As in every organization, membership is the key to success. Before COVID-19 hit all of us, the University of California, Davis (UC Davis) had a very vibrant KSEA Undergraduate Student Chapter (formed in 2008). As with many organizations in the last two years, the KSEA Sacramento Valley Chapter (KSEA-SVC) had no interaction with the undergraduate (UG) students at UC Davis. There was no in-person instruction during the 2020-2021 academic year and no clubs or organizations could safely operate and interact.
As COVID restrictions relaxed a bit in Fall 2021, and due to the persistence and outreach from students like Heejoo (Patrick) Jung and Kate Choi, with help from Dr. Changmo Kim, KSEA-SVC and UC Davis students were able to safely connect again. KSEA-SVC President Steve Lee and past president Jeff Olson had a dinner meeting November 13 with Patrick, Kate, and other officers of the UG group at UC Davis. Changmo Kim also attended to help us reconnect with the students.
The undergraduate students were very proactive in trying to bring back some normalcy. One of their events was on November 6. The KSEA Mentor / Mentee Workshop & Korean BBQ was held and about 50 students attended. During this event, juniors and seniors (Mentors) were paired up with freshmen and sophomores (Mentees) to help them form a long-term connection with each other. Pairing was primarily based on their majors and career interests. The mentors shared their past studying experiences, plans after graduation, information regarding internship/research opportunities, and class scheduling with their mentee. Overall, the event was very successful. Many Mentees found the event to be very engaging, helpful and fun. Furthermore, to provide them with opportunities to network outside academics, a KBBQ dinner was held after the workshop. In the days following this event, they were able to recruit 10 undergraduate KSEA members. The KSEA UC Davis Undergraduate Student Chapter is back!
The KSEA UC Davis Undergraduate (UG) Student Chapter is a big part of KSEA-SVC. Just about every year since 2007, they took the lead as judges and proctors at the NMSC. Also, over the years, many UC Davis students have received the KSEA UG Scholarship.
The undergraduate officers of KSEA UC Davis UG Student Chapter have a broad scope of experience having participated in several on campus activities and always have had success in recruiting many students, leading to a positive turnout to such events. Such deeds were noticed by the Korean Consulate in San Francisco. The Korean Consulate personally visited KSEA UC Davis UG Student Chapter this Fall and asked the students to help register potential voters. UC Davis students with Korean citizenship are eligible to register as overseas voters for the 2022 Korean Presidential election.
We also have held Resume Workshops almost every year since 2015. Changmo Kim, Dr. Seungju Yoon, Jeff Olson, Steve Lee, and others have always offered a guiding hand aiding UG students to build and edit a strong and well formatted resume. Sometimes we have speakers during this event. We bring professionals from academia, government, and the private sector so the students can gain insight on the vast options of career opportunities. After the presentations, we sit with the students and engage in a one-on-one resume review. There is always a solid mix of participants at the event. All participants are looking to gain various outcomes from the event; some are graduating seniors looking for full time positions and some are seeking internships and student assistant opportunities to gain experience.
Due to the Omicron variant, the University of California, Davis has announced that for the time being, all classes will be held online until January 28, 2022 (subject to change based on the severity of COVID-19 cases). UC Davis UG Board plans to host the upcoming OPT Workshop online. Future events will be determined whether it will be held in person or online following the school’s protocol. Listed below are the remaining events that UC Davis UGs have scheduled for the 2021-2022 Academic Year.
DEC 2021: Study Marathon 101
JAN 2022: OPT Workshop (ONLINE)
FEB 2022: Resume Workshop (TBD)
FEB 2022: Winter Cabin Trip (TBD)
MAR/APR 2022: Professional Guest Speakers Meeting (TBD)
04/09/22: NMSC (TBD)
MAY 2022: Community Service (TBD)
JUN 2022: Graduation Celebration (TBD)
The UC Davis UG students played a big part when KSEA-SVC hosted the Northwest Regional Conference (NWRC) in 2008, 2012, and 2018. Some would also attend when other cities such as Portland and Seattle hosted the NWRC. This is a great opportunity to meet UG in other cities on a smaller and perhaps a more personal scale.
Sometimes it’s difficult to keep continuity because students graduate then leave the Sacramento area or just get busy and have other priorities. So it is important to have regular meetings with the students to show that KSEA is not just about science and engineering. We want to keep the relationships and contacts that we’ve made not just for professional reasons, but for our personal growth as well.
When we think about the next wave or generation of students and KSEA members, they could be friends (maybe even family) that we haven’t met yet.
Reported by Patrick Jung, UC Davis KSEA UG Student Chapter President and Steve J. Lee, KSEA Sacramento Valley Local Chapter President
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