Hi, I am applying for the Erasmus GLOCAL program for the first time, and my deadline is tomorrow. I have drafted my SOP, which is around 1,100 words, and I would greatly appreciate your feedback. I'm unsure about the best way to structure it to ensure it flows well and keeps the GLOCAL committee engaged. Any guidance or suggestions would be very welcome. Thank you in advance.
Statement of Purpose: GLOCAL (Track B)
I have always been driven by a single question: how do we ensure that economic activity actually improves the lives of ordinary people? This curiosity is what led me to leave a stable corporate career and return to my hometown, Api Himal, in one of Nepal's most remote regions, with the intention of contributing directly to my community. However, once I was on the ground, I realized that good intentions aren't enough. I saw that even the best awareness campaigns fail when people are trapped by economic vulnerability and weak local governance.
The September 2025 youth protest in Nepal was a turning point, showing me that while my generation is loud, we often lack the tools to engage with the actual mechanics of policy. I realized that sustainable reform requires people who, rather than opposing, can work within systems, bridging local realities with global knowledge. I am applying to GLOCAL to bridge my on-the-ground experience in rural governance with the rigorous analytical frameworks needed to address the structural inequalities that keep communities like Api Himal at the margins of global markets.
During my Bachelor of Business Administration, I developed foundational knowledge of capital, markets, and data analysis. However, interdisciplinary coursework in economics, sociology, and politics truly deepened my interest in how markets function within social contexts. These courses taught me that markets are not neutral systems; they are shaped by power and access. For my sixth-semester research, I chose a non-traditional topic titled "Factors Influencing Nepalese Youth Towards Domestic Travel," which examined tourism's potential as an economic driver in Nepal, with reference to remote regions such as Api Himal. Using SPSS and Excel to analyze primary data taught me to turn raw numbers into meaningful narratives about human opportunity and reinforced my interest in applied research.
My professional life has been a mix of formal administration and grassroots engagement. During my undergraduate years, I joined the Rotaract Club of Patan West and later served as a Board Member where I contributed to community-based projects focused on education, public awareness, social inclusion, and gaining insight into how global service networks operate locally. I further expanded this experience as Community Outreach and Fundraising Coordinator for the Api Himal Alumni Association (AHAA), a local non-profit formed by student alumni to address development gaps often overlooked by formal governance systems. In this role, I acted as a liaison between local actors, including Rotaract Clubs, Rajdhani Youth Club (which I founded and led as President), and the local Rural Municipality, and international stakeholders such as IDP. I worked on the Ideal Classroom Project, supporting public schools through infrastructure improvement and learning resources. These experiences revealed that development is something negotiated at the margins, not just handed down from a central office.
Following graduation, I gained professional experience in national and international education. As Administrative Officer at Sumat Associates, I managed institutional processes and stakeholder coordination, developing a clear understanding of formal organizational systems. Later, as Program Officer at Rajdhani Model College, I coordinated academic operations and student engagement, working closely with faculty and management. These roles sharpened my operational skills while reinforcing my interest in the governance and policy environments that shape educational systems.
Since September 2025, I've been volunteering as an Education Support Officer in a government school. Working daily with parents, teachers, and local officials has shown me that meaningful change requires more than commitment; it requires institutional knowledge, analytical capacity, and a global perspective. While field experience has grounded my understanding of local realities, it has also highlighted the limits of action without theoretical and comparative frameworks. Re-entering academia at this stage is therefore a deliberate step to integrate practice, enabling me to design informed, sustainable policy and development interventions.
My central interest lies at the intersection of people, markets, institutions, and policy. I seek to understand how economic activity can translate into social impact, not merely efficiency. Track B of the GLOCAL program offers precisely the analytical and comparative framework required to pursue this aim.
I am specifically choosing Track B because it addresses the intersection of global markets and local development trajectories. The path through Glasgow, Barcelona, and Göttingen feels tailor-made for my goals. At the University of Glasgow, I want to dive into political economy and Varieties of Capitalism to analyze how global forces interact with subnational institutions. This is essential for contexts like Nepal, where policy intent often clashes with implementation capacity. Barcelona fascinates me as a "living laboratory" where creative industries and public policy meet. It's a huge contrast to rural Nepal, and I want to see how they use local culture to fuel a global economy. Göttingen is where I hope to sharpen my skills in Sustainable Economic Development. I am particularly interested in their specialization in Behavioral Development Economics, where I can apply empirical methods to understand how household-level decision-making in marginalized regions influences long-term investment in human capital.
For my master's thesis, I intend to investigate how household investment in education in marginalized rural economies is influenced by market access and income volatility. Using the development economics toolkit from Göttingen, I will analyze how "decision-making under uncertainty" affects human capital formation. My goal is to move away from "one-size-fits-all" interventions in favor of strategies that account for the unique institutional constraints of remote communities. My long-term goal is to work in policy analysis or development consulting before returning to Nepal to strengthen local governance.
Beyond academia, I have pursued leadership, civic engagement, and creative expression. I founded and led a student youth club and was awarded Student of Merit along with awards for presentation. I contributed to Rotaract Club's community-led projects and received awards for media initiatives addressing menstrual health taboos in Nepal. Professionally, I was awarded the Employee Reliability Award within seven months at Sumat Associates. I continue to engage in performing arts as a singer, guitarist, and trained Kathak dancer.
My academic background, professional experience, and community engagement have taught me that sustainable change requires individuals who can listen deeply, think critically, and act responsibly within complex systems. The Erasmus Mundus GLOCAL program offers the intellectual rigor, comparative exposure, and international community necessary for this path. I seek this program not only to strengthen my own capacity but to engage with a diverse cohort where I can ensure the voices, creativity, and realities of communities like Api Himal are meaningfully represented within global development conversations. Thank you for considering my application.
Statement of Purpose: GLOCAL (Track B)
I have always been driven by a single question: how do we ensure that economic activity actually improves the lives of ordinary people? This curiosity is what led me to leave a stable corporate career and return to my hometown, Api Himal, in one of Nepal's most remote regions, with the intention of contributing directly to my community. However, once I was on the ground, I realized that good intentions aren't enough. I saw that even the best awareness campaigns fail when people are trapped by economic vulnerability and weak local governance.
The September 2025 youth protest in Nepal was a turning point, showing me that while my generation is loud, we often lack the tools to engage with the actual mechanics of policy. I realized that sustainable reform requires people who, rather than opposing, can work within systems, bridging local realities with global knowledge. I am applying to GLOCAL to bridge my on-the-ground experience in rural governance with the rigorous analytical frameworks needed to address the structural inequalities that keep communities like Api Himal at the margins of global markets.
During my Bachelor of Business Administration, I developed foundational knowledge of capital, markets, and data analysis. However, interdisciplinary coursework in economics, sociology, and politics truly deepened my interest in how markets function within social contexts. These courses taught me that markets are not neutral systems; they are shaped by power and access. For my sixth-semester research, I chose a non-traditional topic titled "Factors Influencing Nepalese Youth Towards Domestic Travel," which examined tourism's potential as an economic driver in Nepal, with reference to remote regions such as Api Himal. Using SPSS and Excel to analyze primary data taught me to turn raw numbers into meaningful narratives about human opportunity and reinforced my interest in applied research.
My professional life has been a mix of formal administration and grassroots engagement. During my undergraduate years, I joined the Rotaract Club of Patan West and later served as a Board Member where I contributed to community-based projects focused on education, public awareness, social inclusion, and gaining insight into how global service networks operate locally. I further expanded this experience as Community Outreach and Fundraising Coordinator for the Api Himal Alumni Association (AHAA), a local non-profit formed by student alumni to address development gaps often overlooked by formal governance systems. In this role, I acted as a liaison between local actors, including Rotaract Clubs, Rajdhani Youth Club (which I founded and led as President), and the local Rural Municipality, and international stakeholders such as IDP. I worked on the Ideal Classroom Project, supporting public schools through infrastructure improvement and learning resources. These experiences revealed that development is something negotiated at the margins, not just handed down from a central office.
Following graduation, I gained professional experience in national and international education. As Administrative Officer at Sumat Associates, I managed institutional processes and stakeholder coordination, developing a clear understanding of formal organizational systems. Later, as Program Officer at Rajdhani Model College, I coordinated academic operations and student engagement, working closely with faculty and management. These roles sharpened my operational skills while reinforcing my interest in the governance and policy environments that shape educational systems.
Since September 2025, I've been volunteering as an Education Support Officer in a government school. Working daily with parents, teachers, and local officials has shown me that meaningful change requires more than commitment; it requires institutional knowledge, analytical capacity, and a global perspective. While field experience has grounded my understanding of local realities, it has also highlighted the limits of action without theoretical and comparative frameworks. Re-entering academia at this stage is therefore a deliberate step to integrate practice, enabling me to design informed, sustainable policy and development interventions.
My central interest lies at the intersection of people, markets, institutions, and policy. I seek to understand how economic activity can translate into social impact, not merely efficiency. Track B of the GLOCAL program offers precisely the analytical and comparative framework required to pursue this aim.
I am specifically choosing Track B because it addresses the intersection of global markets and local development trajectories. The path through Glasgow, Barcelona, and Göttingen feels tailor-made for my goals. At the University of Glasgow, I want to dive into political economy and Varieties of Capitalism to analyze how global forces interact with subnational institutions. This is essential for contexts like Nepal, where policy intent often clashes with implementation capacity. Barcelona fascinates me as a "living laboratory" where creative industries and public policy meet. It's a huge contrast to rural Nepal, and I want to see how they use local culture to fuel a global economy. Göttingen is where I hope to sharpen my skills in Sustainable Economic Development. I am particularly interested in their specialization in Behavioral Development Economics, where I can apply empirical methods to understand how household-level decision-making in marginalized regions influences long-term investment in human capital.
For my master's thesis, I intend to investigate how household investment in education in marginalized rural economies is influenced by market access and income volatility. Using the development economics toolkit from Göttingen, I will analyze how "decision-making under uncertainty" affects human capital formation. My goal is to move away from "one-size-fits-all" interventions in favor of strategies that account for the unique institutional constraints of remote communities. My long-term goal is to work in policy analysis or development consulting before returning to Nepal to strengthen local governance.
Beyond academia, I have pursued leadership, civic engagement, and creative expression. I founded and led a student youth club and was awarded Student of Merit along with awards for presentation. I contributed to Rotaract Club's community-led projects and received awards for media initiatives addressing menstrual health taboos in Nepal. Professionally, I was awarded the Employee Reliability Award within seven months at Sumat Associates. I continue to engage in performing arts as a singer, guitarist, and trained Kathak dancer.
My academic background, professional experience, and community engagement have taught me that sustainable change requires individuals who can listen deeply, think critically, and act responsibly within complex systems. The Erasmus Mundus GLOCAL program offers the intellectual rigor, comparative exposure, and international community necessary for this path. I seek this program not only to strengthen my own capacity but to engage with a diverse cohort where I can ensure the voices, creativity, and realities of communities like Api Himal are meaningfully represented within global development conversations. Thank you for considering my application.
