Park Ji-won (33), who was working as a lawyer at Kim & Chang after becoming the youngest person to pass the bar exam, shared his story of entering graduate school.
The YouTube channel "Studio Sha," run by students at Seoul National University, released a video on the 15th titled "Reasons the 20-year-old bar exam passer left Kim & Chang." Park passed the 54th bar exam in 2012 at the age of 20, setting the record as the youngest passer.
At the time, Park was a junior studying business administration at Seoul National University. He said he took the bar exam not by his own choice but at his parents' urging. Park noted, "The purpose of studying for the exam was due to my parents, but once I decided I had to do it, I wanted to pass quickly and end this painful exam life."
After completing the Judicial Research and Training Institute, Park joined Kim & Chang. Although busy with a seven-day work week, he had two children after getting married. However, Park's thoughts about his career choice grew during his work. He said, "I studied because my parents made me, and I was lucky enough to pass the bar exam. After moderately studying at the institute and being young, I ended up at Kim & Chang," adding, "While working, questions arose in my mind like, 'Is this right? I have to work for life, but can I do another 30-40 years with this mindset?''
One day, a collaboration process with an interpreter became a turning point for Park. Watching the interpreting process made him think he could enjoy working. After giving birth to his second child in 2022, he took online classes for admission to a graduate school of interpretation and translation as soon as he got home. Park stated, "I studied just like I did for the bar exam, and I got into graduate school."
It took Park a year to leave Kim & Chang after getting accepted into graduate school. He had considerable doubts about whether it was right to leave a stable job. However, Park remarked, "Looking back at this time in the distant future, I felt I might regret not having done this 'two years at graduate school is nothing in life, so why couldn't I try it?' I boldly decided to take the plunge."
Now a student at the Graduate School of Interpretation and Translation at Ewha Womans University, Park said, "I really don't regret it now." He added, "Not knowing what I like is a big problem. If I try various things, I think I can find what I enjoy and what I'm good at."