Do you happen to know the difference between machines and mankind? Let’s take a moment to think about it. Imagine that you are using an old machine that used to work well, what would you do if the machine is no longer working properly and it is unusable? I assume that most of you would probably throw it away at the speed of light. The reason? Because it is designed for a specific purpose and once it has gotten bad in its condition, it is surely difficult to upgrade itself. We humans, however, evolve ourselves by experiencing, learning, and thinking. This is the difference between the two.

As the standard of living in Korea has been better and better, and our economy has been vastly improved, the number of elderly people entering school has been increased and it has become a new booming trend in Korea. At this moment, perhaps you wonder why they would ever need education. There are three reasons why the old would like to enter a college.

First of all, one reason is that old people want to do business. According to Korean Business Magazine, almost one fifth of the old are planning to do a venture business. Moreover, it is because after they are retired, some want to do their own business to feel they are still financially and physically robust. Others say that since the retirement from a company, they have felt lonely, so they have started business to meet people and socialize themselves again.

Second of all, some of the elderly go to school to actually learn something. If you think about it, you would understand. Some elderly people are illiterates. In the past, when they were going through the Korean War or When Korea was a colony of Japan, they had no time to educate themselves. Instead, they were busy either struggling at their daily war-like lives or educating their children, not themselves again! Nowadays colleges for the elderly provide them with high-quality educational programs and activities. For this reason, old people go to school.

Lastly, old people who are already in business of their own and need friends go to school to find new friends, business partners, and potential partners. For instance, my father has been running a business and one day he felt he needed to build a new business network that might help him in many ways. The next thing I know is that he entered a college and met many people while studying there. Another example is my grand mother. Since my grandfather passed away in 1976, she has dedicated herself to raising six children herself. As you can imagine, she has never had a chance to have friends. However, since she entered a college, she said that she has never felt lonely.

In conclusion, as we have looked through, significantly improved economy has brought us better lives as well as many more opportunities to educate ourselves. As a result, like my father and grandmother benefited from late started learning in colleges, colleges offer many educational programs and activities to the elderly and flourish their lives in terms of business chances, opportunities to learn and make new friends. As far as I am concerned, these are the three main reasons why the old have been flocking to colleges.