The Islander, You've Lighten up My Life

By Kim Joo-youn( 34th reporter)
Korea Immigration Service, Ministry of Justice

It was a raining Friday evening when I took the test to be an Islander. Honestly, I was a little bit disappointed at that time because there weren't that many applicants to The Islander. My father used to tell me that you should join the English newspaper on campus, The Islander.
I expected that I have an opportunity to be a reporter through the competitiveness which makes me be very proud of myself. I had thought about a reporter's life like writing articles all night to meet the deadline, sleeping on the couch in the office. All those things were seen on TV which dealt with reporter's busy life and critical mind. Also, the word 'the English newspaper' youngja sinmunsa in Korean, sounded special. However, I let the editor-in-chief know that I could not join The Islander at the first day of meeting. The main reason for this is that I was afraid of getting disadvantages such as poor grade by joining The Islander. I still remember the embarrassed face of the editor in chief. He and another senior reporter tried to convince me to have the romance back, and that is the place where my college life started.
The actual reporter's life on campus wasn't an obstacle at all to my college life. It, instead led me for the better and was everything in my college life. I could not find and imagine myself without The Islander. It wasn't as much competitive as I had expected when we were recruited. However we, cub-reporters, were very vying each other. When we were at the bottom of the ladder in The Islander, we learned hard from the senior reporters such as English, Journalism, Philosophy, and so on. All those processes were necessary to be a serious reporter. During semesters and vacations, we went to school every morning, took classes and tests, and cleaned the office (which was one of unescapable duties of cub-reporters!). After the one-year hard training, we all became reporters, which meant there were no more cleanings that we had to. The Islander literally became "a flower garden" to us (as the song of The Islander says). With more responsibility, we got to make English magazines by digging for news items, interviewee, writing articles, taking photos, designing, and editing. While I spent most of my college lives in The Islander, it got me thinking about the meaning of being a university student in society and had me behave more maturely. It also gave me another opportunity to have advice form senior reporters and alumni. When I joined The Islander, I thought that I would not have my private time and would fail to study my major, but it turned out that such prejudgement were nothing but just cowardly worries. It could even make me participate in the exchange program in Hawaii for a year. At the beginning, I was afraid of being tied down and tried to quit, but survived. I could proudly tell people that I was a campus reporter for The Islander.
The Islander, which was such a wholesome stimulus for my college life and still for my career, is having its 40th birthday on December 1, 2010. I will work hard to keep its proud tradition going forever. I am thankful to The Islander for being there as a lighthouse. The Islander cherishes my old memory about The Islander. It always make my memories young and still alive in my deep heart. Happy 40th birthday!