Stay faithful to the present as a GIST person
I’m Park Hwa Seok, president of Woosung Precision Industry Co., Ltd. and New Mold Co., Ltd. I
am also a proud graduate of the first MBA graduate course at GIST. Personally, I have participated
in small donations such as helping children of families without parents in Africa and after starting
a business in Gwangju, so I thought of how I could help the region, and eventually I become
a member of the Honor Society, a Community Chest of Korea in Gwangju. Since then, I have
been engaged in several donation businesses and based on the affection towards education in
regional universities, I have been supporting scholarships because I thought that I should support
GIST further as the cradle for training experts in Gwangju. Students have visited me with gifts
to express their gratitude. I’m grateful, but it’s ok. Students have already repaid me by studying
hard and contributing to society. My personal wish is to divert your time and eneergy to yourself,
instead of thanking me. This is the reason I am not intervening with the school in any way after
making donations. I’d like to thank GIST for using the fund based on upright insights.
Accept it. Accept it to throw it away.
When I was in school, I wasn’t a hardworking student. However, I believed that my attitude was
extraordinary. Even now, I emphasize on attitude when I am with my close juniors or employees
and families. A lot of things in the present and future can change depending on how you set your
mindset. One thing that I would like to request for the people at GIST is, first, to ‘accept.’ We are
living in a time where we need to accept before determining whether it is good or bad. Accept
to throw something away. Do not try to build it up. Instead, accept more things first. If you
accept things with the heart of an ocean, you will become the ocean. In the previous generation,
we were familiar with the culture of ‘I can never do this’ or ‘I will never do this.’ Although one’s
opinion and philosophy is required, it is not necessary to set your limits in advance as a student.
This is an area that I would like the people at GIST to think about once more as they prioritize
high-tech education. Next, if you have undergone the process of accepting everything and
throwing things away, you need to ‘think about what would develop me.’ If what I pursue is
something like a tree standing tall amidst advanced technology, such as AI and robots, think
about what the root would be. You need to find the answer to how you can connect to it so
that nutrition can be absorbed and how you can help it grow. As an entrepreneur who produces
molds, the design would be important. It is important to set a target and to manage it so that it is
implemented well. Sometimes, failing while heading towards an objective is more valuable than
success without an objective.
Take a leap forward to become the one and only GIST person in the world
In order for GIST to develop further, we need to think about what a true university is above all.
It must be equipped with the unique expertise of GIST. Students who wish to enter GIST must
come by looking at the expertise of GIST. Next, the university must become the pivot, playing its
role as a research institute in industrial-academic-research cooperation. Universities within the
region would hold its place for decades and centuries. Think about GIST holding its place for 100
years in one field. It would be extremely different from universities that are not specialized in any
specific field. The entire world would come to GIST to research the specialized expertise together.
It will lead to looking for GIST experts when people need experts in a specialized field. If scholars
with world-class skills are brought here and if students who have entered according to the
specialization of the university are taught, students will grow and the status of South Korea would
also be enhanced.
Work connected to GIST itself is fun and donation must be happily made
Currently, a majority of universities tend to focus on those who donate large sums of money.
However, we should not discuss about how much or how less the amount of donation is. We
also need to think about how donations can be motivated. Please host a lot of events where the
students and regional citizens can mingle together. The work connecting donors and GIST itself
should be fun and happy. One sense of achievement in a person is the joy of helping others. I
hope that there would be more opportunities for many people to donate to GIST with a joyful
heart, even if it is a small amount.
Have an insight to see the world further and to see the future further
We, GIST people, are young people who will be playing an active role in the world. Therefore, I
hope that you would see the world further. It is important to think closely about yourself instead
of taking into account the views of others, and it is important to make an accurate analysis. In
companies, there is a saying that in order for work to be carried out, shoes have to become worn
out. It means that no matter how excellent a person’s ability is, that person would not be able
to beat those who work harder in a field. If you are determined to something like research once,
I hope that you will challenge yourself to achieve it. In order for a plane to take off, enormous
amounts of energy is required in the beginning. However, once you go into the air and look back,
you will see that countless number of people would be following your footsteps in no time. GIST,
accomplish everything without giving up. I will gladly be part of it in the future.
