By Han Sang-hee

Jang Ha-jin is only 21 years old, but she has already experienced two very different worlds as an aspiring girl group member and later a student at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST).

The ambitious and attractive sixth grader started her journey as a young singer after winning a contest searching for starlets hosted by one of Korea's biggest entertainment agencies, SM Entertainment.

Training five to six hours every day for the next three years exhausted her and Jang decided this was not what made her happy.

"Living as a trainee was difficult. I lived in Ilsan so it took about three hours to commute from home to the agency in Apgujeong, southern Seoul," she said in a phone interview.

"I wanted to be a singer, but I still wanted to study. I was doing both at the same time, which was very hard, but I didn't want to lose that part of my teenage life. Some of my friends applied for foreign language high schools and I also wanted to experience that kind of challenge," she said.

So Jang told the agency that she was planning to try out for a foreign language high school and started preparing. She eventually failed and returned to her life as a trainee, but had a hard time concentrating.

"I wanted to study. My parents told me to do what my heart told me deep inside, so I finally decided on education," Jang said.

Going back to school was one thing, preparing for university after training to become a singer was another.

"People ask me how I managed to study and get accepted into KAIST, but it wasn't really anything special. I slept less during exams and concentrated when I studied. I still tried to sleep five to six hours because I didn't want to fall asleep during class," Jang said.

Another tactic was asking questions, to others and to herself. "I always like asking questions and this is one of the best ways to check if you really understand something. When I was at home where there was no one to teach or ask questions, I would teach myself aloud," she said.

Jang is currently a sophomore at KAIST. The school has been going through a tough time following a spate of suicides and excessive competition.

Did Jang also feel the pressure?

"I'm happy with my decision and also with the school. The unfortunate news did pull down the overall sentiment on campus, but I think it's important how we overcome it now," she said.

The busy yet diligent sophomore recently released her autobiography "Tell Me Your Wish," which is also the title of a song by the girl group Girls' Generation, to share her story, the decisions she had to make and her unique experience.

"My wish now is to survive KAIST," she said with a laugh.

"There are so many students even at KAIST who don't know what they want to do in their lives. I think it's important to do something that makes you happy. For me two years ago, it was studying and I don't regret not becoming one of the members of Girls' Generation. I truly believe that following what you want to do is the best way to be happy."