, many organizations and government agencies in Korea have sponsored many scholarships for international students to study here. However, the number of students coming is getting smaller compared to the number of scholarships offered.
International students in Korea have to balance between studying and working, because the cost of living is expensive (Illustration: Korea Joongang Daily).
To cover tuition and monthly expenses, Thi Cam Phuong Nguyen (a Vietnamese international student at Paichai University) said she had to work nearly 30 hours a week at a restaurant near the school.
Every day, after 5 hours of working at the restaurant, the girl was really exhausted with the large amount of work. The female student usually went home near the end of the day, so she had almost no time for self-study.
Similarly, Nhi Au (a student at Soongsil University) also has to work part-time at a marketing company. This international student also has almost no free time because he has to take care of both work and study.
Last semester, Au took seven classes, which meant she spent about 21 hours a week in class. After school, she had to rush to the office and work until 7 p.m., so she often had to study late into the night.
"The hardest thing about my job is completing the assigned tasks during the day. Even though I only work 4 hours a day, sometimes I have to take advantage of my study time to work," Au lamented.
Given that reality, international students always have to find ways to keep their part-time jobs from affecting their studies. "I remind myself that I came here to study," Au said.
The female student acknowledged that, in reality, earning money is more attractive to students than trying to get good grades at school. Therefore, many students often focus on working and pay little attention to studying. As a result, many students fail exams and miss out on scholarships. This increases the financial burden on students who both study and work.
Without a tuition waiver, it is impossible to cover the cost of studying on your current salary, Au said. Worse, working too much can get international students into trouble with immigration policy, so it is important to know the limits and regulations involved.
Self-correction
“Don’t overwork yourself and don’t let work distract you from your studies,” said Abror Iskandarov, a student from Uzbekistan at Jeonbuk National University.
Abror Iskandarov shared that he only focuses on working for one week each month, then devotes all his time to studying. Thanks to that, this male student has received a full scholarship every semester with an excellent average score of 4.1/4.5.
In Korea, most universities allow students to register for classes themselves starting from the second semester. This means that students have full control over their class schedule before the semester starts.
Most part-time jobs in Korea for international students are manual labor, so their health must always be sufficient to cope with the large workload (Illustration photo: Korea Joongang Daily).
This gives them the opportunity to set a schedule that fits their desired work hours. Many part-time jobs require employees to work long hours, so students often consider choosing classes in the morning or afternoon instead of studying all day.
Typically working the night shift at a convenience store, Iskandarov chose to attend classes in the morning so he could sleep in the afternoon.
Just like balancing work and study, making a to-do list before starting the day is also essential.
According to the employment guide for international students in Korea provided by the National Institute for InternationalEducation , international students with a Topik level of 3 or higher can work unlimited hours during vacation periods, as long as they work in permitted fields.
As a result, many students take advantage of this valuable time off from school to work full-time and save enough for the upcoming semester. With these savings, they can work less and spend more time studying during the semester.
Sham Peter Gomez, a student from Bangladesh, is one of them. He worked full-time during winter break at a restaurant and saved enough money to work just three days a week starting in February.
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