Ahn Byung-cheul of Yonsei University Wonju Campus with Congenital Muscular Dystrophy Ahn Byung-cheul started studying English Literature at Yonsei Wonju Campus in 2011. He took 18 courses during his first 3 semesters, achieving A+ in all of them. He completed every semester with high honors. However, this high-achiever can only use muscles in his face and hands. Even these, he is slowly losing control of. Congenital muscular dystrophy (CMD). At the age of 7, Ahn was diagnosed with this incurable disease of the stiffening of muscles. By the time he was an 8th grader, he could no longer walk. In 10th grade, he had to quit school after he was stricken with coxitis. His thigh muscles and the cartilage between the muscles disappeared causing pain whenever the bones hit each other. Ahn recalls that, “There is a thick needle used in floral arrangement. It felt as if I was being poked with that needle.” He cried everyday and could not sleep properly. The pain was so severe that at one point he had to be administrated with morphine. He spent 7 years fighting the disease and in May 2010 he obtained the Korean high school equivalency diploma. In November, he took the College Scholastic Ability Test and became a Yonseian in 2011. “He was not a studious child.” Jeon Kyung-hee, Ahn’s mother, says that her child was never a studious child. Jeon made her son read out aloud ever since he was in 8th grade to enhance his lung capacity (cardiopulmonary function). Ahn began to like studying from then on and he got better grades during that time when his legs started to stiffen. In elementary school, he was at the bottom of the class at 33rd among 36 students, but he jumped to 5th place in 8th grade and to the 1st in 9th grade. In 10th grade, he was the top of not just his class, but the whole year. He, then, dropped out of school due to coxitis. The only muscles he can use now are his face and parts of his hands. He can move his hands barely up to the height of his mouth, with his elbows put on the desk. What he can do now by himself is eating, writing down on paper, and typing on a keyboard. Ahn was surprised at his grades – A+ all the way – and actually sent e-mails to his professors asking whether they were generous to him. His professors replied back saying that that does not happen at a university and that their grading was fair. Some wrote back saying, “You were the most diligent and enthusiastic in class,” and others commented that, “You are great at putting your thoughts logically into your writing.” Whenever Ahn is asked about how he manages to get such good grades despite his physical disadvantage, he points to his “torn books.” At his house there are layers of empty book covers. The pages have been torn out in threes or fives because with his condition it is difficult for him to carry anything heavier than that. Ahn studies for 4 hours followed by a 40-minute break to prevent his muscles from stiffening up. He used to study for 3 hours and take an hour’s rest, but he felt that it did not give him enough time to catch up with his work so he badgered his mother to let him study longer. Even during his breaks, he listens to CDs he made of parts of English TV programs on ABC that he could not understand. Ahn has his own “Ahn Byung-cheul desk” which was custom made wide enough to fit his wheel-chair. It is placed in all the 7 classrooms where he attends classes. Ahn also has his own “Ahn Byung-cheul parking space.” It has plenty of extra space where he can get his wheel chair out. Ahn’s mother drives him to school every day with a special vehicle which cost 14 million won to remodel. At school, he has 2 friends who help him carry heavy books, wheel him to the bathroom and make photocopies for him.