GKS2020 Embassy Track Master of Communication & Media Personal Statement

Master study in Korea application

Hello there! I am going to apply for GKS 2020 graduate program via embassy track. Regarding to that, could you please take a look and give your opinion about my personal statement? Thank you!

o Motivations with which you apply for this program
o Your education and work experience in relation to GKS.
o Reason for studying in Korea
o Any other aspects of your background and interests which may help us evaluate your aptitude and passion for graduate study or research.
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Recently, South Korea has made history. Parasite, a South Korean satire comedy movie has won Oscars for the best director, best pictures, international film, and original screenplay categories. Not only that, but Parasite also became the first non-English language film in Oscar history to win the award for Best Picture. This is a remarkable history for the Korean movie that has successfully recognized across the world. Through this movie, the director wanted to convey social criticism. Indeed, movies, drama or even web series is one of the mediums to communicate the message, to convey social criticism, carries persuasion or even propaganda. In South Korea, they dare to create movies or dramas with sensitive issues, breaking the stigma and execute them into a well-packaged story that easily accepted by the public. I believe it was built with a combination of in-depth research, a well-developed execution, and a perfectly-choice distribution channel. That's why, Korean's digital content is always fascinating with its various story ideas taken from daily lives, so we can sense the story that portrays real life. The story made with an emotional and psychological approach so it's easy to contentedly drawn to its heart-touchy story. For me, all Korean-made content whether movies, drama, animation, web series is likewise extremely appealing. Each content has a strong message that reflects the content creator's whole idea and concept. A blending of storyline, music, visual design and the right distribution complement each other, display strong branding to the public.

My name is XXXXXX. I love reading, watching Korean drama and movies. Talking about my education, I earned my bachelor's degree from Social Development and Welfare in February 2007 from a public research university named XXXXXXX with 3.14 out of 4.00 Cumulative GPA. After graduated I decided to choose communication that delivering the message through storytelling as my career and life path. It's because I love stories. Everyone has their own story that worth sharing with others. Following my belief, I started my career as a journalist for the first 3 years. Working in a completely new for the very first time was challenging. But I enjoyed the process and it turns out like an addiction to working in this field. People said its passion. But I don't believe in such a thing. Passion is nothing without hard work and determination. Then I continued my career as a Marketing & Communication Officer at XXXXX and as a Communication Specialist at XXXXX. Currently, I am working at XXXXXX, a digital marketing agency as a Content Writer. My responsibilities are creating creative content marketing for the website, social media, and other creative assets. Having almost 9 years of working experience, made me realize that all of my jobs were related to crafting the message that worth to deliver to the public whether press releases, social media, e-newsletter, and blogging. To keep up with the trend, I've followed free online certification from online courses. But my thirst for knowledge can't be quenched. Therefore, I feel the need for studying communication & digital content creation with more depth.

I perceive communication and digital content creation as a promising field because it's an important future growth engine with infinite growth potential. Nowadays, people are consuming digital content on a day to day basis from social media, website till messengers to communicate with others. According to We Are Social, there are 4.54 billion internet users in the world in 2020. Furthermore, digital content is a soft but strong power to enhance brand value and competitiveness. To learn the communication & digital content creation best practices, I am interested in Korea. Therefore, I want to join the GKS Program because it offers a great opportunity to get study abroad experience and gain more knowledge, especially in the communication and digital content creation field in South Korea.

South Korea already renowned for some achievements in the digital content creation, it is proven as the leading innovators in the creation of digital content economies. South Korea has emerged as the world's seventh-largest content provider and well-known as a global culture exporter contributed to 2.8% of the global cultural content market through Hallyu or Korean Wave. Moreover, according to Statista Digital Media 2019, South Korea has successfully ranked fifth of digital media sales after Japan and the UK. All of them were brought with content which manifested in movies, drama, music, animation, web series, pop culture and distributed through social media, website and other platform. It's not just contents, but it is a new cultural diplomacy and nation branding through Korean Wave. The digital content industry is also growing rapidly in Korea from the broadcasting media, production houses to mobile drama production companies such as Playlist Global, Piki Pictures, etc. That's why I have the impression that communication & digital content creation in Korea have developed enormously great. It makes me want to learn more from the best in South Korea.

Remove all references to researched content in this essay. You are writing a personal statement, not a research study for the reviewer. You need to focus on the YOU of the application. You can still use the reference to Parasite, just not at the very beginning. Limit the reference to that movie to a few sentences, not a whole paragraph. You are just wasting space and boring the reviewer who knows everything that needs to be known, and probably more, about the movie and its worldwide success / acclaim.

Focus on your work in digital media. Remove all references to unrelated educational and work experiences. You are applying for a masters course, not an undergraduate admission. Strengthen your background in digital media and relate that strength to any potential interest you might have in Korean digital media. What sort of exposure to digital media in Korea do you have aside from the movie? Why and how did Korean digital film makers inspire you to study this masters track? Why do you believe you can succeed in this field?

Your essay does not represent any ability to do research nor does it show an affinity for continued education. Fix that mistake. You have to discuss it in the essay. Without it, the information about you will be incomplete and your application may be disqualified in the screening round. The last paragraph sounds more like you just did research and threw that information into the essay, hoping it will improve your chances, which it did not. Remove that last paragraph and come up with a more enticing concluding paragraph. One that could actually help the reviewer see you as a potentially bright student in this field.

Just remember, this is not a research paper, this is a personal statement with a hint of motivations required in the presentation.