I received my Ph.D. from the Department of Culture Contents at Hanyang University ERICA in August 2025. After earning my doctoral degree, I continued my research, and at that time, I was also working on a paper with my academic advisor. While we were discussing our research, I learned about MSDC 2025 through an introduction from my advisor, Professor Kenneth Kim, and he suggested that I participate as a presenter. I told him that I would do it without the slightest hesitation.
In fact, I had long dreamed of presenting my research at an international conference. It was a dream I had held since 2016, when I was in my master’s program. I had always hoped that one day, after becoming a doctor, I would stand on an international stage, discuss research with doctors and scholars from many different countries, and share insights with them. However, without any meaningful connection, such an opportunity was not easy to create on my own, and without any information or prior experience, approaching an international conference felt extremely difficult. In that moment, my professor’s suggestion felt as though a dream I had carried for a very long time was finally coming into reality. I was deeply excited and thrilled, and above all, the fact that I would be participating together with my advisor gave me a great sense of reassurance and support rather than fear.
Because this would be my first presentation at an international conference, I wanted to prepare as thoroughly as possible. I did not have major difficulty writing a paper in English, but I felt that I was still not perfectly smooth when it came to communicating quickly in real time, so I recognized that I had some limitations in that area. For that reason, I carefully prepared a presentation script, and I planned to practice reading it repeatedly and sufficiently. However, at that time, I was spending my first semester as a newly appointed university lecturer. I had to prepare for my classes while also carrying out other ongoing research projects and many additional responsibilities. As a result, preparing for the presentation took much more time than I had expected. Nevertheless, during the final ten days or so before the presentation, I focused on preparing for it and tried to raise its level of completion as much as possible.
My advisor went to Bangkok ahead of me because of another schedule, and I arrived in Bangkok the day before the conference on a very tight schedule. Finally, the day of the conference arrived, and thanks to my advisor, I was able to meet many new people there. As I met them, I tried to understand what role each person had, and contrary to what I had expected, the atmosphere of the conference was quite comfortable and open. However, even while I was listening to other people’s presentations, my mind remained busy with thoughts about my own presentation, which was coming soon.
Then, at last, it was time for my presentation. I delivered the presentation by reading the script I had prepared. Since I felt that my English was still lacking, I was somewhat worried that my presentation might sound unnatural or that the content of my research might be delivered awkwardly to the audience. In truth, I had told myself that I would not be nervous, even though this was my first research presentation on an international stage. But once I actually began presenting, I could not help feeling somewhat nervous. Even so, one thing was clear: this experience became an extremely valuable and meaningful one for me.
There was one more memorable incident. Considering the local internet environment, I had downloaded the video materials for my presentation in advance and inserted them into the PowerPoint file. However, because of that, the file size became too large, and when the PowerPoint file was opened on the local computer, it did not run smoothly. Eventually, the PowerPoint temporarily froze, creating an unexpected situation. I was momentarily flustered, but I did my best to remain calm and continue my presentation.
After the presentation, I was left with a sense of regret about my English ability. In terms of the content of the research, I believed that I had prepared it well enough, but it was true that I still lacked the ability to deliver it naturally and effectively in English. However, my participation in this international conference was not simply an experience of presenting research. I was able to stand on the international conference stage that I had dreamed of for so long, share academic work in the same space with researchers from many countries, and directly experience the atmosphere and operation of an international conference. I also came to realize clearly that, in order to present my research with greater confidence at international conferences in the future, I need to continue improving my English presentation skills and real-time communication ability. My first international conference presentation at MSDC 2025 became an important turning point that allowed me to grow one step further as a researcher, and it was a deeply meaningful experience that strengthened my goal of continuing to participate in international academic exchange and becoming a more developed researcher.
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