Staying CLASS-y at Yonsei

Yonsei University class registration period is June 4th-5th at 10am. A totally doable time frame if you're on KST (Korean Standard Time) but not when you are on Eastern Standard Time. With having a 13 hour time difference between Indiana and Seoul there's a lot of planning that had to happen to make sure that I was able to login into the Yonsei Registration Portal on time. Luckily, CIEE (the organization running the study abroad program) provided us with a detailed step-by-step instruction guide on how to obtain our Yonsei ID to login to the registration portal, how to add a class, and then how to check our schedule. That helped calm some of the stress of registration but it did not prepare to how slightly confusing the Registration Portal actually was.

I logged into the registration portal about 40 minutes (8:20pm on June 3rd EST, 9:20 AM on June 4th KST) early to be able to make sure I could login and then add the courses I wanted to take to my wishlist to not waste anytime when the official registration period opened. I felt secure in the classes that I picked and placed in my wishlist. The other members in my study abroad group where having a slightly chaotic meltdown. Many of the others didn't know what to do and how to even login into the registration portal with our new Yonsei student ID. This was all about 10-15 minutes prior to when registration was supposed to begin. I took time explaining that the portal period 1,2 meant that it was actually in period 1 of class schedule (9:00 AM- 10:50 AM KST). I explained to the other where to find their new student ID and where to find the option to switch the website from Korean to English. I also helped others with figuring out how to add a course to their wishlist...all while the clock was winding down to 9:00pm EST (10:00AM KST).

Finally it reached 9:00 PM EST meaning that it was 10:00 AM KST on June 4th, 2019. I immediately clicked over to open my wishlish tab in the registration tab on the Yonsei Portal. All I had to do was click the "apply" button. Then I did it right on the dot. Just like that I become enrolled in 9 credits worth of courses at Yonsei University. It was relieving to be able to enroll in the courses as quickly as I did because the classes began to fill up immediately. Courses that could seat 100 students already had up to 70 spots filled. I am happy with the courses that I decided to take while in Korea.

Despite the suggestion of only taking 2 courses while at Yonsei, I decided to take 3 courses. The biggest reason as to why 3 courses isn't suggested is because it takes away the amount the non-study exploring time around Korea. I do need the credits for school and I want to take as many Korean related courses as well! I am taking Contemporary Korean Culture and the Hallyu Wave, Korean Cinema, and Korean Language Beginner Level III (that's still TBD due to a placement test). Each of these course meets for 2 hours (except for the Language course which is 3 hours) Monday through Thursday. I am excited for all of them and know that I will be having to study a bit due to intense coursework but also making sure that I take advantage of my three day weekends. I'm excited to see how all of these courses go and how they help me grow. I am excited to further my ability in the Korean language especially since while learning it in a classroom I will have to use it in everyday interactions but I also look forward to expanding my knowledge of the Korean culture.

All I need to do now in just a little over 2 weeks is get on the plane, move into my dorm, and start being the CLASS-iest Tyra possible at Yonsei University.