Scholarship / 'Music has been a very important part of my life' - Self Introduction for KGSP [3]

Hello! I'm Caecilia, from Indonesia, and i'm planning to apply for a scholarship and because English is not my first language, so I really need help for this letter. I haven't got a title for my essay, so i'll be thankful if you can suggest me a title. Please assist me to make my essay better.

Thankyou very much! :)

o Your course of life, your view of life, study background, your hopes & wishes, etc
o Your education and work experience, etc., in relation to the KGSP program
o Your motivations for applying for this program
o Reason for study in Korea

LETTER OF SELF-INTRODUCTION

I was born and raised in a city called Semarang, in Java, Indonesia. Being raised in a middle-class family, I can call myself a lucky person to have parents who worked very hard to support my education and my dream. Since I was 4, I entered a music school, which I learned pop vocal and organ, but I decided to pursue further with my vocal rather than organ. Then I started playing the violin at the age of 7 and led me to participate in various orchestras despite my very young age.

Music has been a very important part of my life. Many people disagree with my choice pursuing a degree in music, especially the people in my country. As I sing in many competitions and events back then, the more I feel that theoretical aspects have the same importance as that practical aspects. Seeing my country grown to be a place where people are indifferent about arts and as I get older, I feel that I need to find a better place to continue to get better education in music. After graduated from high school, I got a one-year scholarship to Guangzhou, China, and after that I was admitted to Xiamen University, China where now I currently pursue my bachelor degree in music, where for the first time I learned Classical vocal and I fell in love with this.

My journey pursuing a bachelor in music is not as easy as the people in my country thinks. Still, many people would ask and say "so you studied vocal for bachelor? So, what did you do? Sing every day?" and many similar questions to that. Hearing this, I would explain to them the things that I learned, but then another question will come "so how can you work after graduating with this major then?". This sparks another fire in me, and from time to time, I am now sure that I need to educate the people in my country, not only about music education, but also how music affects our lives in many aspects. As for me, compared to my classmates, I feel that I started very late, and I was left behind, this led me not to stop studying only until this degree, but I really need to go further, for the sake of myself and my country's education.

When people think that what we learned in class is the most important thing in college, I would disagree. I think that there are many aspects that shaped us while learning and that is our individual soft skills. While pursuing my studies in China for almost 5 years now, I joined many non-profit organizations such as Xiamen University Students Union, China-Indonesian Student Organization, Indonesian Catholic Youth etc. Not only organizations, but also other activities such as Marathons, volunteer for Confucius Institute, various performances in many cities, etc. Sometimes, Indonesian government workers also contacted me to be their translator and tour guide in China. By doing these sorts of side jobs, I came to realize that communication is a significant basic not only for individuals but also among the countries and this drive me not to stop learning only in China, but to continue to other countries, especially Korea.

Since young, I always loved other Asian cultures, especially Korean culture. Many Korean friends were surprised that I know much about their art and culture, especially in music. Not only K-pop, but I also love other Korean music, like Korean traditional music, Pansori. I love Korean culture very much to the extent that I taught myself Korean, and now I can listen, read, and write, but I can't speak. I couldn't say myself is talented in languages, but many of my friends say so. Knowing that Korea has a large industry in music, I'm so excited at the thought of learning the language and culture as well as continuing my study in vocal. As in Indonesia, many people are starting to love K-pop and K-dramas, so I thought this might not be enough. I love to see many people also love other aspects of Korean culture and I would like to educate myself to those to my home country. Despite the economical difficulties my family had, I really wish to pursue further with my education, and I feel that KGSP is the one and only path that I can rely on. Korean education model has been one of the best in Asia so far, and studying in Korea is one of my life's important goal and KGSP is a dream come true.