RECENTLY IN a popular website, a list of umchin-a* celebrities gained much attention. Park Jin-woong (Jr., Dept. of Arch. Engin.) was listed among them for both the intelligence he demonstrated in gaining a full four-year-scholarship from Yonsei University and his musical talents. Amazed by his mathematical skills, professors have called him a math genius, while his group B2Y won the 2009 Rookie Music Award with their first mini album. Dreaming of being a versatile multiplayer, Park Jin-woong is striving to become more than an ordinary university student.

   Building on my dream
   I started working in the entertainment industry at a young age. This was not from my own will but my mother's. Strangely, when I was young, I had no intention of becoming any form of entertainer. However, this all changed when I went to high school and realized how much I love taking a leading role among my friends or acting as a class clown. I started to take a vague interest in a career in the entertainment industry. Nonetheless, I decided to achieve one thing at a time and studied hard during high school, which in the end earned me a place in this prestigious university.

   Stumbling but not falling
   Following my dream to become a singer was not as easy as it seemed. After my freshman year, I managed to get into a decent management company and became a member of a group called "Real" which received quite a lot of attention and even was introduced to the Japan's renowned music magazine "Oricon." However, this did not last long as the company went bankrupt and we found ourselves caught in a legal battle with the agency we were sold to. Even though going through such tough times made me sometimes regret taking a riskier path as a singer compared to the safer path of studying as a normal university student, I was able to learn how society is really like earlier than my colleagues. Fortunately, I transferred to another agency in 2009 as a member of a group called B2Y and recently released a digital single album called "Be Cra2Y." I hope people would enjoy the strong rhythmical sound and the funky new style of our music. Sharpening the dream in Yonsei My life at Yonsei was a huge influence to me. I took part in various activities such as the associate acting club called "Limelight" and a rock band named "Forklift." While participating in these two activities, I was able to make many friends and also came to  know the thrilling excitement when I was on stage performing. This experience of rushing adrenaline helped me set my mind to become a singer.

   Future plans and words for Yonseians
   Chasing after two dreams is definitely not easy. Holding onto one takes away time that could be spent focusing on the other. I am currently in a conflict over my future path. But if things work out well, I would like to pursue my dream as a singer along with studying, because I know what I love the most is singing in front of an audience. I believe the most important thing is doing what one loves to do. Especially at a young age, throwing everything you have into your passion will eventually give you a lot to learn from. As in my case, doing what I wanted did not always guarantee an immediate success, but at least I would not regret later on not doing something I sincerely yearned to do.

*umchin-a : a term used to describe people who are good at studying on top of other star-like talents