First Class!

For reference, the conditions the president of Seoul National University offered me did not include any teaching obligations.

They were exceptionally generous terms under which I could do nothing but research if I wanted.

But I wanted to teach even without an obligation to do so.

Some professors might find lecturing students bothersome.

They’re already busy with their own research, so preparing lectures on top of that must be a lot of work.

But I’m not like that.

How could I pass up the chance to personally nurture South Korea’s growing talents?

I placed a very high value on that educational aspect.

Besides, to be honest.

Being shut up in the research lab alone with Mom, staring at papers all day, seemed like it would be a little boring.

It’s not like I’m some no-fun person like Professor Shin Yi-jun.

Rather than that.

Occasionally lecturing in front of the sparkling eyes of the undergraduate unnis and oppas…

Then getting a round of clap-clap-clap- at the end of class would make for a wonderful change of pace.

This could be called my workplace now, and socializing at work is important too, right?

I need to mingle with people.

Anyway.

So I directly suggested it to the dean and said I wanted to teach even though I didn’t have to.

—Dean, I want to teach classes myself too!

—Oh, really? We’d be grateful if Professor Yoo A-yeon would take one.

So I submitted my syllabus before the semester began.

I also coordinated the class schedule with the other professors this way and that.

I was assigned Calculus to teach to the first-year freshmen.

What kind of subject is calculus, you ask?

For freshmen who had probably learned no more than the derivatives and integrals of exponential, logarithmic, and trigonometric functions in high school…

Hyperbolic functions, inverse trigonometric functions, Taylor expansions, L’Hôpital’s rule, tests for the convergence of series, polar coordinates, vectors, dot products, cross products, line integrals, curvature, multivariable functions, vector functions, vector fields, the Fubini theorem, Green’s theorem, Gauss’s theorem, Stokes’ theorem…

In short, it’s a subject that mercilessly crams all that and more into their brains.

Put simply, it’s this.

To arrogant freshmen who snort, “I studied a bit in high school~”…

—Kids. The calculus you’ve known up to now only covers knowledge from as far back as the 1700s. I’ll show you how much mathematics has advanced over the three hundred years of human history since then.

That’s the kind of subject that gives them a little taste of the mathematics we’ll be learning from here on out.

They say that even the freshmen who started with confident expressions end up looking haggard after a few months, realizing how narrow the world they knew had been.

“A-yeon, shall we check the lecture schedule one more time?”

“Yeees-.”

I picked up my kids’ phone, opened Everytime, and checked the lecture schedule.

Until just before the semester began…

[Calculus 1 : ???]

The professor’s name had been displayed as question marks like this.

But now, ta-da~

[Calculus 1 : Professor Yoo A-yeon]

At last, my full name was stamped proudly in the place of those question marks.

Actually, this part wasn’t intentional on my part.

The information had simply been updated late because the administrative processing was slow.

But I felt as if I had unintentionally put on a surprise event for the freshmen unnis and oppas.

“Uhehing-.”

I giggled as I looked at the screen.

Imagining the reactions of the freshmen unnis and oppas who opened Everytime to check their schedules was fun.

They’d probably rub their eyes and go, “Heeeek-!” in shock.

After seeing my full name, they’d think, No way, no way… and then realize that the impossible was actually true.

“Can’t wait.”

✒️✒️✒️

My Calculus 1 class was at one in the afternoon.

Until then, Mom and I read journals together in my cute little private research lab, and at lunchtime we went to the student cafeteria, took out the lunchbox Mom had packed that morning, and ate yum-yum, chomp-chomp-.

At first, I considered buying a cafeteria meal.

But at 118 centimeters tall, even standing on tiptoe, I’d have trouble getting served like everyone else, and Mom said the nutritional balance wasn’t good for a growing child, so she suggested bringing a lunchbox. Mom also said she was used to packing lunches.

Murmur-murmur-.

Bustle-bustle-.

As I munched on Mom’s adorable homemade lunchbox in the student cafeteria, I could feel people sneaking glances at me.

“Wow, look over there. She’s really a seven-year-old professor.”

“She must have come with her mom. How cute!”

“I should sign up for a class in the Department of Mathematical Sciences later, too.”

“Hmph-.”

Eating under all those glances made Mom’s lunchbox seem to go down even more deliciously.

✒️✒️✒️

At last, the first Calculus 1 class drew near.

Unlike high school, universities don’t have things like class bells.

You simply take your seat on time, and the professor checks attendance. That’s all.

It would be convenient if a bell went ding-ding-ding-.

University is basically saying, You’re all grown up now, so take care of yourselves-.

Mom and I arrived at the classroom ten minutes before class.

These days, many professors prepare their materials in PowerPoint and teach comfortably without much effort.

But I liked the crisp sound of chalk writing on the board, so I printed out only the material I planned to cover.

Although I’m part of Generation Alpha, beyond the MZ generation…

My way of thinking is totally analog!

(*Generation Alpha: The generation born between 2012 and 2024.)

Murmur-murmur-.

As time passed, about forty university students took their seats.

Perhaps they were all well-mannered, because they didn’t chatter loudly or pester me for autographs in the classroom as class approached.

The atmosphere was so calm that the excitement in the lobby seemed almost unreal.

I checked the time on my kids’ phone, and it was exactly one o’clock.

Good. It’s time to begin.

I cleared my throat and called out.

“Ahem, ahem, hellooo, freshmen unnis and oppas! I’m Professor Yoo A-yeon, and I’ll be teaching Calculus this year!”

Staaaare-.

Unlike the expressions they had worn in the lobby, the unnis and oppas all had very serious looks on their faces.

The incident of a seven-year-old becoming a professor was merely an interesting event.

But class was like a battlefield where university students’ grades were at stake.

No wonder they were all serious.

I nodded with a rather satisfied expression at their sudden change in attitude.

“Before we begin the regular class, I’ll give you an orientation!”

Orientation. At a university, it can mean guidance or preliminary instruction to help freshmen adjust quickly; in a class, it’s a brief explanation of the course overview during the first session.

But in mathematics, the same word means orientation. Roughly speaking, it’s the concept of assigning a clockwise or counterclockwise direction to a shape. How can the same word have meanings that are so different!

Tap-tap-tap-.

I stepped onto the footstool I had prepared, picked up a piece of white chalk, and wrote the general outline of the course on the blackboard.

The class hours, textbook, grading breakdown, office hours, and more.

(*Office hour: The time when a professor receives students’ questions in their research lab.)

It was a little disappointing that I couldn’t reach the top of the blackboard because I was short, but the board was wide enough from side to side, so it was fine.

I’d just move the footstool around and cover the whole thing with equations.

“Office hours will be from four to five on Mondays and Wednesdays. If you have any questions, come to my research lab during that time and ask me freely. And this person here is my mom and the TA for Calculus!”

As I explained from the podium, Mom, who had been sitting in the front row, stood up and gave the class a polite nod.

“Hello. I’m Professor Yoo A-yeon’s graduate student. I’ll be the TA for this course. It’s nice to meet you.”

Mom gave them a sweet, elegant smile.

Then.

“Gasp-!”

I heard sharp intakes of breath from here and there.

I especially noticed the male students’ faces turning bright red-.

Hey, you guys over there.

I can see all those red faces, you know!

Well, Mom really is that pretty.

The fact that I had confirmed once again how pretty Mom was put me in an even better mood.

That’s my Mom!

I adjusted my grip on the chalk and continued the orientation.

“Now, there are a few important things to know about our class.”

I wrote on the blackboard, tap-tap-tap-.

[1. Clapping after class ends]

“First, I really love getting applause, okay? So at the end of every class, I’d appreciate it if you’d clap-clap-clap- for me!”

“……Pfft.”

Small laughs escaped from here and there.

The stiff atmosphere in the classroom seemed to loosen a little at a request befitting a seven-year-old professor.

Good, good.

[2. Give grades according to the required distribution]

“Second! I have absolutely no intention of carpet-bombing you with bad grades. I’ll assign them fairly, following the distribution set by the university as closely as possible.”

At those words, the unnis and oppas’ expressions visibly brightened.

Everyone really did become sensitive at the word grades.

“But that absolutely does not mean I’ll make the exams easy!”

The expressions that had brightened hardened again.

“If you want to do well on the exams, then of course you’ll have to study hard, right? I’m going to make them impossible to answer correctly just by skimming the textbook! If you underestimate me because I’m a cute seven-year-old, you’ll be in for a nasty surprise! I’ll make them harder than last year’s exams, at least!”

If you want to do well on an exam, you have to study hard.

It was an utterly obvious piece of logic.

But some of the unnis and oppas wore crestfallen expressions when they heard that the exams would be difficult.

[3. Participate actively in class]

“And finally, the most important thing!”

I looked around the classroom and said,

“I’ll award a few bonus points to the unnis and oppas who answer my questions enthusiastically during class!”

“Oh…”

The unnis and oppas’ eyes lit up at the words bonus points.

“Of course, I’ll cap the bonus at five percent so it doesn’t interfere with the other students’ competition. And I’m awarding it based on my educational philosophy.”

I began explaining with a fairly serious expression.

But was it really appropriate for a seven-year-old who hadn’t even gone to kindergarten, let alone school, to talk about educational philosophy?

Well, it didn’t matter.

“When you’re learning, you need to participate actively, ask lots of questions, and review often. That way, this~ many synapses in your brain become active, and what you’ve learned will stay in your memory much longer.”

I pointed at my head with the hand holding the chalk, tap-tap-.

“But if you just mindlessly copy down whatever I write on the blackboard, your brains won’t become active, and by next semester you’ll turn into forgetful little dummies who’ve forgotten every single thing you learned!”

I gave them a bashful smile.

“So let’s have class by communicating actively with one another! Did everyone understand?”

“Yes!”

“Yep!”

A few of the unnis and oppas answered energetically.

Oh, there are already some unnis and oppas participating actively?

I said with a pleased smile before I even realized it.

“I really like the unnis and oppas who answer so well! You’re already candidates for bonus points, you know?”