Keyword College Entrance Exams

A story depicting the turmoil between the members of the exam committee who are locked up for over a month in a secret training camp in Gangwon-do.

In just sixty years, South Korea went from being one of the poorest countries on the Asian continent to having the 12th largest economy in the entire world. Every year, it is measured that Korean students have some of the highest test scores and a higher rate of acceptance into Ivy League schools compared to all other nations. But on the flip side, South Korea also has one of the highest suicide rates in the developed world, the highest gender pay gap of all developed countries, and the highest plastic surgery rate per capita. Always expected to receive top scores and constantly bombarded by media and messages that seem to demand nothing short of visual “perfection,” how do these individuals come to accept and learn to love themselves as they are?

Lei Ming, a former lecturer, and Sang Xia, a psychology teacher, runs a special class to help under-performing students. They guide students like Li Ran, who plans to drop out due to his grandmother’s illness, to overcome challenges and aim for university. Their combined efforts help students realize their potential and prepare for the next phase of their lives.

On the eve of the Spring Festival in 2020, the sudden outbreak of the epidemic completely changed the lives of senior high students thus opening the curtains to their "biggest test". The epidemic suddenly hit China in early 2020 and the senior high school students of Jinhe County, Anhui Province faced an unprecedented test. Just as everyone overcame difficulties to take the gaokao (college entrance examination), a flash flood brought forth new challenges. With the joint efforts of the party, the government and all sectors of society, satisfactory answers were handed in for this "big examination".

Fang Xue and Wei Lai may attend the same school but the two students couldn’t be more different. Coming from entirely different backgrounds, the only thing Fang Xue and Wei Lai have in common is their dream to attend a good university. Despite their differences, Fang Xue and Wei Lai find themselves drawn to each other after expressing an interest in forming an after school study group. Realizing they aren’t the only ones hoping to get into a good school, the two plan to create a study group to help not only themselves, but other students as well, tackle the upcoming college entrance exams. With their new friends by their side, Fang Xue and Wei Lai find the strength to overcome this first hurdle of adulthood, together.