On November 9, the “Reading My Life - The 3rd All-Night Reading” event was held at the C•C Plaza on the 5th floor of our university’s Main Library. This event has been prepared to provide students who are missing out on the enjoyment of reading with an opportunity to read for two straight days without sleeping with other students and make unforgettable memories with friends through various events. Celebrating its third anniversary since the opening in 2015, the event has gained so much popularity that the spots for participation are being filled up even before the application deadline.

On this day, the event kicked off with the Happy Reading lecture by Poet Jang Seok-ju at 7pm. With the title “Reading and Taking Control of My Life,” Poet Jang emphasized the importance of reading to the students based on his career as a writer and as an avid reader. He emphasized that the habit of reading is the result of active learning and effort by saying “In order to read, we need to first make efforts toward training our brain to read.” He also advised, “Don’t be afraid to fail in your attempts to achieve a satisfying life,” and “Even though the possibility of failure is higher when you take the less traveled road, that experience can become a priceless asset in your lives.”

After the lecture, the event continued with the opening speech from our university’s Main Library Director Kwon Seong-woo. Director Kwon said, “We are planning various events with the hopes to inspire Happy Reading culture in Sookmyungians and we hope the students can learn the joys of reading and take home meaningful experiences through this event.”

Starting from 9pm, the reading time for the participants was in full swing. The students scattered into groups of twos and threes and began reading in comfortable positions after choosing the book of their liking from selections such as 100 books selected by major universities and institutions in Korea, Top 100 Books selected by Newsweek, and 60 books selected by our teaching staff at the “Reading My Life Exhibition.”

As the clock announced the beginning of a new day at 12am, the “Book Treasure Hunt” event was held followed by snack time. Through the break, both the students exhausted from the battle to stay awake after long hours of reading and the students who were deeply immersed in their books had a time to recharge for the all night of reading ahead of them.

Finally, at 5am, the reading time was over and the 3rd All-Night Reading event came to a close after book review writing and lottery event. Participating student Lee Ah-jin (Division of Business Administration 2016) expressed her experience by saying “I always felt I didn’t have enough time to read books other than my major studies, but this event was a great opportunity to catch up on my reading through a variety of recommended books,” and “It was a new experience for me from the sense that I was able to completely focus on books and nothing else through various book-related events and reading time the event offered.”