Skip to main content

How COVID-19 affected GKS Scholars of 2020

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog!

If you already have seen my previous posts, you already know that I was a recipient of the Global Korea Scholarship (GKS) 2020. To tell you, I am not yet in South Korea. I was supposed to be at my University last August 5, 2020. We have been affected and the student visa processing was temporarily banned. Countries banned were the Philippines, Indonesia, Russia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Kyrgyzstan.

Now, other countries such as Pakistan, Russia, and Indonesia are able to process student visas but we, here in the Philippines, are still temporarily banned.

I just don't understand the basis of this restriction. I know we have this pandemic but why other countries that have the most number of COVID-19 cases were able to process?

In my case, I already took a Leave of Absence for six (6) months in my university. NIIED allows LOA for one (1) year provided you have a valid reason. Other universities offer online classes but once you take online classes, you still cannot have the scholarship stipend because you are simply not in Korea. Stipend runs when you are already in Korea.

This is what happened to us - just hanging, waiting. This is true for Graduate and Undergraduate Scholars of 2020.

COVID-19 really affected us a lot. As a Graduate Scholar, I do not have a job anymore because, upon the release of the Official Results, I and the others also have resigned from their respective jobs in order to prepare for the departure - TB Tests, VISA, and so on.

The situation for other scholars who were already in Korea are also affected. They are taking their classes ONLINE, even though they reside just within the University.

I hope, for those applying this February 2021 (Graduate) and October 2021 (Undergraduate), things will be smooth for you. The vaccine is also already there. Hang in there. Continue to apply no matter what if that is really your dream.

This is what I would like to share, a dream come true just affected by COVID-19, but all of us are fighting! :)

Thank you for reading.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

GKS FAQs: Recommendation Letters

Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog :) A lot of you are worried about the recommendation letter. I made this post to help you become calm and at ease. Recommendation letters are a crucial part of the scholarship application process but don't let that stress you out! Here are some information and tips on how you can prepare and complete your RLs. Recommendation Letter 1. How to Start? First, you may use the previous GKS Form for this section ONLY . This is to help you become prepared as they usually open the scholarship application around 2nd week of February and then closes about 3rd week of March. Last year, they posted February 11~March 15, 2020.  The deadline depends if you are EMBASSY TRACK (depends on the Korean Embassy in your country) and if you are UNIVERSITY TRACK (depends on the university you are applying to). Sample Recommendation Form 2. Go to your previous university - print out that form and ask your professors to fill in the details and attach additional paper for h...
Post a Comment
Read more

GKS 공지사항: [University Track-2nd Round Result] 2024 GKS Undergraduate Degree Program

 Congratulations to the New GKS 2024 Successful Undergraduate Passers! See Link:  GKS 2024 UNDERGRADUATE PASSERS Sample View. AGAIN, CONGRATULATIONS!
2 comments
Read more

GKS FAQs: How do I submit my GKS Application Forms?

Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog! Congratulations on finishing your application forms. I know you spent a lot of time processing requirements and documents. So, it is time for you to finally submit it. Yehey! but....how? See below my tips on how to send your GKS application forms for both tracks. Submitting GKS forms: Embassy Track Hooray! This is the easiest compared to University Track (in most cases, except, if you are a foreigner in South Korea who lives near the University to which you are applying, haha). If you are near the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in your home country , then you may submit it personally. If you are far from the embassy, just submit it via courier of your choice. In any case, since you are just submitting to the embassy within  your country, expenses will be cheap compared to University Track. Submitting GKS forms: University Track Once you have made up your mind to that one and only one university which you want to be in, submit it via courier. ...
6 comments
Read more