I gained knowledge, experience, as well as friends in JEA that was held from 6 to 10

August 2018 in Seoul. I am going to share my story so that those who were not there

would know what happened in the program. I do also hope that they would be

inspired to apply next year.

There were 42 youths participating in the program. Some 22 of them are Koreans and

20 are Global participants. They are from Indonesia, India, Bangladesh, Mexico,

Cambodia, Nigeria, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, UAE, and Thailand.

Most of the global participants arrived in Incheon Airport on 6th August 2018. We

were picked up in groups depending on flight arrival time. Because my flight landed

in the morning at around 7.30 am, I became part of the first group to be picked up.

After everyone was present, we headed to the hotel. But since it was not time to

check-in, we only placed our luggage there. We then explored a bit of Seoul by

visiting Insa-dong, known for selling traditional things. After that we headed to lunch

and returned to the hotel to check in.

Before going out again, I brought my umbrella on the journey to Bukchon Hanok

Village. I watched the locals use it, and wanted to use it to shade myself from the

sunlight. But it was just hot and people were sweating bullets. We then continued to

Cheonggyecheon Stream to dip our feet in the water. It was refreshing. After that we

headed back to rest again. The last thing we did on the first day was dinner. Some

participants that just arrived in the afternoon joined the dinner.

On 7th August 2018 as the second day, the global participants got a little delayed

arriving at the program venue. Two people overslept despite the wakeup call. I told

the tour guide to give them three wake up calls for tomorrow. Arriving at Samsung

Global Engineering Center, we finally met the Korean participants.

After opening speech by Erika, there was an introduction about Sustainable

Development Goal (SDG) given by a facilitator. Then we all did the marshmallow

challenge based on groups. My team?s tower was barely standing but it was not high

enough. Although my team was not win the game, we were fun. We were getting

close each other. No more barriers.

We continued with lectures about SDG, engineering, and water treatment technology.

Everyone even tried to do the water treatment by using tools prepared by the

committee. Through this activity, we learned how to filter polluted water into

drinking water. The tools were very simple, easy to use, and could be taken to

anywhere effortlessly.

Water treatment experiment was the last class activity of the day. Korean participants

went home while we had another schedule. When the Koreans went home, the global

participants were directed to Deoksugung Palace. We came in the late afternoon and

the Palace was going to close. Although we could not stay longer, we had a

memorable time in this Palace. Then we went to dinner in a very cozy restaurant.

After having dinner, we went back to hotel. Arriving at the hotel, some went to a

store to buy things and others went straight to their rooms.

On the third day, there was a tour about the founding of Samsung Engineering along

with other things. Lectures were about energy of the present and energy of the future.

A group photo competition was also held. We did an eco-city project where we had to

manage the energy source, transportation, and waste management of a city. Each

group gave a presentation, and winners were announced. The global participants

continued to Myeong-dong. We had dinner, went back to the hotel, and rested.

An outing was arranged on the 9th, involving the Koreans and Global participants. We

went to Namsangol Hanok Village, where we saw how the nobles or locals used to

live. We then went to Namsan Seoul Tower where I saw the amazing view of Seoul. I

also saw many locks there. We went to Myeong-dong for lunch, and proceeded to a

place to make rice cakes. After that, we got to experience running man. It was a fun

experience playing there.

We continued to another place, where we formerly wanted to try Hanbok. But since it

was fully booked, everyone just roamed around the building. We had dinner together,

but after that the Global and Korean participants parted ways. Some of the global

participants went back to Insa-dong to buy last minutes? things, accompanied by two

other Korean participants. When the shops started closing, everyone headed back.

Some rested, others still talked to each other.

On the last day of the program, some Global participants were already left to their

home countries. The rest of the global participants were supposed to go to

Gyeongbokgung Palace before our flight in the afternoon or night. But everyone did

not arrive at the hotel lobby on time. So, the plan was changed and we went to a

grocery store to buy other last minute things. Then we all had our goodbyes. It is very

hard to say goodbye, but at the very least we could still contact each other through

social media.