Undergraduate / Accounting formulas and textbooks - academic goals / personal global perspective [NEW]

Please advise on my grammar for my essay. Having only learnt English as a second language is especially hard in essay writing. I really want to get into the Semester at Sea program that I wrote drafts for the two topics, which essay do you think I best submit? Thank you (:

Prompt 1 : What are your academic goals, and how will Semester at Sea help you to you achieve them? Include at least two examples.
While most of my friends were taking great interest in teen idols and videogames, I, as an 11-year-old child needed something far more complicated to grasp my interest. Back when the Internet was only connectable through telephone lines, I was eagerly learning to practice my English by blogging.

Determined to have a better visualized site, I spent hours online learning tutorials for HTML and CSS web coding then pestering my parents to purchase graphic designing softwares. The intricacy and challenge was feeding my quest for knowledge; and simultaneously I was able to connect with people from around the world. Thus when decision was made that I was not enrolling to a graphic or web major, I left everyone puzzled.

Never been one that is traditional, I aim to impact society in a bigger manner. Business is centered on the exchange of one good or service for another in an effort to improve community's standard of living. Mastering these intricacies, methods and strategies involved in this exchange is my academic goal. And when that answer still does not satisfy the people asking why International Business, I would repeat my mantra "Why pursue something I can learn myself?" I have been designing for my shoe brand that had been in the market since 2011 and more than once had internships where they required Photoshop ability, also tutoring a few of my friends in website coding - and those experiences were done without studying design exclusively.

Accounting formulas, figures and textbooks do not tell the whole concept of business. And even one country is different from another; society is an interdependent web, relying on its members to meet each other's needs. Learning about the vigorous environment that drives Asian countries' global governance through a computer screen will not be as comprehensive as through Semester at Sea. For example, I can experience diverse cultural traditions of negotiations and dynamics of buying and selling at China or India then sit on classes by esteemed lecturers. Moreover, direct exposure issues like South Africa's stagnant reduce of poverty and low living standards in developing countries like Vietnam will provide me a bird's eye view of the global issues in order to address their challenges. Furthermore, I can also gain perspective about innovations from fashion capitals like Barcelona and Hong Kong to one of the greenest country, Mauritius.

Semester at Sea poses as a melting pot and a learning media where I could immerse in multicultural experience directly instead of through a computer. Not only would I be able to see the world from my eyes, but also through people from different parts of the world and gain from their outlooks. Another example is, with broadened perspective I can view what bodes well globally and make a better informed decision on my business and career path. Hence I expect to embark and return as an enhanced global citizen that is one step closer to her goal.

Undergraduate / Semester at Sea - Seeing Through Other's Eyes [NEW]

Below is my essay for admission for Semester at Sea. Having learnt English as a second language, I am aware that this essay is bound to be filled with grammatical errors. I would really like to get in the program. Please any kind of feedback is welcome, and I will try to return the favor as best I can. Thank you (:

How will your Semester at Sea voyage create (or enhance) your personal global perspective?Highlight your discussion by referencing at least one country on your itinerary and by explaining how your time there will further develop your awareness.

It was May 1998 and a week without school had gone by. At first I welcomed this luck to escape waking up at 6 in the morning. Nevertheless as a child missed seeing her friends, I pestered my father against his insistence that I stayed put at home or for the least stopped solemnly watching the news. Like most Indonesians of Chinese origin, I attended a private institution with friends whose parents had endured the same discrimination that they too had hidden during the riot for fear of falling victim to rape and mobbing like many unfortunate others.

Any public schools were predominant with native Indonesians, thus I prepared myself to be a minority when I decided to enroll to one. Instead of being verbally abused like I presumed, I was immersed in a dynamic of social mixes. At times I stunned people by shattering their stereotypical views about my ethnicity and frequently enough the roles were reversed. Through my newfound lens of cultural relativism, that week of chaos was no longer just a devastating moment for my people, but also for others who were suffering so hard that they reserved to anarchy. In a bigger picture, I saw that the tragedy that had taken almost 1180 lives was a cry for reformation to the economic turmoil.

High unemployment rate and food shortage were the fuel that drove my country's infuriation in 1998. Through Semester at Sea, my awareness will be heightened to similar issues across the globe by exposure to South Africa's stagnant reduce of poverty and low living standards implications in developing countries like Vietnam. As a student who would like to pursue International Business in further studies, I can live the culture and examine the vigorous environment that drives China's rising economy then sit on classes that openly discuss their global governance as opposed to learning from textbooks inside a traditional classroom. From all sights and experiences all over the world, especially fashion capitals like Barcelona and Hong Kong, inspirations can be pulled for my shoe brand, which have been on the market since 2011. Furthermore, my genuine experiences can be shared with Greenpeace volunteers who I work with, and be discussed for how we can implement other countries' eco-friendly technologies for our benefit.

Currently my cultural view is stretched as far as my nation, and even as the widest archipelago country in the world - it is still relatively small. My voyage poses as a melting pot where I could immerse in direct connections with different cultures as a foundation for my global point of view. Not only I would be able to see the world from my eyes, but also through people from different parts of the world and gain from their outlook. In high school, I mistakenly viewed leaving my comfort zone as a sacrifice and resulted in a broader view of my country. Therefore I believe that Semester at Sea will expose me to better global perspective and consciousness and I expect to embark with an open mind then to return as an enhanced global citizen.