“Policies may change, but the ‘essence’ of studying will not.”
The Essentials of Studying That Korean Students and Parents Must Know

The average private education participation rate among elementary, middle, and high school students in Korea is approaching 80%, and students are studying an overwhelmingly greater amount of material compared to the past.
It is a world where everyone is passionate about 'studying'.
But not everyone gets the results they want from the entrance exam.
Even if you actively participate in private education from elementary school, studying without any strategy and pretending to study will eventually fall apart when you enter the college entrance exams.

This book poses the fundamental question of "Why do we have to study? Is getting good grades the only purpose of studying?" to apathetic students who are pressured to study, and presents a seven-step study method that begins "real studying," providing them with a sense of challenge and motivation that "I can do it too."
For parents who have no choice but to place their hopes on private education due to anxiety, this book makes them think about 'what they really need to worry about for their children's better future, and what the role of parents is to make their children truly study.'

The end of 12 years of fake studying, spending money on education without having any precious memories with family and not getting satisfactory results in the entrance exam, is meaningless.
No matter how well parents know about college entrance exam information or how good their plans are, they are useless if their children do not give up and follow through.
Only by pursuing voluntary study, rather than forced study, can children not only succeed in the college entrance exam but also lead a fulfilling life.

Whether you do good deeds or do good deeds, you will never achieve the desired results in the college entrance exam without the innate talent and acquired effort of a student, also known as a bookworm.
No matter how prestigious an academy a student attends, if the student doesn't put in the effort, there will be no results.
And there are countless students across the country who succeed in the college entrance exam without relying on private academies.
Ultimately, the key factors for success in college entrance are prior knowledge, talent, and effort, but I believe that talent and effort are closer to the essence.

---p.25

Studying a lot without knowing your dreams is the worst combination.
Studying hard is a painful process.
It's much harder to sit at your desk and do homework and problems without playing than it is to lie down and watch YouTube.
But these days, children have no purpose in doing this difficult work.
Because you suffer every day without knowing your own dream, at some point you fall into serious depression.
I think this is also evident in research on children.

Studying only what you are told to do without knowing your own career path is a typical characteristic of fake studying.
Students who study every day without even knowing English are more likely to develop emotional problems.
For the sake of our children's mental health, we need to stop fake learning.

---p.60

I think I can't change because of the many factors around me, but in fact, I am the biggest obstacle to change.
Everyone experiences wanting to study well but having difficulty putting it into practice.
It's natural to find it difficult to even start because you think you won't be able to improve your grades.
Everyone goes through the process of studying hard but becoming frustrated with unchanging grades.
Any process you are going through is part of change.
Don't think that you can't achieve your goals because you're lacking something special.
Anyone can grow if they know the process of change accurately and practice it accurately.

---pp.118-119

If you really want to start studying, you have to start taking an interest in yourself.
In the process of finding out why you should study, it is closer to a tool needed in the process of self-realization.
You should first focus on why you study, not how you study.
That brings about a bigger change in behavior.
Action without purpose is like a journey without a destination.
It makes no sense to set out somewhere without a destination.
We spend most of our lives studying, but if we don't know the purpose of our studies, we can't even begin to truly study.
You need to start asking yourself seriously why you are studying.

---pp.135-136

What matters is you.
Any way of life is only a reference.
Only you can come up with the reason for your existence.
You need to stop studying by going back and forth between school and academy without thinking.
Even that is not a given.
If you are studying simply because of the social atmosphere, because of your parents, or because you are a student and you have to study, then that kind of studying is fake studying.
Real study begins with me.
I study for something because I want it.
Real study is much more active and passionate than fake study.

---p.207

They say there are no answers in education, but I even get the feeling that the parent generation is asking the wrong questions.
Looking at the current educational landscape, I get the impression that the focus is on "How can I study well and get the grades I want?"
If we focus too much on this question, we might miss the point.
Every parent in the world wants their children to live happy lives.
So then we need to change the question.

---p.288