Korean dramas and K-pop - letter of self introduction...KGSP scholarship

Hello, I am planning to apply for KGSP graduate scholarship and is required to provide a letter of self introduction.this is the first time I wrote something like this.I kindly request your help with this. below are the guild-lines.

Thank you in advance.

couple words about myself in a letter format

I was born into a middle class family where we live in ____ which is a village situated in ___ District, the commercial capital of ___. I was an active and friendly person since my childhood where I participated school sports and dancing competitions and events. I was a member of school physical exercises team which we won gold medal in 2006. I could give my contribution to the school as a prefect as well.

I passed my Advanced Level examination (A/L) with 4A's in commerce stream in 2012. It was at that time I thought that I need to focus more on my future. I always want to do something different when I do something. Hence, I searched about undergraduate courses that a commerce stream student can take up. Consequently, I found out about international business major which was not very popular major in my county and only offered by one public university at that time. Therefore, I enrolled into ___ which is a semi-governmental and the first ever green university in South-Asia in order to pursue my interests. The degree was offered by university ___, UK where English was the language of instruction. As I was following a foreign degree, some of our lectures were given by foreign lecturers themselves. It was great opportunity for us as we were studying International business major. After three years of study, I officially graduated on January this year with a first class honours. And also, I followed a certificate course in HRM during my summer vacation which I received the outstanding achievement award for my performance.

It is true that Korean dramas and K-pop made me interested in South Korea. But what made me fell in love with South Korea is its culture. Even though both countries are Asian countries, there are slight differences in their value systems like __ being a South Asian country while South Korea being an East Asian country. According to an assignment I did during my undergraduate life I found out that the long term orientation is the most contrasting cultural dimension between my country and South Korea. I can admit that because the remarkable work ethics of Korean workers are known to be the factor of their success which is something not easily replicable as it is deeply ingrained in their culture. This cultural interest has led me even to engage in different Korean cultural activities. I have attended Korea festival organized by KOICA and I participated in Kpop world festival organized by Korean embassy both in 2015 and 2016 where I could get a lot of different cultural experiences. I have even tasted several Korean food. These made me realize that South Korea is such an interesting country and wanted to experience these things in first hand. This answers why it has to be South Korea. At the same time I am very confident that I can handle the culture shock and survive in South Korea better than any other country.

When moving onto the KGSP program, there are several reasons why I need to be a KGSP scholarship awardee. As an international business major student applying for global MBA program, it is beneficial for me to get different cultural experiences because the curriculum itself has an international orientation. I think it will also help me to accomplish my goal to work in a multinational company. The one year Korean language program is my second reason as I am interested in learning another language which is also a plus point for international business major student. Unfortunately, my bachelor's degree program did not have any module for language learning which I think as a disadvantage for us. Therefore, I want to learn Korean language while experiencing Korean culture because as I think, a different language is a different vision of life. Apart from those, I think South Korea being the center of Asian business will help me not only to gain knowledge about booming Asian business but also to understand global business worldwide. South Korea as one of the Asian tigers has many lessons which will be helpful for the growth of my country's economy. I hope I will be able to give my contribution to the development of my country from the knowledge I will be gaining through this program. At the same time that knowledge will assist me in carrying into effect my dream of starting up my own business in the future.

Armed with these goals and dreams, I have decided to apply for global MBA program to acquire an in-depth knowledge. I truly believe that by getting this KGSP scholarship, I will get an invaluable experience that will help me to attain my goals and to expand my potential in the future.

Pinky, this is a pretty interesting draft. I call it a draft because there are still a few elements missing from the essay. For starters, I don't read any reference to your point of view about life and how you came to develop that point of view. What are your hopes and dreams for yourself? How do all of these elements come together to help the reviewer understand who you are or what you have become? Let the reviewer into your life. Allow him to take a peek at your personality. These are elements that he will consider as he analyzes your possible abilities that can help you better immerse yourself into the Korean community. It isn't just an academic introduction you have to present. You need to introduce your private side, to a certain degree as well.

In reference to your reason for studying in Korea, remove the references to K-pop and Korean food. The strongest reason you can present has to do with your participation in the KOICA event instead. I do not know if you are familiar with this but, almost all of the applicants to the scholarship fall back on Korean pop culture and food as the reason for their wanting to study in Korea. So the reviewer will be fed up with that line of reasoning already. Be unique. Show that you became interested in Korea through a different, more serious avenue instead. After all, you are not applying to become a member of a K-pop band, you are applying to gain acceptance to the academic world. So allow your reason to reflect just that. An academic reason based upon professional exposure at an international event. Avoid pop culture references as much as possible.

@Holt
Thank you for your kind advises. I will revive this again. towards the end I have mentioned that I want to work in a multinational company and about my desire to start up my own business. are those not enough to explain the fact of hopes and dreams. And yes I will eliminate about kpop and korean food.

The thing is, the hopes and dreams should be placed at the beginning of the letter as part of your personal background presentation. Since Koreans are people who give high respect to their family, their friends, their country, and a number of other things, your hopes and dreams should represent not only yourself but also your dreams for others. The hopes and dreams that you have should somehow be connected to your point of view about life. It should not be only for self interests. It should show a side of you that values your relationship with others as well. Your personal desires should somehow connect with the betterment of others and how you can contribute to the improvement of those around you as well. Show them a self-less side as well.