On July 4th, the HK+ Mobility Humanities Education Center, affiliated with the Academy of Mobility Humanities (Director In-Seop Shin) at Konkuk University, held an awards ceremony for our “Mobility Essay Contest” at the New Millennium Hall on the campus. In accordance with the social distancing measures, only a minimum number of people were allowed to attend the ceremony; all the participants were required to undergo a check fever check, apply hand sanitizers actively and wear face masks.
The aim of the Mobility Essay Contest was to share and reflect on people’s thoughts and experiences of people regarding changes in their everyday life and future prospects influenced by the COVID-ovid 19 pandemic. A total of 85 participants in across different competition categories including of middle/high school students, college students, and general adults submitted their essays for the competition under the theme of “The World Changed by Corona 19: The Advent of the Era of Immobility and Changes in Life”.
The essays were received between May 26, 2020 and June 14, 2020. The Final nine winners for Gold, Silver and Bronze prizes from across all the categories were selected through a fair review process of of evaluating essays based on composition, unity, logic and originality.
Amongst the middle/high school student participants, △Ji-Won Kim(Paradigm after the Outbreak of the COVIDovid-19: Crisis or Opportunity?) won the gold prize, △Se-Won Kang(Time for Forgiving Myself) was awarded the silver prize, and △Ji-Young Lee won the bronze prize(Covid-19, A Turning Point with the Earth).
Amongst the college student participants, △Ji-Won Ha (Water that Never Changes in a Blocked River) won the gold prize, △Joon-Yong Kwon (Changes in Job Values and Social Polarization due to Mobility Restrictions) achieved the silver prize, and △Jin-Seo Park secured the bronze prize (Once Again, Waiting for a Theater Full of Stories).
In the general adult category, △Hyun-Cheol Kim (I Want the Post-Corona Era When You and I Do Not Remain as Total Strangers.) won gold prize, △Bormi Choi (My Changed Everyday Life: Letting It Going, and A Story of Newness) got the silver prize, and △Yong-Min Jeong secured the bronze prize (The Changes and Realizations that Corona 19 Has Brought About).
Gold Pprize winners were granted cultural gift certificates. Gold prizewinners were awarded a certificate worth 500,000 won, silver prize winners cultural gift certificates worth 300,000 won, and bronze prize winners cultural gift certificates worthreceived certificates worth 200,000 won respectively.
Dr. Jooyoung Kim, Director of the HK+ Mobility Humanities Education Center stated that: “With the unprecedented Coronavirus pandemic, we have entered a new lifestyle with limited physical movement and face-to-face encounters.” Furthermore, Director Kim evaluated “This Mobility Essay Contest offered a great opportunity for us to understand not only the acceleration of movement but also immobility as importance facets of the contemporary society and to reflect on changes in our lives in the post-CovidCOVID-19 era.”
Selected essays of prize winners were filmed and streaming through the Academy of Mobility Humanities’ YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyHIeWcE1Y8qL2pmvhGrGOw.
