Hello! I am applying to KGSP. I want to study English Literature in Korea. I am not really experienced in this kind of writing. I feel like my paper is still insufficient. I would really appreciate if you could give me any kind of suggestions. Should I talk about GPA? Like I graduated with this GPA... I got good grades while I was an exchange student etc... I thought those would be unnecessary since I will also send my transcripts. However, some say it may strengthen the belief that I was a good student. Thank you in advance.
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I am the youngest of four children with a retired dad and an unemployed mother. I love art, reading books, learning languages, communicating with people, teaching and improving myself in various fields. I started having interests in literature and writing when I was just a primary school student. When I was in middle school, I attended poetry reading and theatre clubs. Reading poems and acting on stage in this part of my life made me have more sympathy towards literature. I developed interests in foreign languages such as English and Korean, during my high school years. I decided to major in English Language and Literature and chose A University by aiming to do a minor in Korean Language and Literature (A University was one of the two universities which had Korean Language and Literature department back then), however, I was not able to fulfill this desire due to some complications on receiving my application post by the university. Still, I did not give up on my interest and attended Korean culture club and joined most of the cultural activities of Korean Language and Literature department. Although I had started learning Korean all by myself, currently I am taking A2 level, Korean classes.
I started living apart from my family after I got into a university in another city. Living without my family for a couple of years helped me to become more of an independent individual and to learn how to take my own responsibilities. Since I was interested in the Korean language and culture, I made an application in order to be an exchange student in Korea. By the Exchange Program, I was accepted to study in Korea for a semester. Leaving my comfort zone and going abroad for the first time helped me to see the world from different perspectives while studying in my own department and led my interest in Korean language and culture to grow even more.
During my university years, I experienced teaching English to preschoolers, as well as teaching English literature to my friends in study groups, which made me realize helping others to learn is a life calling and led me taking courses about effective teaching techniques after graduating. I believe besides self-improvement, trying to enlighten others is also an essential point on improving our societies. Believing this, I became a part of two social responsibility projects in order to spread awareness to child abuse and street animals.
By having these interests, I pursue a desire of being an academician after completing my master's degree successfully. Learning is an endless process. Everything I learn as a human being enriches my personality. Besides being a good academician in the future, it would be so precious to me, if I could have a literary work that moves people, inspires them in some ways, and has my name under it. I want to publish a work in the future by using all my lifetime experiences and knowledge.
Having these interests and goals deeply motivated me to apply for Global Korea Scholarship and I hope to be able to grab this once in a lifetime opportunity to reach my future goals. I choose to pursue a Master's degree in English Literature via GKS program since it offers great educational and cultural experiences, besides good financial support without which I would not be able to pursue my desire, considering my current financial situation. With Korean Language Program, I want to be successful at TOPIK exam and be good enough at the Korean language in a level that I could make translations into English and my mother tongue, which would help me on my plan to work with Korean-English comparing literary works. I believe that being a part of GKS program will contribute me a lot and it will help me to improve myself in an academic way, as well.
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Thank you for reading. I also want to add this "After taking a TOEFL exam, I realized that I had trouble with timing while reading. I was barely able to see a few questions of my last article when the time was over. After seeing how this problem affected my TOEFL results, I decided taking Speed Reading courses to improve myself." However, I can not be sure where to put it. Could u give any suggestions?
Holt Educational Consultant - / 14,835 
4783 Suheda, you have more than enough information here to present a strong personal statement. You need to remove certain information, not add to it. You also need to clarify certain factors that led to your decision to study English in Korea.
For starters, you can remove the reference to your family in the essay. Since this is not a Undergraduate application and the family background is not a requirement for the G program, they need not be referenced as that does not add useful information. Instead, explain what motivated you to study English in college then relate that to your interest in languages and Hangul in particular. Since you did not study English as your major, you should explain why you believe you will be a successful English masters student, considering that you specialized in Korean as an undergraduate.
The reference to your Korean language studies should be given a higher profile since that will help to boost the interest of the reviewer in your application. If it appears that you can skip the TOPIK test, then you are practically a shoo-in for the scholarship. Korean proficiency is given a tremendous amount of consideration in the GKS application.
Talking about your GPA in relation to your research abilities (unrepresented in this essay) will help as well. You do not really explain your strengths as a researcher in the essay. That should be further highlighted in the presentation, with less attention paid to your being an English tutor. Develop the discussion of the semester you spent in Korea as well. All of the information I am listing here, when properly developed, will definitely make you a contender for the grant.
