This winter, the drama ‘SKY Castle’ was loved by many people. The drama showed the dark side of entering university. One of the most surprising scenes was where a boy did not meet the expectations of his parents but rebelled and walked the way he wanted. What was it that made the children so obsessed with entering university? I think the biggest problem is the overheated competition regarding the current state of the Korean education system. One parent in the drama was bragging to the whole neighborhood, saying that his son went to medical school at Seoul National University. The parents enjoyed the envious gaze received from others. The parents thought that they had raised their children admirably. However, their son ran away from home to live the life he wanted, declaring that he would give up on entering the university. After that, his mother could not overcome her grief and made the terrible choice of suicide. Because dramas can depict situations cruelly, that kind of situation often happens in our society.
  Currently, South Korean students have a choice to apply to universities. There are two ways to apply to university. One is susi. It refers to the student’s ability to go to college with their school scores and performance. Another is jungsi. It refers to being admitted to college with the result of a national exam. Also, to manage students’ performance, some people hire companies from outside to make good results through various activities at schools. In the drama, the main character hires a college coordinator as well.
  In the drama, a high school student, Ye-seo, and Kwak Mi-hyang, her mother, frequently showed that they desired for Ye-seo to go to Seoul National University. Ye-seo is portrayed as desiring to go to college so badly that she showed feelings of wanting to kill her rival, Hye-na. Why are students and parents struggling to get the students into good schools? I think it begins with their lack of accomplishment. Their desire to compensate for their deficiencies by going to prestigious universities has ruined their minds. In particular, the parents’ enthusiasm seems to be the biggest problem because they want their children to achieve the goals they didn't achieve. Parents don’t care about their kids’ opinions, and their selfishness toward their goals hurts their children and ends badly.
  It is also a problem that parents set goals that do not fit their children's means. It is true that different people have different talents. In this drama, it is not right for parents to ignore their kids unless they are in a prestigious university or a medical school. One parent in the drama ignores the wishes of its children and tries to send them to prestigious schools, which created conflicts.
  Those who already graduated from high school in Korea may have tried to go to a better university once. Some students will give up everything and study hard to go to a good university and get a nice job. However, I want to tell you that going to a good university is not always a good thing. I currently attend CBNU, but I don't think it is lacking or lagging behind Seoul University. I think that a university is a place where students can learn what they want to learn, and there are no ups and downs in learning. However, our society still tries to judge others by their university, and the importance of academic background still prevails in our society. I think the drama criticizes such a society. With this drama, I hope that parents will support their children to live the life they want to lead. Students who want to go to college should not only see their peers as rivals but also as partners, which will help create better memories of their school days.