Self-Growth in the Extra-curricular Programs Experience : Focused on Undergraduate Counseling Psychology Students at G University

The purpose of this study is to explore the experiences and processes of self-growth in extracurricular programs. For this purpose, 10 students majoring in counseling psychology were selected, and their statements about various extracurricular experiences were collected. The collected data was analyzed focusing on the theme of self-growth, using the Repetitive Comparative Analysis method. The analysis resulted in 69 concepts, 14 categories, and 5 domains (stages). These domains, when viewed as a self-growth process, consist of 1) initial challenge stage, 2) perception transformation stage, 3) motivation and goal-setting stage, 4) practice and effort stage, and 5) growth and integration stage. At each stage, participants recognized anxiety and fear, developed positive self-awareness, voluntarily set goals, and made continuous efforts. This process led to relational growth and integration of knowledge, revealing the meaning of self-growth in extracurricular experiences that helped both liberal arts and major studies overall. By presenting the step-by-step process of self-growth in extracurricular experiences, this study helps understand the challenges students face and their process of overcoming them. These findings have implications for supporting students' holistic development and creating a student-centered educational environment. Furthermore, they can be used as foundational data for research on reexamining the direction of university education, developing and improving effective extracurricular programs, and analyzing specific factors.