Youngsang Yoo is a senior from the Seoul National University of Science and Technology (SeoulTech) who, through the partnership between Lamar University and SeoulTech and the efforts of LU’s Office of Study Abroad, is spending the school year living and studying at LU to further his education and experience life in America.

After graduating with a degree in business administration, Yoo plans to go into performance marketing, and wants to specifically work on making advertising videos for various companies because of the freedom such a career would offer in relation to travel, creativity and artistry.

“I always wanted to travel all around world and visit many countries. Then, I realized, it would be good to live for a while in other countries as well. I felt limited by visiting only a short time because I can’t understand enough of their culture with traveling,” said Yoo.

Yoo cited that love of travel as part of the reason he decided to study abroad, as well. He knew he wanted to spend time in an English speaking country to improve his English, and between the two colleges SeoulTech had partnered with, Yoo felt that Lamar had the better educational infrastructure.

“I want to be more fluent in English and find out video marketing industry around Beaumont and Houston. If I can find out the industry I’m looking for, it would lead me to work in the USA. But first, I want to improve my English as much as I can,” said Yoo. 

Yoo wasted no time settling into Lamar’s on-campus community. Currently he is a member of Cardinals Beyond Borders, but due to his interest in making cinematic videos both about travel and everyday life he also plans to join a film-related club before returning to SeoulTech next semester. Since Yoo is pursuing a career related to film, he hopes the experience he gains in the film club will benefit him in the future as a professional.

However, of all the experiences Yoo had while visiting Lamar, there is one in particular he was the most happy about. “The best thing in this exchange program is that I met my girlfriend. I’m so proud and happy,” said Yoo. “She is trying to come to my university as an exchange student, like I did. I hope she gets accepted and we can travel around Korea and other Asian countries together.”