Stony Brook University SUNY Korea

Four SUNY Korea Students participated in the IFEZ Happy Tutoring Program Season 3. Incheon Free Economic Zone (IFEZ) held a volunteer tutor program to support children with low-income families. The students provided tutoring lessons (English and Mathematics) and mentored one elementary school student each. Starting from early November until December 2020, weekly online and offline meetings were organized depending on the COVID-19 situation.

Here is the story of Soyon Kong, the program coordinator.

I am Soyon Kong majoring in Applied Mathematics & Statistics (AMS) at SUNY Korea. In the 2020 Fall semester, I had a chance to participate in a volunteer program named IFEZ Happy Tutoring Program. Since all the education I received was thanks to the society I lived in, sharing my knowledge with others in the society who need it became quite important to me. So, when I first saw the email that SUNY is recruiting mentors to teach low-income children, I was glad to apply.

After a meeting with IGC and the Child fund, all the mentors were assigned their mentees. As a coordinator (manager) of the program, I prepared the textbooks and snacks for all the members before the first mentoring class. Although I had to take the bus for about one and a half hours to arrive at my mentees home, I was delighted to meet my mentee. She was 10 years old and had a strong will to study hard. I felt bad that though she was very smart and loved to study, she could not get enough education just because she was growing up in a low-income family. It seemed unfair that intelligent and young students could not receive enough education because of money. I thought it would be nice if more students next semester volunteer as a mentor for the lovely children who have great will to study hard.

Also, when I contacted the other mentors, all of them felt rewarded because of this program. All mentees had a great attitude toward their studies and had a good relationship with their mentors. Before we started the tutoring, at the meeting with the Child fund, the person in charge said we should be careful because the children have wounded hearts from their housing situation. But all of them were just normal and adorable children who love to spend time with their teachers.

Even though it is a volunteer program to share knowledge with others, I learned a lot also. I strongly recommend this program to all students who would love to share their knowledge and feel rewarded.