After I finished my military service, in the autumn of 1996, I came back to my university. All the buildings and trees were in the same positions as they had been on the campus and so were my professors. There were still many students who were reading, laughing, playing some games, or walking around on the campus. There were still breezes, flowers waving in the wind, and dragonflies flitting about in the sky. But I felt awkward seeing people who seemed to be used to everything.
　　　 It was a very hard time because many things were new to me. I had been used to the army life. As for me, I was strange to the new school life. I needed time to become accustomed to the new situation. It was not easy to adapt to the new circumstances because I came back to school as soon as I finished my military service. In addition, there were few contemporaries of mine in my classes. I had to do many things at a time. I had to meet new friends and I had a heavy study load. Although my major was English, sometimes I couldn't remember even the spellings of 'does' or 'bye'. I couldn't take care of myself because of the gap between the past and the present. My mind was too much occupied with my own affairs to think about myself. I started to smoke and drink more and more soju.
　　　 At that time, there was a friend who helped me to overcome the hard time. She is one of my best friends, and her name is Lee Sung-hee. I met her on the campus in 1993, and since then we have had friendly relationship. She has been working at KBS radio station. One day, about three weeks before the mid-term examination, I was depressed, and Sung-hee, my friend, said to me with a look of worry, "These days, you look blue all the time. What's the matter?"
　　　 "...." I hung my head, much discouraged, without any answer.
　　　 "I know you well," she continued, "and you are not what you used to be. Hey, the most important thing is love of oneself, but you don't love yourself."
　　　 Her meddling made me a little angry because I just wanted to be alone. I raised my head and looked at her, and said, "So what?"
　　　 She kept perfect composure even at my unexpected offensive attitude and said, "If you love yourself first, everything will go well. Why don't you take a trip for a few days?" I thought that was a good idea because I wanted to pull myself out of the slump.
　　　 I decided to take a trip and made preparations for the trip. I went to Tonghae by myself. I took a stroll on the beach and drank soju beside a bonfire. During my trip, I thought about only myself. When the sun was rising above the horizon, I looked back on my past. Actually I almost never had loved myself. No! I never had even had the thought that I should love myself. That was the answer. The trip made my mind　 much lighter. After three days, I came back to school with a new feeling. I felt everything arose from my attitude and all depended upon my decision. I thought I was the most important
person in the world.
　　　 After the trip, there was nothing changed on the outside, but I was changed inside. As you know, love of oneself is very important. They say that one who doesn't love oneself can't love other people. I didn't want to spoil myself any more because I had come to love myself. Since I started to love myself, my life has been much better, and I have done my best in whatever I do. As a result, I stood first in my class of the autumn semester of 1996. I thought I was surrounded by many invisible walls, prejudice, vanity, avarice, and so on. I still think I am. But Sung-hee made me break down one of those walls by teaching me how to love myself. She always has an interest in and anxiety for me, and I am thankful to her.