BTS’s Jungkook Says the Pandemic Has Helped Him Mature as a Person

BTS’s Jungkook is now 23 years old. However, like many other young adults, he still has a lot of things to learn and growing up to do. Jungkook’s life has changed a bit thanks to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, but Jungkook believes he has grown a lot as well.

BTS’s Jungkook became a young adult in front of the world

Jungkook is the youngest member of BTS. He debuted with the group in 2013—when he was just 15 years old. He was still a high school student at the time, and he did not graduate until 2017.

Jungkook has talked a lot about the impact of being famous as a teenager. In a new interview with Rolling Stone, he shared that he did miss out on many ordinary experiences people his age had.

“It’s true I couldn’t spend a lot of days at school, but I think I gained more than I lost,” Jungkook said. “I sometimes felt envious of all my friends hanging out or going on a trip. Maybe those are the things that I missed. But again, I think I gained more than I’ve lost.”

Fortunately, Jungkook had older members in BTS who could guide him as he grew up. He said in another part of the interview, “The other members had a lot of influence on me, and I could just feel comfortable because they are such good people. And they encouraged me to open up to them and mature into a good person.”

Jungkook says the pandemic has helped him mature as a person

Jungkook also went through more self-discovery during the pandemic.

BTS famously cancelled their world tour in 2020, and the group had to adapt to promoting music online instead of in-person like before. They also admitted to having more time to learn new skills and do things they normally did not have the opportunities to do. For example, Jungkook once shared that he learned to make pizza.

Speaking to Rolling Stone, he shared that, while it may look like BTS were relaxing for much of the pandemic, the group was still working hard behind the scenes.

“Just because we didn’t have a lot of work compared to before, or just because we couldn’t go outside, it really didn’t mean we had ordinary life,” Jungkook said. “We still had to be cautious of our behavior. And just because we couldn’t go on tours, it didn’t mean we could stop improving.”

He continued, “So I tried to discover new things and I think I spent a relatively busy time inside. But I did have some time to really rearrange my emotions, and I think I grew up as a person as well.”

Jungkook credits Ariana Grande for helping him grow as an artist

As an entertainer, Jungkook is often looking for ways to improve his craft. He told Rolling Stone that Ariana Grande is an artist he looks up to, especially after going to one of her concerts.

“I was really impressed by her stage presence,” he shared. “She’s a very small person, and the volume of her singing and what she was able to do was really moving, really impressive. And it just seemed like something I wanted to emulate and learn from. It made me want to develop and continue to grow.”

Additionally, Jungkook tries to listen to different types of music and learn from a variety of singers.