January 5, 2022, 9:40 PM: Forming the first draft of SL
"On a cold night, as I wrestled with ISysE Maths, my mind started wandering in all possible and impossible dimensions, and a thought struck me: 'Could we, as students, make a lasting impact at KAIST?' That night led to two big changes. One was personal – a shift in my major. The other was collective – joining hands with close friends to establish the first Korean-International Club at KAIST.” — Adil
“Adil and I had a meeting at Cafe Eat in Dec 2021. He shared me an idea for spreading kaist students’ ability to those who need. I agreed, Jihyun agreed, Chala agreed. We did an initial meeting, and we wanted Silver Lining to be an officially listed club at KAIST. After two months of constant meetings, Silver Lining became one of the largest, and the most diverse, international club at KAIST. I’m thankful to those who followed our journey, and I hope Silver Lining could give us core memories in our college life, as well as giving what we have to others!!” — Sejoon
"Proud to be part of the Silver Lining since the inception. It brings me immense joy to know that we've contributed our fair share to the community living around Daejeon, and the impact we've created in uniting KAIST international and Korean students, nurturing social connections, fills me with pride. Working alongside fellow KAISTians, collaborating, ideating, and striving for a noble cause has been truly delightful. Here's to hoping for the best as we persist in our journey of making a meaningful difference!” — Chala
This organization will provide opportunities for current students, alumni, parents of students, and friends of KAIST to meet to serve the underprivileged sections of society. They will serve as KAIST’s advocates, articulating the role and direction of the university; to use their knowledge to create global values to benefit all of humanity. This organization will provide a common platform for all KAISTians to work together towards a shared goal, regardless of their backgrounds.
This organization is envisioned to become the melting point of all cultures at KAIST and shall be a beacon of the spirit of volunteerism not only in Daejeon but all over Korea.
Silver Lining is the first-ever Korean-international club at KAIST. It is the only club at KAIST that enables both international and Korean students to work together in close collaborations and engage in various volunteering programs in Daejeon, and along the way build close relationships.
The common thing among the founders was that they all joined KAIST in Spring 2020. Back then the gap between the international community and the Korean students at KAIST was quite easily immense. Then COVID-19 made these gaps even larger. To give you a few examples, most of the student-run clubs at KAIST were either exclusive to Korean students or were not able to accommodate international students because of language barriers. Most international students had little to no opportunities to join any club at KAIST. This situation of exclusivity in which international students had their own social circles and the Korean students had their own, was even carried forward in every walk of student life at KAIST whether it be academics or societal.
Being fortunate enough to experience very diverse friend circles, we (the founders) understood that the societal split at KAIST was not only because of the language barrier but also the lack of opportunities for these students to engage in meaningful bond-forming activities and the lack of student leadership in this case. Both the international and Korean students had their own student leaderships in the form of KISA and UA but their goals were different than to act to create a unified student body at KAIST. No matter how much effort was put by different departments at KAIST to create a harmonious culture, they would not be able to make any significant progress unless it were the students themselves who were trying to make a positive change.
Furthermore, we believe that as international students we should strive to serve the society we are living in. However, the language barrier hindered most students in this regard. Therefore, we decided to create a community at KAIST that would be the hallmark of a borderless, barrier-free, unified student body. This community was to be founded on the principles of helping others. In this community Korean students and international students were to work together in harmony, overcoming language and culture barriers to volunteer at different organizations. In the meantime learn to embrace the cultural differences that exist between them.