글또
Creating a “Life Map” is one of the basic requirements for applying to “Gleotto.” Through this post, I’d like to organize and share my personal life story.
There’s a writing group for developers called “Crazy Writers Change the World” (hereinafter “Gle-Tto”). Even the name alone is quite striking. Drawn in by this slogan, I decided that as soon as applications for Gle-Tto opened, I would definitely apply. For one thing, I’m an ENTP who gets excited just by the word “crazy,” and since I’m the type who has to do whatever catches my interest to feel satisfied, there was absolutely no reason not to apply.
I have a natural inclination to leave my mark on the world in some way, so I generally enjoy expressing my own philosophy through writing. But I’d put writing aside for a while—using “being busy” as a convenient excuse. However, I started to feel a thirst for it and needed new motivation. Standing at that crossroads, I heard about the “Geul-tto” recruitment, and seeing it as a great source of motivation, I’ve decided to write this “map of my life” filled with reflections on myself.
Ever since I was little, I was universally recognized as a social butterfly. I loved hanging out with friends and was the kind of kid who constantly wondered, “How can we have more fun and play in more innovative(?) ways?” I’d take the lead in gathering my friends, whisking them off to all sorts of places and organizing events.
I loved math and got decent grades throughout middle and high school. In line with that, and driven by a desire to share my knowledge and ideas with others, I even gave my friends private math tutoring at one point. When I heard the joke, “I’ll pay you for tutoring, so please tutor me” (though I didn’t actually receive any money 😏🤑), I thought I was pretty good at explaining things, so for a while, my dream job was to become a teacher.
In line with my parents’ educational philosophy—that music, art, and physical education are essential—I attended arts and sports academies as a hobby starting in elementary school. Among these, learning the piano and violin led me to join the orchestra club in middle school and the traditional percussion club in high school. I continued my orchestra activities in college as well. The reason I kept pursuing music was not only because I loved music itself, but also because I enjoyed the process of creating harmony with others.
That’s how I, Jeongnyu, grew into an energetic, cheerful, playful person who’s bursting with things I want to do and loves collaborating with others while exchanging knowledge.
“Zhengnyu” is a nickname I gave myself in middle school (...?!) But who would’ve thought? For the past 20 years, most of my acquaintances have been calling me Zhengnyu. The nickname “Zhengniu” carries a lot of meaning, and I’d say it’s the persona that best represents me.
I, who had always insisted, “It’s definitely Math! Definitely Math Education!” made a sudden decision my senior year of high school. I chose a somewhat unfamiliar major called “Media Studies.” Part of the reason I chose it was simply because “it looked fun.” When I looked at the department’s curriculum while filling out my application, I was drawn to the fact that I could study a wide range of fields—including programming, design, video editing, and 3D modeling.
Looking back now, choosing this major was a turning point that significantly changed the course of my life. This is because I struggled to find my footing for a long six years after graduation. While my major was truly appealing to someone like me who enjoys dabbling in various things, my failure to clearly define a specialized focus within my field was my shortcoming(On top of that, I even pursued a double major in business administration). Even though I enjoyed studying my major, my understanding was superficial, and even for someone like me—who was always positive and seemed to have everything go my way—those growing pains hit me hard.
Through trial and error, I gradually began to redraw the map of my life. Rather than accumulating fragmented knowledge, I looked for something I could really dive into. Ultimately, that led me to “development.” Trusting the brief experience I’d had as an undergrad, I applied to a company and became a member of the second cohort of the “Samsung Youth Software Academy (hereinafter SSAFY).”
I focused on “growth” by sharing diverse experiences with new friends and cheering each other on as we worked together toward our goal of landing our first jobs. The more I learned, the more I realized how much I didn’t know, and through that process, I came to realize, “I’m truly alive.” Having tasted sweet joy after a long period of hardship, that sweetness made me feel even more strongly that I was truly alive.
I completed the SSAFY training program and landed a job as a backend developer at a healthcare startup—a tangible result of my efforts—and I’m still actively shaping my career path as a developer.
Actually, I’ve drawn up my own life map before! (Three years ago…)
Here’s the link 👉https://blog.naver.com/lizziechung/222182480154
It was a position I’d worked so hard to secure. For a while, everything felt fresh and exciting, but at some point, I started to feel like I was getting stuck in a rut. I even began to wonder if I was actually taking a step backward. My heart always wanted to take on new challenges, but my body seemed to have settled into the comfort of the status quo. I’d been thinking I needed to break free from this disconnect.
The biggest reason I felt like I was getting stuck in a rut was that, lately, there’s been no new learning or challenges. I used to find meaning in learning from everything I took on. I used to find a sense of challenge in everything I did. Seeing that I wasn’t even having those thoughts anymore, I wondered if it really was time for a fresh start.
But just as I was stuck in this cycle of thinking without taking action, a friend told me about Geul-tto. Since I’ve always enjoyed expressing my thoughts in writing, it appealed to me, and as I mentioned earlier, I really loved the slogan. So, through Geul-tto, I want to inject some tension into my sluggish life, organize my thoughts, and actually (!) start putting the things I’ve been thinking about into practice, one by one.
My dad, a scientist through and through, once told me this: “Science progresses when it’s proven wrong.” He explained that new discoveries emerge when what we’ve always believed is proven to be incorrect. To achieve this, rather than clinging stubbornly to our own views from within a well, we must leap out and listen to the voices of the world. In this spirit, I will continue to debug my life.
And while I have many life goals, what I want to achieve as a developer is “to provide others with a great experience through the services I plan and develop.” To provide a great experience, I need to have that level of experience myself, or meet others who do.
I hope to effectively combine my own experiences with those of others through my activities on Geul-tto. I hope that when the time comes to chart another course in life, I’ll be able to say that this experience marked a turning point in my life.