▲SeoulTech students experiencing club activites at the club activity booth (Photo by SeoulTech Times)



From September 14 to 15, SeoulTech's autumn festival, Torchlight Festival, was held. Torchlight Festival attracted attention through its various booths, including club activity booths where students experienced various clubs in Torchlight Festival, handcraft flea market style booths selling items made by students, and DIY craft booths where students could make crafts themselves.

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An Interview with the Club Association that hosted this festival

Q. What's the theme of the Torchlight Festival?

A. The Torchlight Festival has the concept of traditional 'Chuseok,' with a sub-topic of strengthening ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) cognition among youths.

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Q. Booths such as the Flea Market caught students' eyes. What parts did you care about the most?

A. With the concept of traditional 'Chuseok,' we tried to enliven the atmosphere by using Giwa tile pattern tents which look like Korean traditional buildings and organizing game events that could be enjoyable by everyone regardless of age or gender. We also had student flea market and Nowon-gu workshop booths which promoted interaction between SeoulTech's students and Nowon-gu residents. Also, many booths were directly operated by SeoulTech students, including students on leave of absence.

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Q. It was apparent that you tried to create an environment where international students could enjoy this festival. How was that achieved?

A. I think the part we paid particular attention to when we organized the Torchlight Festival was the interaction with the International Student Club (ISC). With ISC, we tried to create an environment in which foreign students could overcome language barriers and enjoy the festival. We achieved this by providing things like English pamphlets, translation services, and Hanbok rental project.

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In addition to booth activities, food trucks and night pub selling delicious snacks stimulated students' appetites. At the sports field, a stage was set up to hold school club performances, and the last performers each day were the invited artists such as VOS, Skinny Brown, and Yena.

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Comments from students who enjoyed the Torchlight Festival

A: As an exchange student, the school festival was such a nice way to get to know the school and the SeoulTech better. I enjoyed the activities both days and it was remarkable how everyone seemed to put a lot of effort into making it a pleasant experience! We received a lot of information from the ISC beforehand. The Hanbok rental idea was a fun way to discover a bit of Korean culture for those like me who only recently arrived. I was very impressed walking around the festival, and I made a lot of new friends, mainly by hanging out at the ISC booth.

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B: It was raining on the second day so it was not so perfect to enjoy outdoor events but still there were so many things to enjoy. I was impressed by the club booths where they offered games and activities for random students.

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C: Going to the Torchlight Festival was awesome because it was my very first college festival experience. We don't have anything like that in my hometown, so I was very excited. What blew my mind was seeing all the student clubs showing off their diverse activities. Watching some of them performing on stage was also very entertaining. The whole festival had a great vibe, and the food trucks there served some delicious treats, making it an unforgettable experience.

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The Torchlight Festival where they could experience Korean culture was a memorable event for SeoulTech students and international students. According to the Club Union, they will make the next Torchlight Festival even more joyful for international students with more interesting activities by listening to students' ideas.

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Reporter,

Eunkyeul Kim kyeul@g.seoultech.ac.kr

Reporter 김은결

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• e-mail : kyeul@g.seoultech.ac.kr