Thoughts of a 99 years old on his deathbed; SOP for MA in International Studies (Studying abroad)

Hey all, I'm looking for some feedback on my SOP for a Masters in International Studies. They want around 3 pages (1200 words), so I still roughly have 150 words to add if necessary.

This is just my first draft, so grammar and spelling errors may occur :)
______________

"Imagine you are 99 years old and on your deathbed. If you had a chance to come back to right now, what would you do?" - For me, this quote has been one of the single greatest sources of motivation for me when choosing a direction in life, since I truly believe that it is important to follow your passion.

While growing up I have always had an interest in languages, already at an early age, I quickly became highly proficient in the English language and considered it almost as a secondary native language. This is due to that I was able to watch a wide range of movies in English because my parents owned a kiosk/bakery that had a movie rental section in their store.

After finishing primary school around age 15, I still had my doubts about what career path I wanted, so I decided to help my parents by working in their bakery for a few years until I was more mature and knew what direction I wanted to choose for myself. So when I turned 18 I decided to voluntarily do military service which consisted of basic army training to try something different, after finishing my military service I worked for The LEGO Group for a few months, that is when I realized that I had become mature enough to choose the right path for myself I wanted to put my mind to better use and felt.

When I finished my secondary school I knew that I wanted to get into the field of business, so I chose a Bachelor's degree with a wide range of courses offered so I could better figure out where my specific areas of interests were. Throughout my undergraduate I have chosen to follow courses offered in English because of two factors; firstly, because it gave me the opportunity to work with other students from around the world with different perspectives compared to a class full of Danish students. Secondly, I found English to be a more descriptive language compared to Danish and it would benefit me when I wanted to study my Master's degree abroad.

It was while studying my AP Degree in Marketing Management I found the fields I want to dedicate myself to. Just after a few weeks of studying it was clear to me that I had found my passion in classes such as; Macroeconomics, International Relations, Commerce, and especially in Law.

I had no doubt that I wanted to choose EU Law when it came to the selection of my elective course in my Top-up Bachelor's program, it gave me the opportunity to work more with my favourite subject and gain more knowledge in this field before applying for a Master's degree. In this course, I chose to base my exam project on the Danish referendum on converting the current opt-out of EU legislations, as this topic had a focus on both Law and Politics. To best show my dedication to these areas of study I have chosen my EU Law professor to write one of the recommendations for me.

I have known for quite some time that I would like to go to <City name> to study, not only because it is a different environment with a unique and interesting culture compared to what I am used to in Denmark, also as mentioned previously I have an aptitude for learning languages, so it would be an incredible opportunity to learn <language of the country> meanwhile getting my postgraduate degree.

What made me attracted to <department name> was the high level of education offered by esteemed professors in their own respective fields and the courses have a focus on areas that I am interested in pursuing even further in my career. What truly stood out and made me have no doubt, was that the degrees offered there has this high level of customizability, so beyond the core courses, I would be able to choose the exact courses that I am most passionate about.

In my spare time, I enjoy engaging in strategy-based games and sports, so I can use my mind and stimulate my own intellectual abilities. My physical health is important for me to maintain at a high level since I do believe that having a physically fit body is a good way to increase cognitive functions even further, since my personal interests have always had some sort of strategic or physical elements, if not both.

As a person I am good-natured with a calm and analytical mentality, in a school-related context I am punctual and participate actively during lessons and group work. These factors are just a few examples of what makes me well suited for studying <degree name> at <University name>. What sets me apart from other applicants is that I am slightly older than the average student at <department name>, but I see this as a great strength because the years I spent working made me more mature and self-aware about the path I want to take in life and where my passion truly lies.

In regards to future plans, I have considered a few possibilities about what I want to use the <name of degree> for. I would either like to apply to do a Ph.D. at <University name> with the long term goal of teaching in the given field or after finishing my Master's then if I can find a job in <country name> then I could also consider that choice. In regards to future personal development, I would like to learn more languages such as German and Japanese.

Since my future career plan has yet to be decided, then all I can say that is my decision will be based on what I believe is the best opportunity to further my tacit knowledge and gives me the chance to work with the most interesting areas.

I hope that this application has given insight into my motivation for choosing <University name> and this degree in <degree name> and that you now have a better idea of my personality type as well as what kind of student I will be while studying at <department name>.

Yours Sincerely
<My name>

Hi Mathias, Firstly, this is SOP not an application, so try to make a difference between their formats, so remove the last line. Secondly, do mention your prompt when you submit your essay. Do everyone knows what is AP degree or EU law? Elaborate it, don't use abbreviations at first place, its the formal essay. Even if everyone knows, it will not harm your essay as you have enough words.

First of all, thank you very much for taking the time to reading and giving me some feedback, it is greatly appreciated.

I have started editing according to your suggestions. Is there any way to edit my thread? I can't seem to find the option to do so.

The graduate institute explains that they want the following in SOP:
Written in 1200 words (approximately 3 pages).
Describe personal information or statement that include academic plans, personal interests, future goals and academic plans.

No, you cannot edit here, you have to copy them then post the new draft here. As the prompt said, so focus mainly on academic field and your goals and work/volunteer experience you had. Don't mention your nature.

I have taken your feedback and revised the SOP, some sentences might still need some restructuring to avoid repetitiveness as It's a bad habit of mine to keep using the same words over and over again.

The EU Law part was mostly not changed, since it's also an elective at their institute. So they will all know what it is.

___________________________

"Imagine you are 99 years old and on your deathbed. If you had a chance to come back to right now, what would you do?" - For me, this quote has been one of the single greatest sources of motivation for me when choosing a direction in life, since I truly believe that it is important to follow your passion.

While growing up in Denmark I have always had an interest in other languages than Danish. Already at an early age, I quickly became ...

Revised yet again :) I have noted all your comments and tried to follow them as best possible while still using my own language in the eassy. But you have been a great help, I can feel it's getting close to being the finished version :)

I'll try and give yours a look and see if I can give some worthy feedback, but it seems you already have a good grasp on writing :)

_____________________________

"Learn everything you can, anytime you can, from anyone you can; there will always come a time when you will be grateful you did" - For me, this quote has been one of the single greatest sources of motivation for me when choosing a direction in life, since I truly believe that it is important to keep learning new things.

While growing up in Denmark I have always had an interest in learning about languages other than Danish. Already at an early age, I quickly learned English and considered it almost as a secondary native language. At the age of 10, I started to watch English movies more frequently as I could bring home movies from the movie rental section in my parents' bakery/convenience store.

After my primary school around age 15, I started working in my parents' bakery until I had become more mature and got a sense of what direction I wanted to choose for myself. So when I turned 18 I voluntarily signed up to do military service to try something different. Afterwards doing my military service I went to work for The LEGO Group for a few months, but I felt mentally under-stimulated and that I needed to find a more suited line of work, I realized that I had become mature and decided to start studying again, so I could find a career path for myself where I could put my mind to better use.

While attending secondary school, I was doing an internship at an accounting company where I would work under supervision of certified accountants, doing tasks such as data entry and assisting with ad hoc tasks, it was here I got the sense that I wanted to get into the field of business, but it was still unclear to what specific courses that interested me.

I enrolled in a two-year AP Degree program in Marketing Management, which could be combined with an 18-month top-up program for a complete Bachelor's degree. I chose this program because it offered a wide range of courses in the field of business, so I could better figure out where my specific areas of interests were and it gave me better opportunities to go in different directions afterward according to what I wanted work more with. It was during these two years that I found my passion for subjects such as Macroeconomics, International Business, Commerce and especially Law. This became apparent to me when I became increasingly more engaged during classes. I started spending more time reading about Business Law, International Economics, and Marketing Communication, and I also began doing extra work for my assignments and reading ahead of the curriculum to better myself in these areas. What made these areas special to me, was when I was able to do projects with a multidisciplinary approach.

During my Top-up Bachelor's program in International Marketing & Sales, I had no doubt that I wanted to choose EU Law when it came to the selection of my elective course because it gave me the opportunity to work with one of my favorite subjects and gain more knowledge in this field before applying for a Master's degree. In this course, I chose to base my exam project on the Danish referendum on converting the current opt-out of EU legislations, as this would allow me to combine Law and Politics. My interest in this project was based on the lack of information provided to Danish citizens by politicians and it fascinated me how the law of the European Union and Danish national politics was connected. This course also helped prepare me to study International Studies as it is not only a course offered at <Department name> but it also taught me the best way to approach, disassemble, and analyze every relevant aspect in a given subject.

The World is becoming increasingly more global and borderless, which makes it more important to have a good understanding of how seemingly unrelated things like International Law and Macroeconomics, can have an effect on each other. This is what intrigued me to pursue International Studies at <University name>. During my undergraduate, I chose to take my all courses offered in English as I found it to be more of a descriptive language. This also gave me the opportunity to work with students from around the world with different perspectives compared to a class with Danish students. It has been a long-time goal for me to study at <university name>, because it will provide me with an incredible opportunity to study in a diverse culture with students from around the globe, meanwhile being able to learn more languages.

What attracted me to <department name> was the high level of education offered by esteemed professors like Dr. <Professor name>, Director of International Human Rights Center (IHRC), who continuously work with and publish new research in Politics, International Law, and Area studies among other things. What truly stood out about <department name> and made me have no doubt that I wanted to apply, was that beyond the core compulsory courses, I would be able to choose the exact electives that I am most passionate about.

In my spare time, I enjoy engaging in strategy-based games and sports, so I can use my mind and stimulate my own intellectual abilities. Most recently I have taken up learning how to play one of the oldest board games in the world called 'Go', as it vastly complex game yet with simple rules. Besides engaging in games and sports I also enjoy spending time reading books and articles about things I find interesting. Lately, I have spent my time reading about Blue Zones, which is a concept used to identify a demographic and/or geographic areas where people live longer lives.

In a school-related context, I am hard-working and like to participate actively in lessons and group work. These factors are just a few examples of what makes me well suited for studying <degree name> at <University name>. What I believe are my greatest strengths and sets me apart from other applicants can for example be seen from when I immersed myself in my project in EU law, it gave more academic experience and tools to work with so I had a greater analytical ability to better understand a subject, and even during my spare time I seek knowledge both within and outside my field of study when I come across an interesting topic that is unknown to me, so I can take my knowledge to a higher level.

In regards to future plans, I have considered a few possibilities about what I want to use the <name of degree> for. I would either like to apply to do a Ph.D. at <University name> with the long term goal of teaching in the given field or after finishing my Master's then if I can find a job in <country name> then I could also consider that choice. In regards to future personal development, I would like to learn more languages such as German and Japanese. My decision will be based on what I believe is the best opportunity to further my tacit knowledge and gives me the chance to work with interesting areas.