Hello, everyone. I am Park Jun Bum. It‘s a great honor for me that you’ve come to hear my speech. I’m a junior at Kookmin University and I’ve been studying Metal Craft for six years. Before I entered the university, I studied drawing for seven years, so I’ve been studying art for a total of thirteen years. As an art student, I have to be an emotional person. I’m learning how to take in my emotions in my daily life, and this is my story.

First, I’ve discovered that I can learn from everything around me. You can learn from people, animals, and the changing of the seasons. Here’s an example. One day I came back home at five in the morning, and I was really tired. I opened the door, and my house was dark and quiet. My family was asleep.  Only one small creature was awake, and that was my dog. He shook his tail and welcomed me in. He was happy that I had come back home. He never cares what time of day it is, how late it is, or how tired he is. He’ll always be there, and his eyes always seem to be encouraging me.

In Korea, we have a proverb, “He’s worse than a dog,” but at that moment I knew that this proverb was wrong. I learned then, that if a little dog can make me happy, then a little concern for others can make them happy as well. A truthful mind is revealed in truthful eyes, and you can trust that, and make good relationships with others. 

The second thing I’ve learned is always to be positive. A positive mind is really important in life, in making relationships with others, and in many other ways. When I was seventeen years old, my father committed suicide. He was disabled, and very unhappy all the time.  He lost his temper and was very negative. He tried to overcome his problems, but he couldn’t, and chose to kill himself. I lost my father and was very depressed, but I knew I couldn’t be like him. His death taught me a lot. This is when I learned the importance of having a positive mind. I want to always have a positive mind, even in bad situations. It’s like magic. This kind of mind doesn’t have hate, jealousy, blame or regret.  This kind of mind is happy and filled with delight and love. This kind of mind makes me happy and I can smile and live with appreciation for my life.

The third and final point is that everything is expression. This is not an exaggeration. I always express myself. I think human beings are social animals and we need to talk with other people, whether we’re happy or sad.  Sometimes I write my feelings down, or take a photo to show my emotions. I show my work to other people and we share our feelings with each other. This is a really enjoyable part of my life. When I express myself, I know I’m alive and that I can be a more active and passionate person. It tells me who I am and what I’m going to do, even in giving this speech.

Learn from everything, be a positive person and express your feelings; these are the ways I’ve learned to feel my emotions. I’ll probably be learning forever. I’m sure it’s going to give me a rich life, and maybe I can help others along the way. I hope we can all be happy and always live smiling at life.