We live each day with a dream.Dream is what we carry as we go through our days.

There are many who strive to achieve their dreams.

However, on the other hand, there are friends who have not yet found their dreams.

To those children,

"Dreams will come if you wait."

"If you work hard, you will find something you want to do."

We say words full of hope.

But...

"You have to have a dream. What will you do later if you still don't have one?"

"Your dream is OO. Wake up from your futile dream!"

"What? You were destined to do this from birth!"

These are words heard by teenagers.

If you look around, more children than you think

are being criticized just because they don't have a "dream."

School, academy, home. And even at home, they cannot rest comfortably.

Unspoken pressure awaits them.

"Did today also pass by too meaninglessly, unlike others?"

At that thought, the children lower their heads and cannot face the world.

The place that once served as a sanctuary"Room" as a space,

"Bed" as an object, no longer offers comfort.

They simply,

blame themselves in a room where all the lights are off.

The most comfortable space becomes the most uncomfortable one.

"Now, let's take a personality type test."- From chapter 1 of the main text

Perhaps, these words were the scariest for the children.

The only thing the children could say was this one line.

"Yes. Yes. Yes. I understand." - From the prologue of the main text

That was all.

No matter how hard they tried, they couldn't write a single word.

Especially,"Career and academic section" in particular.

So we end up writing down just anything.

If not,

We write down the job of "doctor" that our parents want, just like the protagonist of this book.

Thinking that my friends are ahead of me, I end up blaming my own shabby self.

That is how we become adults.

What these people need is not just words of comfort like, "Just have a dream."

This is,the young adult novel <Still Clumsy>, the reason it was born.

Now, it begins.

I have a dream. But before I had that dream,

I went through a time when I was anxious because I had no dream.

Looking around, rather than kids running toward their dreams,

there were more kids who hated themselves because they had no dream.

This book <Still Clumsy> is not a story about how to achieve your dreams.
Rather,for kids who have not yet found their dreams,

it is a story I started because I wanted to give them a little time to catch their breath.

"Is it wrong not to have a dream?"
Rather than giving a definite answer to this question, I wanted to say that it's okay to live while holding onto that question. However, this story is not just for students. We all strive to have dreams, and the moment we find our dreams is different for everyone.

Hello. I am the author of this book, Suhwan Jung.

The book <Still Clumsy> follows the inner world of teenagers who have stopped in front of entrance exams and career choices.A young adult novel It is. I am the author of this book, Suhwan Jung.

Currently, I am studying at the College of Education in Seoul, double majoring in Mathematics Education, aspiring to become a teacher. My dream is not to be a "teacher." In fact, until high school, I wanted to major in business administration. People who run businesses looked really cool to me. When I was in elementary school, I wanted to be a pilot, and in middle school, I wanted to be a local guide in Italy. In my first year of middle school, I traveled to Europe with my family, and Rome was so impressive. But after that, I started hearing stories of people who succeeded in business, and I made them my role models. That's why I liked being a leader. I always wanted to take the lead and be ahead of others.

However, my college entrance exam results were not as good as I had hoped. In the end, I had to spend my brilliant twenties at a cram school. I would wake up at 7 a.m. and study until 11:30 p.m., and during the whole day, I only touched my phone for 10 minutes. Because my grades were not good, I was placed in the lowest class. But in just two months, I raised my math grade from level 5 to level 1. However, my classmates struggled a lot with math. That wasn't all. While I was slowly improving, I saw friends who, despite doing well in other subjects, couldn't get into their desired schools because of math and had their dreams crushed.

Many people misunderstand, but I amin the liberal arts track.

Q. Why are you good at math even though you're in the liberal arts track?

A. I especially liked math.

I have liked math since I was young. Not being good at science was also a reason I chose the liberal arts track. I wanted to major in business administration, but I changed my mind 10 minutes before the application deadline and decided to enter the Department of Education. I wanted to help students achieve their dreams. It was to help friends who didn't have high math achievement, or whose dreams were crushed because of math. But it actually became a disadvantage. The path I walked wasthe path of the "liberal arts",not the path of the "sciences".

Suddenly, that thought came to me.

"Dreams. Do we really need them?"

Looking around, I saw many friends living happily without dreams. But our society always forces us to have dreams. Why do you think that is?

"In the self-introduction, there was a section for the career my parents wanted and a separate section for the career I wanted." - From <Still Clumsy> Chapter 1

Consciously or unconsciously, we made choices and gradually narrowed our own paths.

When we try to turn back and take a different path,

"If you do that, everything you've done so far will be for nothing."

"You want to change now? Isn't it too late?"

I realized that maybe we are more easily swayed than we think. I, too, have heard those words many times. Well, I did say I wanted to be a math teacher even though I was in the liberal arts. Who wouldn't try to stop me? Haha...

The book <Still Clumsy> is not just a simple youth novel. For some, it may bring empathy; for others, memories; and for some, perhaps regret. And after reading this book, it will be your turn. What do I mean by that?

I will not give you"the answer".

That's right. In a way, this book might seem irresponsible. However, if someone were to define the word "dream," our lives would not be the ones we want, but lives forced into molds created by others.

I like challenges. And this challenge is quite a big one. At university, I am just a student attending lectures, but now, as a new writer, I am stepping out into the world. As someone who loves schools and students, I couldn't just stand by and watch children struggle.

That's why I started writing this book,and through Barunbooks Publishing it will be published.

And before this book is released to the world, I wanted to let people know about it, so I started Wadiz.

People who must read this book!

✔ Teenagers who feel anxious because they don't have a dream
✔ Students who often get tongue-tied when asked about their career path
✔ Adults who want to understand the time before finding a dream
✔ For everyone who wishes it were allowed to say, "I still don't know."

See you in the book, everyone.

Sincerely, Suhwan Jung.