By Jason KUROSU

In March 2009, Glendale entered into a Sister City agreement with Goseong-City, South Korea. As a way of building on this agreement, Glendale Community College has allowed for around 20 high school students from Goseong-City to enroll at GCC each semester.

This education-focused portion of the agreement was
finalized in a welcome reception held at Glendale Community College this November. Representatives and delegates from both the cities of Glendale and Goseong attended,
including Goseong Mayor
Hak-lul Lee and Glendale Mayor Ara Najarian, along with college staff and students.

The reception was a celebration of the bridging of the two cities and the possibilities of educational growth.

“Goseong students usually have to go through rigorous steps to get to the U.S.,” said Chang Lee, a Korean American businessman involved with the Sister City agreement. “This agreement streamlines the process.”

Having students enroll directly from high school in Korea in
this fashion is not only a first for Goseong-City; it is a first for any city in Korea. Indeed, Chang Lee and Goseong mayor Hak-lul Lee were very excited about the prospect of more educational possibilities in the U.S. for Goseong students.

“As mayor, I’ve wanted to make this the best educational city in the country,” said Mayor Lee, who was educated in the U.S. at the University of Texas at Austin. “This [agreement] will be helpful for the college and the city. Goseong’s students will make great students.”

In a further presentation of what could be expected from this newly found union between the cities, Korean students who currently attend Glendale Community College spoke of their experiences moving from Korea to attend school in the U.S. Pedro Kim, a chemical engineering major who has been attending GCC for the past two years, said, “I have been fortunate for this educational opportunity, to work with top-notch instructors and state of the art technology.”

The reception culminated in a signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, solidifying the union that will send 20 Goseong students to Glendale each semester. Mayor Lee and Glendale Community College superintendent and president Dawn Lindsay signed the memorandum, adding a concrete building block to the agreement signed last March.

  GCC, south korea students