Do you think that there is a path we must all follow in life? There isn’t. However, society likes to pretend that there is an answer to success in life. This atmosphere curtails various lifestyles and standardizes human beings. The world says that having a dream is important and tells young people that they must have a big dream. Society tries to directly connect the existence of dreams to happiness. Consequently, young people who cannot find a dream have feelings of uneasiness because the social pressure put upon them. Does the existence or nonexistence of a dream have an enormous influence on young people’s happiness? Through an interview with people in their 20s, Pharos tried to discover how this social atmosphere positively or negatively affects people’s values concerning dreams.

 ‘A Dream’ Interview 

Q1. What does a dream mean?

English Language and Literature Cho00 (2023): I think a dream is an output of self-realization. For example, having a desired job, earning a satisfactory income, and gaining respect from others, etc.

Department of Law NamGoong00 (2021): I think a dream is thinking ‘What should I do now to prepare for the future?’ I don’t have a dream yet but I’m agonizing about what I should do to achieve my future dream.

Fine Art and Management Chung00 (2017/graduate): I think a dream is the goals that I wish to accomplish in my life rather than just thinking of dreams regarding one’s career. I think having a dream means not merely focusing on occupation but rather on goals to accomplish in my life.

Q2. Do you have a concrete dream? If not, do you feel anxiety because of the lack of a dream?

English Language and Literature Cho00 (2023): I have a dream now, but before I chose my dream, I had pressure and stress from people around me and society in general because they said to me, “Choose a specific dream ahead of time!”

Department of Law NamGoong00 (2021): I don’t, but I guess my dream is to have a job that lets me live an ordinary life without fear and with family and friends. I’ve never felt anxiety but I feel that I could live my life more earnestly if I had had a dream.

Fine Art and Management Chung00 (2017/graduate): I don’t have a dream yet. I feel that I lose my confidence when I see my friends who decide on one direction and keep working toward their dream. Also, I feel anxious that I don’t have a sense of belonging after graduation. I feel I’m just going around in circles in the uncertain atmosphere of modern society which changes fast.

Q3. Do you think having a dream and ambition is an important value for living your life?

English Language and Literature Cho00 (2023): Yes. I think it is important to set a goal in life. Specific dreams and ambitions help create a sense of a goal.

Department of Law NamGoong00 (2021): No. I don’t think choosing a calm and normal life is a big deal. However, if you have specific dreams and ambitions, and if you have a great desire for them, you will be able to focus more on your current life.

Fine Art and Management Chung00 (2017/graduate): Yes, because I think dreams and ambitions are the driving force for each person’s life and can give reasons and meanings for life.

Q4. Do you think there is an answer regarding the path of life?

English Language and Literature Cho00 (2023): No, but I think there is a successful path of life that socty has set. For example, entering a socially recognizable university, earning high grades, succeeding in getting a job as soon as you graduate from college, and getting a stable job, etc.

Department of Law NamGoong00 (2021): No. There is an atmosphere to avoid the words “manly” and “womanly” in modern society. How can there be a path for human life in this era? In the age of 50 million people, there will be 50 million paths in life.

Fine Art and Management Chung00 (2017/graduate): No. The path of life is different for each individual. Moreover, I think there is no right answer because each life is decided by the individual.

Q5. Do you think having dreams and being happy in life are directly related?

English Language and Literature Cho00 (2023): No. I don’t think achieving a dream is the only way to live a happy life because there are many things to give up and lose in the process of achieving a dream.

Department of Law NamGoong00 (2021): No. One’s life cannot be concluded as unhappy just because they don’t have a dream. I can live a more developed life, but I don’t want to generalize that a dream is directly related to happiness in life.

Fine Art and Management Chung00 (2017/graduate): No. I think I can be happy regardless of my dream. Dreams are only the driving force behind my life, and happiness in life is determined by myself according to my mood and attitude in any given situation.

Through interviews, we examined how young people of different ages have an attitude toward dreams and life, also how much is influenced by external influences, that is, social atmosphere, on the formation of values for people in their 20s. It is positive in that not only does the dream materialize and become a reality as senior year progresses, but also the direction of life shows more focus on the inner self, not outward appearances. However, ironically, there is also more anxiety at this time. As they approach the stage of graduation and employment, which is a frame created by society, the worries and mental burdens of young people seem to be considerable. Among them, there was a student who answered, “The question of asking me about my dream sometimes feels stressful, and every time I hear that question, I really feel that I have to make a fake dream.” Nevertheless, why do people in their 20s who design their lives at their own pace feel anxious?

 Our society shines the spotlight on those who achieve big dreams through ambition. On the other hand, the lives of those who live in pursuit of simple happiness do not receive much attention compared to them. Just as people are more immersed in fantastic stories in the media such as novels and movies, they are more easily fascinated by the unlikely and dramatic stories of real people. In order to escape anxiety, even people who don’t have a dream in reality often assume something plausible as a dream. However, this is actually just an act of imitation, not a reflection of their own lives. Therefore, Pharos would like to convey the importance of actively living as the subject of one’s life because there is a possibility of being happy either way regardless of the existence or absence of a dream.

79th Reporter • YUN SI O • ysbcindy1026@naver.com