"What's Your International IQ?"

North Korea, formally the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, is bordered by China and Russia, and separated by the Korean Demilitarized Zone from South Korea. It professed to be a Juche, meaning self-reliant, state. This theory of government was implement by its founder and former ruler, Kim Il-sung- around whom a cult of personality has been fostered- and added to its constitution in 1972. Officially, North Korea is a socialist republic, although many people consider it a totalitarian dictatorship similar to Stalin’s Soviet Union. Most of its strengths and weaknesses stem from this governmental structure.

Understandably, North Korea’s strengths include its military, health care, and education system. The army has four branches: the Ground Force, the Naval Force, the Air Force, and The State Security Department. It is the fifth-largest military in the world with over 1.2 million members who account for 20 percent of the men between the ages of 17 and 54. Furthermore, North Korea has a totally government-run, state-controlled economy. The only other nation in the world like this is Cuba. This benefits its people from the standpoint that their taxes pay for universal healthcare and education (which is compulsory until the secondary level). Not only does the state provide free instruction, it also provides children with free uniforms and materials. Other strengths of the nation include low pollution rates, inexpensive tourism costs, and warm climates.

Many challenges face the people of North Korea as well, also as a result of the leadership of their country. One of these is malnourishment. Economic reforms in 2002 led to inflation, which increased the price of basic foods. A survey conducted in 2006 by Amnesty International found that 7% of the children are severely malnourished, 37% were chronically malnourished, and 23.4% were underweight.

In fact, many human rights are nonexistent in North Korea. The government controls every aspect of the people’s lives with the use of propaganda, and severely limits the political and economic rights of its people. North Korea is one of the most homogenous countries in the world. Kim Il-sung is worshipped almost as a god in their culture, and any dissention is rooted out. Because of this tourism and foreign trade are highly restricted and the economy and foreign relations suffer. The lack of trade leaves little room for the economy to grow.

One of the most detrimental weaknesses that North Korea has is its negative foreign relations status. Trade is already severely restricted, and the fall of communism meant that many of the resources being provided for the nation by places like Russia and China have decline significantly. In addition, China requested that the number of refugees fleeing from North Korea be curbed, so a concrete and barbed wire fence was erected along that border. Even worse than that is its relations with most Western nations are poor. North Korea refuses both to join and to cooperate with efforts of the United Nations, meaning that world powerhouses such as the United States and Britain are against their government. The people thereby suffer because the aid provided by these countries is limited because they do not trust that the government will disburse the materials fairly. North Korea is, however, friendly with its socialist companions in the southeast, Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia.

North Korea still has many weaknesses that will only be cured with time. But it has shown some hope for improvement. In 2000, both Koreas signed the June 15^th North-South Joint Declaration, promising to make peaceful attempts at reunification. North Korea is firm, though, in its intent to have no outside interference in this matter. Also, before a shooting in 2008 of a South Korean tourist, there had been a special tourism zone created for American and South Korean tourists to visit called the Kumgangsan Tourist Region, although admittedly this area was made up to be falsely inviting. Hopefully, though, these small efforts to reach out are signs of better days to come.

My Educational Journey

I was one of the lucky ones. I was born into a family full of teachers, including both of my parents, so learning was fostered from the beginning. By the age of four I could already read. And I remember that when I was young, my parents would play The

Alphabet Game with us (my brother Malcolm, cousins, and me) on car trips and would encourage us to beat the cash register with the correct amount of change. If we did, we got to keep the coins. We did not know it then, but they were giving us essential tools for learning. To this day, I am a whiz at mental math when my friends have to take out calculators. But I will not attribute all my success to the adults in my life. Undoubtedly, they had their impact. However, you can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink. I played an active role in my educational journey as well.

From a young age, I have known that I am very smart. When I entered kindergarten, I remember being highly unamused by the songs the teacher played to teach us the sounds of the letters. I could already read. So my parents and the teacher sat down and discussed what to do to challenge and stimulate me. They set up a sort of bridge program where I went to a first grade classroom until their lunchtime, then went to my p.m. kindergarten class. I loved the time I spent in Mr. Hooker’s first grade class, and thankfully the other children welcomed me. It was soon determined that I should be skipped. I only actually spent forty-four days in kindergarten. First grade was a blast; Mr. Hooker could not have been a more wonderful match for me. I scored in the ninety-ninth percentile on my standardized tests that year, and from there I hit the ground running.

In the second grade I went to a private school where I was in a combination class with third and fourth graders. My teacher would always have me do the lessons with the fourth graders. I tested Gifted that year and the next year entered the Magnet program at Baldwin Hills Elementary School. I was finally in classes full of other children of equal intellect. We read Harry Potter and the Sorceror’s Stone in the third grade! And in the fifth grade, we did extensive research and presented a report on the different body systems.

Middle school was a breeze to me. I was in a Gifted Magnet, so all the children in my classes were Gifted as well. I got straight A’s all three years, because by that point I had determined to be the best. It was also during these years that I came into my social graces. Until eighth grade, I was awkward, preferring to read in the classroom at nutrition and lunch than to go out with my classmates and play. Needless to say, the other children generally did not much like me. I still cannot explain exactly what happened, but that year I figured out how to be both academically and socially excellent, which has been an invaluable lesson.

Then I went to high school, and it was a whole new world! I remember freshman year as vividly as though it were just last week. In my first month at Westchester High School, I discovered the Academic Recognition Night. For each grade level, if a student has earned a 3.5 or higher cumulative grade point average, they are given special recognition and awards at Academic Recognition Night. The twelfth graders receive a (free!) letterman’s jacket. I determined right then that I would be on that stage to receive my jacket in my senior year.

In high school, I took only the most rigorous course load offered. I took AP classes every year starting in the tenth grade. Some course my school only offered every other year, so those I took at a local community college through a dual enrollment program. Of course, I did not allow my extra-curriculars to suffer. I firmly believe that being smart is not enough, one must be more than just good test scores. I played sports all four years, and was named Varsity Captain of both my Cross Country and Track and

Field teams. I was a College Peer Counselor. I got involved with California’s Youth and Government Model Legislature and Court program. I also joined my School’s We Volunteer for Westchester Club, and volunteered over two hundred hours one summer as a Counselor-in-Training at the local YMCA. I graduated tied for third in my class, with a grade point average of 4.3. I was a National Achievement Scholarship Finalist and an AP Scholar with Distinction, as well as being on the President’s Honor Roll all four years. And, I got my Academic Jacket! In fact, with all the credits I transferred over from AP tests I passed and community college classes I took, I am

already classified as a sophomore in college. And I was invited to join the College of Arts and Sciences Honors Program.

I decided to come to Howard University mainly for the money that they offered me. I did not know much about the school, but that they had a reputation for churningout the best and the brightest. I have a cousin who is an alumna, and practically everyone I talked to about this school knows of at least one Howard success story. Since I have been here, I have been intrigued by the sheer excellence surrounding me. People from all walks of life have

been and are currently being molded into greatness here. It is hard to be so far from home, but I am sure that this will be a growing experience like no other, and I will be rewarded beyond measure for all my hard work.