Do you have dreams of becoming South Korea’s next big star?
It could now become a reality thanks to SM Entertainment’s newly launched SM Universe Academy in Gangnam, Seoul, which has just welcomed its first students.
The school aims to offer specialised training to teenagers interested in different aspects of the Korean entertainment industry such as acting or dance through a three-year programme that will also have students take classes to study for their GED in lieu of a high school degree. A GED is the equivalency of high school and based on four subjects tests (language arts, maths, social students and science).
There are five majors currently being offered: producing, vocals, dance, modelling and acting. Each major has a capacity for 20 students, except for the vocals major which has capacity for 40, meaning that every semester, the academy will only accept 120 students but will also consider applicants from abroad.
It does, however, come at a price. Tuition for the vocals major is 10 million Korean won per term (about $7,650), while tuition for all other majors is 8.8 million Korean won ($6,733).
On the SM Universe Academy website, eligibility was open to those born between 2006 and 2009, had a middle school diploma, and complied with the training regulations of SM Universe, as well as passed an audition process. Applicants also had to submit a self-introduction essay of at least 500 words on why they wanted to apply for SMU, along with their future dreams and goals.
The next enrolment will take place in September, with an audition process sometime in July or August.
"SM Universe is a total arts educational institution under the vision of ‘Beyond Your Dream’," reads a statement on the school's website by its dean Jong Hwa-hong. "We will support you until the end so that you can grow into a global artist, along with your burning passion, integrity, and positive influence to the world."
SM Entertainment is one of South Korea’s biggest entertainment agencies, with K-pop acts Exo, BoA, Super Junior and Girls’ Generation among its current list of acts.
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Common OCD symptoms and how they manifest
Checking: the obsession or thoughts focus on some harm coming from things not being as they should, which usually centre around the theme of safety. For example, the obsession is “the building will burn down”, therefore the compulsion is checking that the oven is switched off.
Contamination: the obsession is focused on the presence of germs, dirt or harmful bacteria and how this will impact the person and/or their loved ones. For example, the obsession is “the floor is dirty; me and my family will get sick and die”, the compulsion is repetitive cleaning.
Orderliness: the obsession is a fear of sitting with uncomfortable feelings, or to prevent harm coming to oneself or others. Objectively there appears to be no logical link between the obsession and compulsion. For example,” I won’t feel right if the jars aren’t lined up” or “harm will come to my family if I don’t line up all the jars”, so the compulsion is therefore lining up the jars.
Intrusive thoughts: the intrusive thought is usually highly distressing and repetitive. Common examples may include thoughts of perpetrating violence towards others, harming others, or questions over one’s character or deeds, usually in conflict with the person’s true values. An example would be: “I think I might hurt my family”, which in turn leads to the compulsion of avoiding social gatherings.
Hoarding: the intrusive thought is the overvaluing of objects or possessions, while the compulsion is stashing or hoarding these items and refusing to let them go. For example, “this newspaper may come in useful one day”, therefore, the compulsion is hoarding newspapers instead of discarding them the next day.
Source: Dr Robert Chandler, clinical psychologist at Lighthouse Arabia
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What can victims do?
Always use only regulated platforms
Stop all transactions and communication on suspicion
Save all evidence (screenshots, chat logs, transaction IDs)
Report to local authorities
Warn others to prevent further harm
Courtesy: Crystal Intelligence
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
