A South Korean student with muscular dystrophy earned a master's degree by writing his dissertation with eye movements.

   37-year-old Jang Ik Sun, whose entire body was paralyzed except for eye movements and speech, suffered from an incurable disease that weakened muscles at the age of five, causing her to gradually lose the ability to move. Nevertheless, the student continued his education tirelessly.

   Jang Ik Sun received a bachelor's degree from the Faculty of Social Welfare at Gwangju University after successfully passing the South Korean school exams designed for middle and high school. In 2019, he entered the Master's program in Social Welfare at this university and graduated in 2021.

   On February 21, at the first graduation ceremony of the 2024 academic year, Gwangju University officially confirmed that Jang had received his master's degree. The student was also awarded an academic prize for her achievement.

   Studying was difficult for him at every step. Since he could not write by hand, he relied on a personal scanner to digitize books that did not have an electronic form.

"Even 15 years ago, I could put my hand on the table and write. And now this is also impossible," he said at the graduation ceremony.

   The student also had difficulty memorizing the information because he couldn't record what he read.

   The fight worked throughout the day at the Gwangju Muscle Dystrophy Association and defended people with about 30 groups of genetic muscular disorders known as muscular dystrophy. He attended postgraduate classes at night, often studying until early morning with the help of an assistant who transcribed lecture materials for him.

   His biggest difficulties arose during the writing of his master's thesis. Using a device that converts eye movements into cursor commands - the eye tracking mouse, it types each word, letter by letter, by opening and closing its eyes.

   Her research focuses on the right to life for people with muscle defects, reflecting the consequences of insufficient care. He notes cases where short-term isolation of patients connected to oxygen devices also led to catastrophic consequences.

"Supporting activities is a matter of survival for us," he criticized, noting that the South Korean government's subsidization of just six hours of care for severely disabled people is dangerously insufficient.

•    In addition to his academic career, Jang runs a YouTube channel called "Ik-sun Jang, the Man Who Closes His Eyes 10 Million Times" (@eyegamer1), raising public awareness of the disease.
• "There are no patients with muscular dystrophy like us. "I want to take them out of the shadows into the light," he said.
• "Failure is not defeat if you don't give up. Everyone deserves the opportunity," Jang added.