[Humans of SICA]Margeunsaem Lee: If I had only one hour to save the world...

1. You are selected as the next interviewee of Humans of SICA by seohyun How do you feel?

Thank you Seohyun! I appreciate her selecting me as the next interviewee because honestly, I didn’t see this coming. I am very excited but at the same time nervous to share my thoughts and experiences regarding SICA. I hope my story reaches to all who have been a part of or had the opportunity to encounter SICA and lastly, those who are still hesitant to apply SICA yet.

2. Please introduce yourself :)

Hi everyone!

My name is Margeunsaem Lee, and I am currently majoring in Sustainable Development and Cooperation. I like to listen to music, play flute, and visit 교보문고 whenever I have spare times to read random genres of books.

Unfortunately, you won’t be able to find me at school because I am taking my next semester off to pursue my internship at Heyground.

As a community manager of Heyground, I assist “changemakers” who are initiating changes in the social sectors to tackle the social problems through business and financial platforms.

I believe that through this experience, I will not only be able to broaden my perspective as to defining ‘innovative solution’ of currently existing social problems but also learn the art of cooperation within organizations of identical aim.

3. You were the part of the winner team, can you explain about team Re-Born briefly?

Re-Born is a lifestyle brand devoted to solve 2 specific social problems: paper waste problems on Yonsei University International Campus, and freshmen lack of schedule management skills. We have collaborated those two problems to create a socially innovative solution: a RE-Born scheduler. Our scheduler is unique, apart from other campaign models that deal with similar social problems. We value “premiumization,” and we are using that key value to expand our business on our RE-Born schedulers. We have an ambition to grow into a lifestyle brand, and improve our customer’s overall living quality.

Other than the product and the job description of our team, the profile of the team is simply amazing. We had our meetings at least once in two days during the semester to make our progress. I sincerely love our team members.

4. How do you compare SICA to a food? I believe that SICA is like 화계. When we eat 화계, we gather together to prepare and wait for the food to be delivered. Once it’s here, we get the 장갑 on our hands and dig into the food. Then, we regret the next morning for having those painful digestive troubles. Despite of the trouble, we cannot help ourselves from this vicious cycle because we find 화계 attractive enough that it is worth the stomachache. I believe that this entire procedure of getting, eating, and digesting 화계 draws a parallel to that of SICA. When we select the social problem to tackle, we get together to brainstorm idea to the fullest, design a campaign and a business model. After the painful process, we we find our presentation and sharing moments with our peers and professors rewarding. Of course, the procedure of brainstorming, taking our actions, researching, defining is too much of a challenge that at the end, one always thinks this is a painful procedure not to be repeated. Then, ironically, we find ourselves again starting off a new project to tackle another issue that we are interested in.

5. What is your favorite movie or book?!

This is a difficult question. My favorite movie is 신과함께 and Lala Land. I especially am mesmerized by the music and the scenery portrayed in the movie. The ending remains to be debatable, and I am also still unsure if it’s still a sad or happy ending.

6. What is your own definition of Social Innovation? The definition of social innovation varies from one individual to another. I believe that social innovation is yielding a solution by tackling two different problems simultaneously. Rather than coming up with a distinct solution to tackle the prevalent problem, we thought that an innovative solution was utilizing another existent problem as a solving means.

For example, “Open-Closet” project lessens the burden of the expensive suits for the job interviewees by borrowing suits from adults whom no longer wear their suits. In that way, the young job interviewees could rent the suit at a relative cheap price, and the adults whose attires are stuck in their closet could lessen their loads of clothing.

Quite similarly, Re-born serves as a social innovation because we yield the two already existent problems of freshmen: paper waste and time management skills into one solution, scheduler made of 이면지.

7. How did you get into SICA? There were numerous reasons. I first encountered SICA through its Facebook Page. I was fascinated by the diverse activities engage in to initiate innovative change in social sectors. Furthermore, I was surprised that I could actualize the projects through the funding that I planned out from the start. And of course, seeing the members traveling around the world seemed like an unprecedented chance for me to share my ideas and thoughts with other workers in the same field around the globe. Although I am no longer a part of SICA now, I have enjoyed my two semesters as a SICA member to the fullest.

8. Do you have a favorite saying or motto?

I don’t have a specific motto for my life yet. But I like the quote “If I had only one hour to save the world, I would spend fifty-five minutes defining the problem, and only five minutes finding the solution.” I especially like this quote because I find it very much applicable to my life at the moment.

I used to find a definite answer to my career paths after a short period of a certain activity or academic career. However, I began to think that the career path is not an end point, but also another flow and procedure.

Like my name, life itself is a flowing river. The internship, activities, academia, and other academic careers all build fundamental foundation for my ultimate identity. In order to find solution, or ultimate goal for my career path, spending fifty-five minutes to seek and investigate my path will be the foundation. I constantly remind myself of this quotation and now have I freed myself from the burden to seek the immediate answer to my career path.

9. This campaign is a relay. Please select the person to interview next. Once again, I would like to thank Seohyun for granting me such opportunity. Next up, I would like to nominate Yoonho for the next interview! Thank you SICA!