Personal Statement for GKS-G 2022 Scholarship for Masters in Spanish Language and Literature

Hello,
I´ll apply to the GKS-G 2022 scholarship for Masters in Spanish Language and Literature. I will be very grateful if anyone could review my personal statement attached below.

The points to be included in the Personal statement are as follows:
- Motivations with which you apply for this program
- Family and Education background
- Significant experiences you have had; risks you have taken and achievements you have made, persons or events that have had a significant influence on you

- Extracurricular activities such as club activities, community service activities or work experiences
- If applicable, describe awards you have received, publications you have made, or skills you have acquired, etc

Personal Statement essay

With 537.9 million speakers worldwide, Spanish is the fourth most spoken language in the world and the third most studied foreign language in the world today. I started learning Spanish through an online Intensive Course in Spanish (A2 Level) from the University of Pune (SPPU) in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic quarantine. After completing the certificate course, I developed a deep passion for the language and the Hispanic culture and started to see it as a possible career field. Since September 2021, I'm studying part-time for an Online Diploma in Spanish (B1 level) which includes the study of language, culture, history and notable personalities of Spain and Latin America. In this course, I got introduced to some of the famous personalities and their world-renowned works like Gabriel García Márquez, Octavio Paz, Pablo Neruda, Frida Kahlo, Diego Velázquez and Pablo Picasso to name a few. Also, I got a deeper look at the vibrant culture and history of Spain and Latin America which made me appreciate various aspects of the Hispanic World other than the language. To continue my Spanish studies, I decided to pursue Masters in Spanish with a specific focus on Literature and Culture. However, there are not many colleges in India offering this degree program, which made me turn to colleges abroad.

I come from a lower-middle-class family in the city of Nagpur in the central region of India. I am the only child of both working parents. Although we were not very well off financially, my parents never made any compromise with my education and ensured that I get the best possible education because they know the important role it can play in a person´s life. I always made a point to do my best in school and have come among the merit students in secondary and high school. Due to our financial condition, I have always relied on scholarships to fund my higher education. I was able to undertake my B.E. in Computer Technology from one of the best private engineering colleges in India - YCCE with the help of the Tuition Fee Waiver Scheme (TFWS) Scholarship given by the government to the students achieving exemplary results in the college entrance exam. Therefore, while searching for potential colleges for graduate studies the first criteria I had was the availability of scholarships and while searching for potential universities abroad I got to know about the GKS scholarship.

While researching the various South-Korean universities under GKS scholarship, Korea University caught my attention almost instantly because it had the broadest spectrum of curriculum in South Korea for my desired major, offering Spanish linguistics, Spanish and Latin American literature, and Spanish and Latin American regional studies as specialties. I found that the goals of the Department of Spanish Language and Literature of Korea University perfectly coincided with my personal goals to acquire profound and professional knowledge of linguistics, literature and culture in Spain and Latin America enabling me to become a creative and contributing member of the international society.

During my college days, I was very proactive in participating in various extra-curricular activities like seminars, training sessions, cultural fests and internships. In 2018, I was a member and later in 2019, went on to become the Co-Head of the Literary Group of the Department of Computer Technology in the college. During this period, our group published two annual magazines. During my last year of B.E., I completed my studies for the last semester in advance in the summer and undertook a 6-month long internship at an IT company situated in Nagpur which taught me a lot of valuable skills like balancing study and work pressure. During that time, I was also preparing for the campus recruitments. Managing these multiple things at once was quite challenging but it taught me how to strategize and manage my time better to complete all my tasks in time. Currently, I'm working full-time as an Associate Software Engineer at XXX. Apart from technical work, I'm part of the Fun-Team and organize various fun events and activities for my colleagues. While I'm not working or studying, I like to spend time with my family and read books. Recently, I took up volunteer work as an online proofreader for Distributed Proofreaders (DP) - the main source of the "Project Gutenberg" which is an online library of over 60,000 free e-books.

Through this scholarship, I'll get an opportunity to fulfil my dreams of becoming an all-round and efficient professional in the field of Hispanic linguistics and literature. This will in turn enable me to give back to society by helping to bridge the gaps between the 22 Spanish-speaking countries, India and South Korea through my acquired knowledge and experience in this degree program.

Thanks,
Rutuja

Name the title, publication date, and volume number so that the reviewer can exercise the option to verify these claims. Explain what the topics were about and how these are relevant to your masters course. Remember, all your qualifiers need to relate more towards the masters course you are applying for as you have to prove your qualifications for the course. Since your experience is not related to Linguistics, you actually have weak credentials as a masters student for Spanish Language and Literature . A pitfall of changing career interests after having completed a primary course.


What is the academic motivation? What is the career goal? What specific field of languages? Why that line? How will it help you as a professional in India?

More importantly, since you are an Indian, studying Spanish online, with little exposure to the actual language, culture, and literature of the country, why are you opting to study these topics in a non-Spanish speaking county? What is the motivation to study Spanish in Korea? Just because the university offers the course does not make it the best place to study these topics there since it will be 3rd hand information gleaned only through research and lectures, lacking in immersion. Why Korea when you consider the lack of relationship of Korea to the course? What makes you certain Korea can do a better job in educating you than if you applied for and recieved a scholarship from Spain?