Scholarship / "Journey through foreign language & culture" - KGSP 2016 Letter of Self-Introduction [4]

Hello Everyone,

My name is Eric and I am applying for the Korean Government Scholarship Program. I was wondering if you guys could give me some tips or advice to improve me essay. I would appreciate it a lot.

Here is what they want in the letter:
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

My essay is a bit long and I need to shorten it a bit, but I am not sure what to take out.

Ever since I was young, I have always been fascinated with foreign language and the global community. Growing up in the U.S., where you have a mix of cultures from a number of countries around the world, I was exposed to and experienced a sample of several different cultures. For example, many of my close friends form my childhood were Chinese, Korean, Japanese, Persian, Indian, etc. When I would visit my friends at their house, I had a chance to experience that culture first-hand as I heard my friends talking to their parents in their native tongue or as I enjoyed the traditional food that my friend's parents cooked for us. To me, it was such an enriching and fascinating experience. I wanted to learn more about these cultures and see what it was like to communicate with someone in a foreign language.

I started taking my first foreign languages in high school and that was when I realized my passion and talent for them. At my regular high school, I took Spanish for 4 years and during the long summers in high school, I wanted to further develop my foreign language skills, so I decided to start taking Japanese classes through a program that was offered at UC Berkeley. It turned out to be a great experience for me and those courses helped shape the path for my future studies in college.

As I reached college, I wanted to continue studying about the global community, which led me to choose International Relations as my major. Through International Relations, I was able to learn about other countries' culture and how each country interacts with one another. In addition, I continued my studies in Japanese and went on to receive a double-major in Japanese and International Relations. My first few quarters in college were a bit tough for me. A combination of living on my own, trying to adapt to college life in a completely new environment and choosing some wrong classes led to some poor academic performance that was not a true reflection of my academic ability. However, with the help of my academic counselor, my family and my friends, I was able to get back on the right track and improve my grades. After that, my grades gradually got better and I was able to finish my last quarter at UC Davis on the Dean's List, which is an accomplishment that I am very proud of even today. Furthermore, I believe that overcoming this adversity has helped me learn some things about myself and prepare me for similar situations in the future.

After graduating from college, I wanted to experience life abroad and I thought that teaching English would be a good opportunity to do that. I applied to some teaching jobs in Japan and Korea and I got hired to work at an English academy in Korea. Through teaching English and working abroad in a foreign country, I was able to learn so many valuable things about Korean culture, Korean people and some things about myself as well. First off, as a teacher, I was able to develop my public speaking and presentation skills. In addition, I learned how to manage students in a classroom and work as a team with my Korean co-teachers. Secondly, working in a Korean company, I was able to work directly with Korean people and learn about work ethics in a Korean business. Lastly, through teaching and watching my students progress, I came to admire the hard-working and diligent nature of Korean students. Furthermore, I got to see the Korean education system first-hand and appreciate the quality of it. All of my students were so eager to learn and they studied so hard. In those two and a half years of working and living in Korea, I fell in love with the culture, education system and its people.

After teaching English, I wanted to learn more about Korean culture and be able to interact with Korean people through their own language. I believed that this would be one way to really immerse myself and gain a better understanding of a culture that I fell in love with. Therefore, using the money I saved from teaching English, I enrolled in the Korean language program at the Kyunghee Institute of International Education. Already on the first day of classes, I knew that I had made the right choice. It was such a new and interesting environment for me, studying with my classmates who came from several different countries and speaking with them only in Korean. Also, many of my peers were KGSP scholars and they encouraged me to apply for the scholarship as well and continue my study in Korea. Seeing my hard-work in their classes, my teachers also encouraged me to study in Korea after I was finished with this program. Throughout my time studying at Kyunghee University, I demonstrated my dedication for learning Korean by attending all of my classes each semester and receiving the Award of Excellence for two semesters in a row. Finally, I completed the program after a year and I was chosen to give the completion ceremony speech to all of the attendees of the program.

From my experiences of working, living, and studying in Korea, I would like to pursue my masters degree there. Not only is education in Korea more affordable than other English-speaking countries, the quality if its education is also very high. From being a teacher, I experienced first-hand the quality of the Korean education system and how diligent Korean students are. Also, South Korean education ranks at the top of the list for Best Education in the World as well as top 5 in Asia for education competitiveness. Therefore, I would be honored to study in a country that offers world-class education without little financial burden. I believe that studying in an environment that is so conducive to learning and education will encourage me to study even harder and exceed my limits to keep up with the competition from my peers. Furthermore, I believe that I can contribute a lot to KGSP, in terms of passion for learning Korean, my love for Korean culture and society and my strong work ethic. As a KGSP scholar, I will work hard, dedicate myself to the scholarship and become a strong role model for current and future KGSP scholars.