I first came to Korea to teach English in September 2009 after graduating from Purdue University in the United States. I got a job at Yangji Elementary School in Yongin. This ended up being a great place for me to start my life in Korea and begin learning what opportunities there are here.

I loved my life in Yongin, I took Korean classes at Kyung Hee University in Suwon at night and went skiing regularly at the Yangji Pine Resort. My experience as a teacher was also great. I liked teaching and loved the kids at my school. I didn’t know what to expect at first but to my surprise the elementary school system was surprisingly similar to the one I had attended when I was a kid growing up in Minnesota. Once I started teaching I found it really rewarding to help the kids improve their English and see how curious they were to learn about other cultures. During my second year teaching however I began to think about what other options there might be for me to change my career path but continue working in Korea.

After meeting several other foreigners working in Seoul with MBA degrees I decided that getting an MBA could be a great way to change my career. I began to study for the GMAT and research schools. At first I wanted to attend a top ranked program in the U.S. and then try to return to Korea to work but after taking the GMAT and looking at my work experience I realized it would be a good idea to look at some other options as well. Given that my goal is to work in Korea I started looking at some of the Korean MBA programs and I quickly realized that SKK GSB Graduate School of Business with its many opportunities to both study in the U.S. and network in Korea might be a great fit for me.

I didn’t want to miss out on being able to study and receive an MBA from a top American school but at the same time I wanted to be able to have the advantage of studying and being able to look for jobs in Korea. This SKK GSB program is allowing me to do both.

Now that I’ve finished the first semester I’ve realized what a special program this is. The small class of about 60 students, one-third of which are international, is making for a great opportunity to make lots of new friends and learn about other cultures. The school is providing lots of great opportunities to learn and network in Korea as well. So far we’ve had guest lecturers from Ford, the Canadian Embassy, and more. We also have a lot of tough classes to take as well.

Despite the academic schedule being packed with homework, team projects and studying for exams everyone still makes time to have a lot of fun. We’ve done a lot of great activities including hiking, a sports day and even networking events with other MBA programs in Seoul. All of these have provided opportunities for us as students to bond and get to know each other better. Just last week I decided to go skiing with several other international students. Since the international students were from Vietnam, Thailand and Brunei, they had never been skiing before so I decided I would teach them. This proved to be a bigger challenge than I had anticipated, given that they had never even seen snow until this year. After a couple of hours of crashes and some help from some Korean students they started to get the hang of it and at the end of the day we all had a great time.

My MBA program is shaping up to be the experience of a lifetime and will hopefully provide a bridge to a great career in Korea. 

By Derek Laan

The writer is a first-year Global MBA student at SKK Graduate School of Business. ― Ed.