I’ve been watching the K-drama Start-Up for the past few weeks and the further I watch (I’m on episode 8) the more I feel like Nam Do-san should not end up with Seo Dal-mi.  I feel that he doesn’t really have the right to be so possessive over his feeling for Dal-mi when he’s been lying to her from the start.  He was never the one that she was basing her feelings off of and and I think that 75% of Dal-mi’s feelings towards him are built upon the letters.  I also believe that the main reason that Do-san is into Dal-mi is because he’s finally experiencing someone who has blatant unconditional feelings for him.  From the beginning of the show, Dal mi has always shown interest in rediscovering “Nam Do-san” from her childhood letters and I feel that he has been taking advantage of those feelings by riding off of the relationship Dal-mi and Mr. Han developed through those letters.  While I do think that Dal-mi has some feeling for Do-san, I think that they were based off her interest in the person who comforted her through those letters while she was going to a hard time (she kind of hints at this when she listed the things she liked about him in a previous episode).

Do-san also keeps claiming that Dal-mi is the “only thing he really has” to make Mr. Han back off, but she was never really his because he’s been manipulating her feelings.  He also asks Dal-mi to forget about the letters because he doesn’t like who he was in the past, but I feel like he’s just saying that to get rid of his guilt.  He feels guilty about lying to her about who he is and who the author of the letters are and he doesn’t want to hear her keep bringing up the letters because it’s a reminder to him that those feeling are actually towards Mr. Han.  He also feels guilty for cheating during the Math Olympiad and is somehow trying to use her to get rid of those feelings.  He knows that when she finds out about the truth she’s going to be hurt, but rather than telling her the truth quickly, he keeps dragging it out, which will hurt her more in the future.  She’s probably going to end up being conflicted about her feelings because she won’t know if her true feelings for him are bc of the letters or because of the experiences they shared together.

I feel like the grandma is also at fault because she’s been guilt tripping and hiding the truth from Dal-mi from the start just because she doesn’t want to see her cry and get hurt.  There have been multiple occasions where the grandma could have fessed up (and I know that its part of the show to drag it on for suspense), but she sees Dal-mi get excited one and decides not to tell her.  She also guilts both Do-san and Mr. Han from telling her the truth by continuously mentioning that she’s never seen Dal-mi so happy before.

I know nothing about running a business but I think that Dal-mi should be more transparent about the business side of their start up because it can cause major problems in the future.  If they weren’t able to secure Morning Group as one of their investors they would have quickly crashed and fallen into debt all because she didn’t disclose that she was having trouble securing funding to support the app.  She knew how much their app could cost them before it ever launched but never disclosed that information even when they were about to launch. I understand that she wanted Do-san to focus on coding and developing the software, but that could have destroyed their company and any chances they could have in the future because they would have been so in debt that no one would have wanted to help them.  This is especially true after the baseball player promoted the app, leading to an major increase in downloads.  

Dal-mi and Do-san also have a habit of bringing their relationship into business matters.  Yong-san and Chul-san bring this up in the during the beginning of the Sandbox competition and company distribution.  Although during both instances, there were valid reasons for choosing Dal-mi (she respected them as business partners rather than employees and it is true that the CEO should own the majority of the shares) Do-san seems to agree with and follow Dal-mi relatively quickly.  There was also the instance where he broke the name plate when having their initial meeting with the Morning Group.  He did it because he didn’t like the way the CEO (In Jae’s step-father) was treating Dal-mi, but I immediately knew that it would cost them in the future.  He acted rashly because of his emotions and didn’t stop to think about the consequences of his actions.  Imagine what could have happened if Dal-mi had not recorded their meetings.  He could have gone to jail and the reputation of their company would have plummeted.  Not to mention Do-san is the main coder and is supposed to be a genius prodigy that is capable of more than than Yong-san and Chul-san so they might not have been able to make up for his absence.

My first tip would be to use a calendar.  It doesn’t have to be a physical calendar, it could be a digital one like the default on your computer or Google Calendar.  Take some time to write out all your assignment due dates for the entire semester. It might take some time depending on how many classes you’re taking or the amount of course work assigned, but it’ll be a life saver.  Having all your due dates written out in one place can save the hassle of having to constantly refer to multiple syllabi and it will keep you organized.  Professors won’t always take the time to remind the class about upcoming due dates and while trying to juggle multiple classes and other activities you might have in your life, it can easily slip your mind.  Don’t rely on your classmates to remind you either.   Just because they reminded you before does not mean they will again, or they might have forgotten as well. 

If you use a physical calendar, hang it up in a place where you can easily see and refer to it.  This could be by your bed, your desk, or where ever you spend most of your time.  If you use an online/digital calendar then you could set reminders for upcoming due dates.  I would recommend checking your calendar everyday regardless of its format just to make sure you are caught up with what you need to do. 

 It might also help to color coordinate your classes so that it is easier to distinguish between assignments.  There might be overlapping due dates and having different colors can lessen confusion.

Check your school email multiple times a day! Checking emails can seem boring, but you never know when a prof is going to send an important email.  This could be regarding an assignment, due date, or even what to study for an upcoming quiz/test.  It is also a good way to keep up with what it happening in your school.  There might be updates about tutoring services, changes in building closing hours, weather updates, and safety warnings.  I would recommend checking your email at least three times a day: when you wake up, in the middle of your day, and before you go to sleep.  It would also be beneficial to turn on notifications for your school email either on your desktop or on your device.  This is an easy way to skim through your email important messages rather than constantly checking through your inbox.  For example, I have my desktop and phone notifications on, so I immediately know when I get an email on my school account.  From here I can easily stop what I’m doing for a few second to check the sender and subject and determine if it is something that I need to check immediately (like an update from a prof) or if its something that I can ignore (general BB announcements).

My first tip would be to understand what works best for you.  

While this seems like common sense, a lot of people might try to create their class schedules based off other people’s recommendations and experiences (such as whether to take mainly morning or evening classes) but everyone is different and it is best to plan according to what would be best for yourself.  You should take in consideration things like commute, class length, work load, how much time you would like for break between classes, etc.  If you know that certain subjects are more draining for you than others, it might be good to schedule a break afterwards.  Don’t try to have back to back classes just so you can get your classes done and over with.  Not only can this be mentally draining, but its good to have time between classes in case something happens.  You might need to go to the library to print something out, finish some last minute homework/studying, or visit your prof during office hours.  Things happen and its better to have some time available.  

If you can, I would recommend using your first semester as a time figure out what class times best work for you.  You might find that morning classes aren’t as bad as you thought they’d be or that late night classes are too inconvenient.  You might like having a spaced out schedule with a couple hours between your classes to rest and work on assignments.  Maybe you’d be okay with having shorter breaks between classes and you can handle longer classes.  Some people are okay with having a class that meets once a week, while others prefer to meeting multiple times.  

Consider commute time and factors that could change the total time such as traffic and bridge openings.  How much of an impact will it have on your commute time if you wake up late?  Will you get stuck in a morning rush? If you live on campus, know how long it takes to walk to your classes from various buildings (dorm, library, dinning hall).  It might benefit you to stay in nearby buildings between classes instead of going back to your dorm.  

Before the semester/classes start, take some time to explore campus.  Familiarize yourself with where buildings are and how long it would take to travel between building when you are walking casually.  This is especially important in regards for your own classes.  This can help minimize the chances of you getting lost.  If you do, don’t be afraid to ask someone for help.  You could also use something like Google maps.  I personally used it when I was exploring campus for the first few times.  

After you are familiar with campus, it might benefit you to find shortcuts.  Cutting through a building might be quicker than walking around it.  There might be other paths you could take get to class that might be quicker than the one that you usually use.  Cutting through buildings can also be a way to escape the weather.  During the winter, I liked to walk through as many building as possible to avoid the cold winds on the way back to my dorm, especially at night.  You could also use this as a safer alternative to walking around campus at night.  Of course the building will eventually close, but if its daylight savings and its dark af outside at like 6 then you might feel safer walking though a building instead alone through a dark campus. 

Always check the weather.  Check it the night before. Check the morning of.  Know what the temperature is going to be like throughout the day and what the chances of rain are.  Is it going to be windy? Humid?  Take all of this into consideration when planning your day.  Heavy rains could lead to slower driving, so if its going to rain the next day you might want to leave earlier than normal.  Its okay if you end up arriving earlier than normal, its better to be safe than sorry.