Hi there! This is just a draft I have made and I am curious if it can already be considered as an academic essay fit for GKS-U. I just followed the prompts from last year. I will be starting my 12th year this coming September and I am planning to apply next year, so this is just for practice (I do hope it's allowed in here). I have 1 year left but these are my experiences so far. This is less than the max 2 pages allowed, so I think I can still add whatever achievements I can get for the next year (If I get one ;-;) .
Anyway, I would greatly appreciate feedbacks for this essay. Thank you in advance and have a good day :).
GKS-U scholarship essay
The term Iska (girl scholar) has followed me ever since I was 13. I was the first in my town to qualify for the top science high school in the country, and it was where my journey of pursuing a STEM career has started. However, the flick of a pen against paper has been the action most familiar to me, and I spent 4 years trying to balance my passion for writing and maintaining a scholarship meant for a STEM career that I was privileged to enjoy. This led into a conflict of interests and a few years of wasted potential, but I managed to endure, and here I am with a clear goal set in mind, hoping to continue my scholarly endeavors in a country more advanced than mine.
My love for learning started inside our humble home. My mother is a master teacher working in an elementary school. From her profession, I've always known the importance of education which was the reason I've learned how to discipline myself over the years into acting as an academic who follows her school's mission of pursuing excellence and the untarnished truth. My maternal grandma, although unable to finish a bachelor's degree, worked as a baranggay health worker in the local clinic, the very same place where I currently work at as a youth volunteer to garner experience in public health. But perhaps the person who has influenced me the most is my father, who managed a few businesses early on while teaching me financial discipline, before his body started its lifelong war against diabetes. I was raised in a traditional family where filial piety is observed strictly, which is why I developed close bonds with the members of my family. They were there supporting me when I first won as a champion in Editorial Writing in the Division Level, got the top score in a Math Competition in our district, and graduated elementary school as Valedictorian. And after that came highschool; my independence.
After passing the National Competitive Examination for PSHS that has thousands of applicants annually, I moved (X) miles away from home and lived independently in the school dorms for 4 years instead of 6 as I had to spend the last 2 years of highschool at home due to the pandemic. There, I managed my own stipend from being a full scholar and had to learn to adapt in a place with people speaking different dialects. Junior highschool was a blur of trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life. The 13 year old writer in me signed a life long contract tying me to the world of STEM, and it was not surprising that it took me years before realizing what my goal in life was. I was part of an Astronomy club, the school choir, the Book club where I acted as assistant librarian, the Red Cross club, the Athletic Council in 10th grade, and of course the School Publication all throughout highschool. For my student internship, I applied and got accepted to the Department of Energy but due to the pandemic, I had to attend an online internship sponsored by the school in the Fabrication Lab where I designed an electric car that as my adviser said was 'the most unique and significant among all the designs of my peers'. Every club, every activity, was unrelated to one another but I do not regret doing these seemingly random activities because it has shaped me to become a versatile person with experience that encompasses a wider range than most of the people my age have participated in. However, the subject I showed most potential in was Filipino and English, hence I took my work in the school publication office seriously and finally, I was chosen by my adviser to attend a seminar in Sci-Tech writing in UP, considered as the top university in the Philippines. After that, I became assistant editor in chief and had the chance to be part of the first online-held National Press Conference last (X). /I had a few more activities in writing but i won't put it here for now/. It was also through English that I was able to become the co-author of a paper presented during the SAEYLS, an international forum held virtually in Malaysia, with the study focusing on the impact of online learning towards Filipino students.
Despite my passion for writing greatly established, I knew that I made an oath to pursue a career in STEM, and I was not one to stop committing. I chose Biology as a core subject with no initial plans behind my choice, but little did I know that it would be the field I would wish to have expertise in. Due to my geographical location and the unstable internet connection it brings, I grew frustrated with my performance, only remedied when my parents, who are ever supportive, exhausted some of their savings to provide me with a better internet modem. I was motivated to make them proud, and finally I was able to become a consistent Director's Lister, with satisfactory grades in Biology. At first I treated my Biology grades as mere numbers in my card. But it was when I became the ambassador of various youth led organizations in the Philippines such as X, Y, Z, advocating for the spread of STEM related knowledge to the younger Filipinos who were underprivileged, that I realized how I can use my knowledge of STEM, specifically Biology which is my core subject, to fill in that gap. As I got to interact with other students from the country and around the globe during National and International summits, I realized how far behind the Philippines is in the field of the Sciences, and the goal of being a pioneer to change that grew in me. It was when I was working on our Research 2 and researching for a new pubmat for an org that I stumbled upon the X (Korean) site. As a STEM student, I was pretty much up to date with scientific findings from my own country, but reading the research papers from Korea has fascinated me with how advanced they are in that field. I started searching for admission guidelines to some universities in Korea as I prepared for admissions in local colleges, until I found out about the GKS-U scholarship. The program was too good to be true, and it even offered the financial aide for a 5 year stay in South Korea. With the current pandemic, budget has been tight for my family, so the opportunity of being a recipient of such prestigious scholarship in a country that would help me fulfill my goal is not something I would easily give up on.
Hence in my last year of highschool /i'll be adding all achievements I can hopefully get and the colleges that will offer me admissions here/
As I have spent 6 years being a scholar of my country, I am ready to embark on a new journey of once again becoming an investment, now for 5 years, to one that is more advanced, with a guaranteed positive outcome as seen with my previous performance in highschool. I have recently improved my basic foundation of the Korean language and culture, and I am willing to learn more and become one of the bridges strengthening the bond between Korea and the Philippines.
Thank you for giving us students an opportunity such as this scholarship that would help us in succeeding and reaching our dreams.