Scholarship / [GKS-G/KGSP-G] Personal Statement - International & Area Studies Master's Program [2]

Hello! I would truly appreciate if you can give me some feedback on my personal statement. I will apply the next year for the Global Korean Scholarship in the Master's program of International & Area Studies (East Asian Region)

Personal Statement - International & Area Studies Master's Program

The author Ciore D. Taylor once said: "Differences simply act as a yarn of curiosity unraveling until we get to the other side". I've always been a curious person and I've let myself be guided by this feeling in order to understand the reasons behind what made me feel that. Following this curiosity have led me to find where and what the motivations behind my actions really are, which beliefs are underlying it and deciding if those beliefs are in line with who I am, that's where I started my process of personal transformation.

One of the main reasons I majored in International Relations was the big interest I developed, during my senior year of high school, after taking the Regional & Contemporary Scenarios course. That curiosity guided me to become the internationalist that I am now. During my college studies I had the chance to study different regions of the world and topics related to international affairs, but the course of Regional Scenarios of Asia defined the path that I would follow as an internationalist in the next years. This course was a general one about the whole region of Asia, which made the course contents limited to learn during one semester. The desire to continue learning about this region, and specifically about Korea and East Asia, conducted me to start my studies in Korean, in 2017, in a language academy in Mexico, where, to date, I have managed to obtain the TOPIK I Level 2 certificate. And also, carry out an exchange program about International Relations and Korean Studies at Chung-Ang University in 2018. While studying in Korea I got the chance to experience and learn in a very close way about the culture, politics and society of Korea and Asia, since I also lived and studied with students from different parts of Asia, especially from Japan, China and Taiwan.

Back in Mexico, during my last semester of college, I got into an internship at Hapag Lloyd Mexico, which is part of the German international shipping and container transportation company. In this company I learned and developed skills in the areas of trade, international business and logistics. After 5 months in the team of allocation and already graduated I got hired as a permanent employee for the team of Operations Steering for land and sea transport. During my time in Hapag Lloyd I grew professionally, as it was my first professional experience, and I got consistently praised as responsible, persistent, with a fast sense of adaptability, willingness to learn and great attitude. After 15 months working for Hapag Lloyd I felt ready to give the next step in my life and achieve a goal I set since college, working for a Korean company, since my main professional goal has always been learning more about Korea and the East Asian region and become an expert in the area. On October 2019, I started working for the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra) in Mexico, as a research specialist. In Kotra I've been able to work with the Korean Embassy in Mexico and KOTRA's Headquarters doing research about different topics such as Economy, Public Policies, Trade, Markets, Industry, Regulations, among other topics; as well as keeping track of Mexico's news in order to find business opportunities, market dynamics, and political/economic risks. The research team is also part of the Latin America FTA support center, in this area I have been responsible of responding inquiries by Korean Companies and Korean Institutions about the Free Trade Agreements celebrated in Latin America in order to enhance and take advantage of the benefits of these FTAs. The experience I've gained working at Kotra has given me the tools and knowledge I need to take the next step in my life and pursue a Master's degree in Korea.

Studying a Master's degree in International & Area Studies, with the Global Korean Scholarship, will help me to acquire a high level in Korean language, specialize my international studies in Korea and the East Asia region, achieve my career goals and improve intellectual skills that I won't be able to find elsewhere. I want to study in Korea because it's the country in which I am mainly interested in specializing within the East Asia region and it will offer me a high and complete educational preparation for my career. I believe my curiosity and desire to specialize my studies in this area are outstanding and will be an essential part of my personal transformation.

Scholarship / [GKS-G/KGSP-G] Statement of Purpose (Goals of study and Study Plan) [3]

Hello everyone, a few days ago I uploaded here my Personal Statement hoping for getting some feedback to improve my letter. I'm back again looking for your help to get some feedback now on my Statement of Purpose, here what they are asking me for is the following:

- Goal of study and study plan: Goal of study, title or subject of research, and detailed study plan

- Future Plan after Study: Future plan in Korea or another country after study in Korea

Hope you guys can help me again!

Statement of Purpose

1. Goal of study and study plan

When I was a college student I became deeply interested in Korea and the East Asian Region and since then I've directed my work, both academic and professional, in knowing and learning more about Korea and the region to which it belongs. Being able to study how Korea is related to the other countries in the region will allow me to have a better understanding of how international relations are carried out in East Asia, from the perspective of Korea but also, from the perspectives of China and Japan, as the courses offered by the Graduate School of International Studies, of the universities of my election, cover lectures focused on the main 3 regions of East Asia.

Studying in Korea at the GSIS of any of the universities of my choice will help me to have a good understanding of the subjects in which I want to specialize and will allow me to have a broad international panorama since I will be able to study with students from other countries and get to know their opinions and, in addition, I will follow a study plan worthy of the international studies area where I will be able to learn more about the main countries that conform the East Asian region, how they interact with each other and how they develop their foreign policy.

The year of Korean language that I'll have before starting my master's studies will help me to improve and master the language, the benefits of knowing Korean and having a high level of proficiency in the language will help me in the future to have more options in the bibliography that I'll consult for my studies and thesis research, it will also allow me to get closer to the professors to be able to consult them and obtain more knowledge about the topics that interest me. Proficiency in the language will let me assist and participate in conferences, seminars and presentations related to the topics of my interest the may be provided in Korean.

During my first year of studies I'm planning on taking the lectures that are required by the GSIS as "Core Courses" and enroll courses that are related to the international relations' Regional evolution and lectures that allow me to have a better understanding of the behavior of East Asia.

For my second year of studies I want to enroll individual lectures to understand more deeply Korea, China and Japan and courses that are related to the strongest areas of international relations in each country in order to carry out my thesis research.

I would like to write my thesis on the evolution of international relations in East Asia from the last century to the present and be able to analyze the events that have caused the relations between the countries of the region to change and what strategies have been useful within the relationships between the region that have been used to carry out overseas. Courses such as politics, society, economy and culture of Korea, China and Japan will have a great impact on my preparation and will help me to deeply understand relevant issues in the relations between these countries and their role within the region. Studying and researching only from books and classes is just a small part of a master's student, so, as I mentioned before, I would like to participate and attend conferences, seminars and presentations that expose and deal with topics that can allow me a more full and deep investigation for my thesis.

The East Asian region is becoming more and more important in the international agenda, and the lead countries of this region are becoming really important players with more responsibilities on the international scene. Within the next few years we will be able to see an important change in international relations and we will be able to observe a diversification when making relationships and looking for allies. The East Asia region looks promising and will cause great changes in the history of international relations in the 21st century, as the world is becoming more and more globalized, so its study and expertise is important and a professional goal I want to achieve.

One at a time.