Two years since 2022, when the Student Council had been elected for the first time in three years, the failure to elect a new Student Council has led to the continuation of an acting-Student Council system. The hope that maybe the student society—which had fallen into stagnation since COVID-19—has been revitalized after the resumption of in-person classes was only temporary. Once again, we find ourselves in arduous times.

What is the reason behind low student participation? My personal diagnosis is that the expansion of individualistic culture, and the status-quo which arises from that, wherein people put their interests first, is the primary cause. Individual students think negatively of what benefits the representative organization called “Student Council” can bring. That is natural though, as the Student Council was vocal in higher-level discussions up to the early 2010s, and gradually raised agendas that were distant from student lives. It seems the accumulation of such hours has led to the sharp decline in student participation.

But the Student Council no longer only vocalizes echoes related to higher-level discussions. <Midnight>, the Student Council elected in 2022, put in much effort to change such paradigms, and <Noon>, the Student Council that followed, worked to continue that transformed paradigm. It tried to take initiative in excavating, asking and solving the adversities—or small dissatisfactions and problems—that individual students felt attending school. It proved the need for its existence by solving problems that were difficult for individuals to tackle, such as wanting more power outlets in classrooms, wanting longer opening hours for the library, creating a new shuttle bus route that takes a left towards the College of Business Administration after passing through the main gate, or solving the problem of Gwanak Mountain’s stray dogs.

These were, ultimately, movements to prove that participating in student government can bring great benefits in the areas of personal rights, interests and welfare. Now the Student Council moves in that direction. A Student Council that operates with that standard can sometimes also vocalize society’s problems. It solves diverse problems that we all want resolved, however, are hard for individuals to tackle, but still need to change. And all of this, though it sounds grandiose, starts from a very small movement. That is participating in student government, and being a little more invested. Casting a vote when there are student elections, looking at different student society projects with a more affectionate gaze; from these small things start the assurance and enhancement of one’s individual rights and interests.

The author is Seoul National University’s acting-Student Council President, and an undergraduate student at the Department of Agricultural Economics and Rural Development. The contribution was submitted in Korean and translated by The SNU Quill. –Ed.