Graduate / 'I wanted to become a monkey' - Personal Statement for Masters of Environmental Management [4]

So I had initially written a personal statement, but after the helpful replies to other people on this site, realized I may have instead written a statement of purpose. Does this better reflect a personal statement? Also, I spent much of my undergrad researching primate behavior. Do I spend do much time discussing that? It was partially a justification to use the snappy opener that got me into all of my undergrad schools. Feeling iffy about that line anyway. Feels less appropriate for grad school. I've still got over 100 words to use, so I can change/add a lot.

Personal Statement

(No more than 650 words)
Describe your academic background, educational goals and post-degree professional goals, and how YSE can prepare you to achieve those objectives.

When I was three years old, I developed my first career aspiration - I wanted to become a monkey. As I matured I began to explore other career paths due to the unfortunate realities of biology. When I was eight, I knew I wanted to join the Peace Corps. It gave me the opportunity to teach, see the world, learn new languages, and help people. I thought after Peace Corps, I would go on to study primates.

In college I initially studied Environmental Science, but also focused on behavioral ecology in hopes of finding a blend of conservation and primate behavioral research that suited me. My thought was that though conservation was important, I could find a way to include it in a research focused career. After Peace Corps, I intended to pursue a PhD in Animal Cognition. But through my service it became clear that these issues couldn't take a back-seat.

Peace Corps was challenging. I had been given a placement completely out of my expertise, and I was the first volunteer at my site in Jamaica. But though it was difficult, it was easy to see my efforts rewarded. I quickly realized the importance of a well managed project. Of course it seems obvious, but only as a volunteer working on my own projects did I see how many issues can arise. During my service, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to work on several small projects as an individual or with my farmers group. I was even able to work on three moderately sized grants authored by myself and the farmers. I learned how easily a project could fail due to any number of factors: apathy, improper estimates, or just disappearing into bureaucracy. When I finally felt that I had caught my stride with a grant for a water catchment system with an education and agro-forestry component, Covid-19 struck. The schools closed, the farmers became preoccupied with finding markets for their produce, and I was sent home.

Though conservation is my paramount concern, it's not achievable without helping stakeholders in developing economies meet their own development goals. To that end, I'm looking for a program that can help me explore the balance between these two critical goals. After, I plan to spread my career through small NGOs, USAID, and UNEP. This diversity will help me to continue the learning process with the goal of promoting sustainable change.

Yale has many great qualities, but what makes Yale my first choice as the next step in my journey are the resources and opportunities available to its students. While I have a strong foundation for understanding the challenges facing the environment in global development, I believe the Environmental Management degree offers unique insights to understand the frameworks surrounding these issues on a deeper level. The Ecosystem Management and Conservation specialization offers a crucial mix of scientific understanding as well as the policy that's key to the implementation of any program. This program not only offers the flexibility to mold the degree to help me succeed in my career, but allows me to explore these topics surrounded by the brightest minds in the field.

Graduate / Short answer essay for Masters of Environmental Management [3]

Yale application essay

I'm having issue with a 300 word essay for my application to Yale. My goals are to
1. Answer the question
2. Give them some more information about my goals that I couldn't clarify in my personal statement

I'm a bit confused on the wording of the question. I'm not entirely sure if it's asking about a time I enjoyed learning about something (i.e. learned that chess exists) or learning something (i.e. learning how to play chess). I'm not sure if this distinction actually exists outside of my head. Does it seem like I answered the question in a useful way? I think I might have answered the question twice. I'm more looking for feedback on the content rather than spelling/wording. I plan on revising the wording once I'm more comfortable with the substance.

"Reflect on a time in the last few years when you felt genuine excitement learning about something. Describe not only what you learned but how you learned it.":

About a year into my project working with sea turtles during my Peace Corps service, the managing director of the partnering sanctuary was looking to introduce a new computer program to the staff. It was a spatial database designed for use by the wardens to centralize and simplify data collection. The director asked whether I'd be willing to look at the program and help with training. At first I was hesitant, due to my inexperience with databases and GIS. But after diving in I was enthralled.

At the local library I downloaded the program and manual, and spent the rest of the week at home on my laptop tinkering. I decided I could best familiarize myself by building a sanctuary database that I could reference while helping train. It was a slow process, often scribbling down questions to research when I was next able to access the internet. But as I brought it to the staff to get their feedback on the program, I truly began to be impressed by what the system could do.

I was impressed by not only the usefulness of the system, but its inclusivity. The end user was considered every step of the way. The final result was an app that could collect vital data by users of any skill or reading ability. As I implemented their feedback, I realized I was learning just as much about proper project design as databases. Staff at every level enthused to me how this program could improve their work-flow. In the end, what excited me most about the program wasn't that we could report our data more quickly and accurately, but that everyone found a way to contribute to the project and make it their own.