Hi! Any feedback will be very appreciated, particularly on which parts I should remove to shorten this as I'm planning to add another paragraph on a more detailed plan on my impact (possibly creating a project where I create an organization that focuses on teaching children reading through visual communication since reading led me to finding my goal of working in magazines)... but only if it's necessary. Thank you in advance ^-^
PERSONAL STATEMENT
Dear Admissions Committee,
Long before I learned design terminology itself, I learned to read magazines closely, studying how text, images, and empty space worked together to communicate meaning with every element of its pages. This early fascination led me to apply for the Undergraduate Global Korea Scholarship (GKS-U)'s Embassy Track, in hopes of a graphic design related major in my university choices: Dongseo University, Keimyung University, and University of Ulsan, which I have chosen for each of their own strong design majors. My primary motivation for applying is to develop strong, industry-oriented graphic design skills within South Korea's collaborative and traditional creative environment, while also preparing for a long-term career in editorial design within magazines in the fashion industry.
My passion in design began to take shape when I went through a formative experience that challenged how I understood art and my role within it: my first international choir competition in 2019 where my team achieved a bronze medal. Although I had no problem with being far away from home, I had only learned the discipline and responsibility required when performing on an international stage at the time. To deal with this inexperience, I reached out to more knowledgeable people such as artists, directors, performers, senior members from different backgrounds who taught me how multiple art forms can work together to create strong emotional and communicative impact. I was especially awestruck when I met Eui-Joong Yoon, who is a choir conductor from Korea, where I learnt the discipline and organization that Korean creative teams have adapted to their learning progress for a long time. This fundamentally changed my perspective on art and eventually my approach to it as well; I learned that structure and collaboration are as important as the project's artistic outcome because of the harmony between different art forms, which later influenced my organizational work as well.
This experience only developed my interest in fashion even more, which is something I had unconsciously always loved when reading or watching about it when I was younger, starting from the age of 9. Despite this, what interested me more about fashion was how it was visually expressed through art forms like posters and magazines; my first experiences learning English was through these same prints as I wanted to fully understand the reasons behind each positioning of text, image, and the spaces between them, and how these designers worked with the writers to express their intent. But as digital media became increasingly popular in forms of videos and photos and print/text media decreasingly so, there were multiple cases where I have been asked why I think fashion magazines would still be relevant, since fashion itself is not something highly germane in my home country. My answers were spontaneous but they were always the same in its core: I believe they would still be highly relevant as long as its collaboration with the fashion industry remains.
Teamwork and tradition are things I believe are root to every successful project and path in life. In the same way, I have observed that these are also extremely important in South Korea within their language and customs in general, to the point these practices have traditionally engrained themselves to corporate behaviors that can be seen through multiple working industries, including creative industries. This is a culture that aligns to my own working values and I ought to surround myself with them to achieve the best version of my work and effectively impact the still growing arts and fashion communities. Especially through modern Korean artists with different art focuses that I highly admire, such as Kim Moondog and Ajo Kim of AJOBYAJO for their distinctive work and contributions to the fashion industry in ways that express how their personal style along with cultural and industry awareness can blend seamlessly through their work. Korean magazines quickly became my favorite among international publications when I first discovered it in middle school, right in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic where I decide to explore the magazines rack of a hair salon that only had Korean magazines. I learnt to deeply respect them because of its heavy integration of Korea's traditional and local culture while also indulging the modernity of K-Pop idols or celebrities, and it had always given me a sense of comfort in general as it accompanied me for most of my time during the pandemic.
For this reason, my long-term goal is to work in editorial and digital design within the fashion industry, collaborating with writers, designers, and marketers to produce visually compelling publications. I aim to apply these skills to build fashion's relevancy not only in Indonesia but also within Korean creative industries. Additionally, I am deeply committed to learning the Korean language, which I have previously studied independently, though minimally, due to lack of time during high school, especially with my focus on maintaining my 3.3/4 GPA, learning English, and familial obligations.
Even with that, my interest in art maintained throughout my last education at high school, especially in my first and second years of high school in Makarios Christian School despite having to balance classes, English learning, non-academic creative projects, and taking care of my younger siblings. Even with this, I managed to get through by really improving my time management skills with schedules that I personally wrote for myself in tables. This soon became a habit as I grew older, balancing academics with my personal artistic growth that became increasingly hard to manage as graduation came close. Thankfully, I was helped when I asked my fine arts teacher to tell me more about graphic design as I plan to have a career in it, which she would then primarily teach me advertising design with Canva and Adobe Illustrator and introduce me to design competitions. These experiences strengthened my initial and essential graphic design skills with a technical foundation that introduced me to design as a communicative and problem-solving discipline. At the same time, I was also able to publish a few sociology-based journal articles that focused on culture and industry with classmates that helped me build my skills in team-working, organizational, and deadlines. By my last year at a different school, Alta Global School, I chose to apply these experiences practically in organizations and friends' businesses, creating illustrations, layout designs, and logos, which revealed to me the responsibility and discipline of managing real audiences and what they expect.
Though throughout the busy schedule of organizations, competitions, classes, and other extracurriculars, my early fascination in Korean magazines had quickly slipped out of my mind, and for a while I was oblivious to where I will be going after highschool. It was 2025 when one of my online Korean friends I met through art forms-whom I have studied about everyday Korean culture from extensively-introduced me back to Korean media, particularly through Webtoons, and I was reminded by the passion and decided to look further in graphic design work in South Korea, which led me to making more design projects promoting Korea and eventually to the discovery of GKS.
From my research, I learned that many Korean universities' design majors emphasize global marketing standards, digital publishing, and audience-centered design through different art forms, combined with real-world experiences. These are what draws me into continuing my education in these universities' digital design arts program as these are qualities that I have applied to my previous work in my fashion magazine layout design projects and would like to further explore. The balanced approach between visual structure and cultural communication are qualities that could only be achieved in South Korea who prioritizes tradition that still blends with today's modernity. My long term goal in magazine work must require skills that I could hone through Korean university; my visual storytelling, layout design, and digital communication skills. South Korea will be a suitable environment to grow and enhance my technical, interpersonal, and creative skills, which would contribute meaningfully to my goal in arts in both career prospects and personal growth.
In South Korea, I aim to contribute to the academic community by actively collaborating in design projects, sharing perspectives from my interdisciplinary background, and participating in student-led creative activities. And most importantly, as an Indonesian student, I hope to contribute to cultural exchange between Korea and Indonesia by sharing Indonesian visual culture and perspectives while also deepening my understanding of Korean language and creative traditions. I look forward to the possibility of joining the South Korean creative community and doing my best to contribute valuably with the help of the Global Korea Scholarship.
Thank you for considering my application.
PERSONAL STATEMENT
Dear Admissions Committee,
Long before I learned design terminology itself, I learned to read magazines closely, studying how text, images, and empty space worked together to communicate meaning with every element of its pages. This early fascination led me to apply for the Undergraduate Global Korea Scholarship (GKS-U)'s Embassy Track, in hopes of a graphic design related major in my university choices: Dongseo University, Keimyung University, and University of Ulsan, which I have chosen for each of their own strong design majors. My primary motivation for applying is to develop strong, industry-oriented graphic design skills within South Korea's collaborative and traditional creative environment, while also preparing for a long-term career in editorial design within magazines in the fashion industry.
My passion in design began to take shape when I went through a formative experience that challenged how I understood art and my role within it: my first international choir competition in 2019 where my team achieved a bronze medal. Although I had no problem with being far away from home, I had only learned the discipline and responsibility required when performing on an international stage at the time. To deal with this inexperience, I reached out to more knowledgeable people such as artists, directors, performers, senior members from different backgrounds who taught me how multiple art forms can work together to create strong emotional and communicative impact. I was especially awestruck when I met Eui-Joong Yoon, who is a choir conductor from Korea, where I learnt the discipline and organization that Korean creative teams have adapted to their learning progress for a long time. This fundamentally changed my perspective on art and eventually my approach to it as well; I learned that structure and collaboration are as important as the project's artistic outcome because of the harmony between different art forms, which later influenced my organizational work as well.
This experience only developed my interest in fashion even more, which is something I had unconsciously always loved when reading or watching about it when I was younger, starting from the age of 9. Despite this, what interested me more about fashion was how it was visually expressed through art forms like posters and magazines; my first experiences learning English was through these same prints as I wanted to fully understand the reasons behind each positioning of text, image, and the spaces between them, and how these designers worked with the writers to express their intent. But as digital media became increasingly popular in forms of videos and photos and print/text media decreasingly so, there were multiple cases where I have been asked why I think fashion magazines would still be relevant, since fashion itself is not something highly germane in my home country. My answers were spontaneous but they were always the same in its core: I believe they would still be highly relevant as long as its collaboration with the fashion industry remains.
Teamwork and tradition are things I believe are root to every successful project and path in life. In the same way, I have observed that these are also extremely important in South Korea within their language and customs in general, to the point these practices have traditionally engrained themselves to corporate behaviors that can be seen through multiple working industries, including creative industries. This is a culture that aligns to my own working values and I ought to surround myself with them to achieve the best version of my work and effectively impact the still growing arts and fashion communities. Especially through modern Korean artists with different art focuses that I highly admire, such as Kim Moondog and Ajo Kim of AJOBYAJO for their distinctive work and contributions to the fashion industry in ways that express how their personal style along with cultural and industry awareness can blend seamlessly through their work. Korean magazines quickly became my favorite among international publications when I first discovered it in middle school, right in the midst of the global COVID-19 pandemic where I decide to explore the magazines rack of a hair salon that only had Korean magazines. I learnt to deeply respect them because of its heavy integration of Korea's traditional and local culture while also indulging the modernity of K-Pop idols or celebrities, and it had always given me a sense of comfort in general as it accompanied me for most of my time during the pandemic.
For this reason, my long-term goal is to work in editorial and digital design within the fashion industry, collaborating with writers, designers, and marketers to produce visually compelling publications. I aim to apply these skills to build fashion's relevancy not only in Indonesia but also within Korean creative industries. Additionally, I am deeply committed to learning the Korean language, which I have previously studied independently, though minimally, due to lack of time during high school, especially with my focus on maintaining my 3.3/4 GPA, learning English, and familial obligations.
Even with that, my interest in art maintained throughout my last education at high school, especially in my first and second years of high school in Makarios Christian School despite having to balance classes, English learning, non-academic creative projects, and taking care of my younger siblings. Even with this, I managed to get through by really improving my time management skills with schedules that I personally wrote for myself in tables. This soon became a habit as I grew older, balancing academics with my personal artistic growth that became increasingly hard to manage as graduation came close. Thankfully, I was helped when I asked my fine arts teacher to tell me more about graphic design as I plan to have a career in it, which she would then primarily teach me advertising design with Canva and Adobe Illustrator and introduce me to design competitions. These experiences strengthened my initial and essential graphic design skills with a technical foundation that introduced me to design as a communicative and problem-solving discipline. At the same time, I was also able to publish a few sociology-based journal articles that focused on culture and industry with classmates that helped me build my skills in team-working, organizational, and deadlines. By my last year at a different school, Alta Global School, I chose to apply these experiences practically in organizations and friends' businesses, creating illustrations, layout designs, and logos, which revealed to me the responsibility and discipline of managing real audiences and what they expect.
Though throughout the busy schedule of organizations, competitions, classes, and other extracurriculars, my early fascination in Korean magazines had quickly slipped out of my mind, and for a while I was oblivious to where I will be going after highschool. It was 2025 when one of my online Korean friends I met through art forms-whom I have studied about everyday Korean culture from extensively-introduced me back to Korean media, particularly through Webtoons, and I was reminded by the passion and decided to look further in graphic design work in South Korea, which led me to making more design projects promoting Korea and eventually to the discovery of GKS.
From my research, I learned that many Korean universities' design majors emphasize global marketing standards, digital publishing, and audience-centered design through different art forms, combined with real-world experiences. These are what draws me into continuing my education in these universities' digital design arts program as these are qualities that I have applied to my previous work in my fashion magazine layout design projects and would like to further explore. The balanced approach between visual structure and cultural communication are qualities that could only be achieved in South Korea who prioritizes tradition that still blends with today's modernity. My long term goal in magazine work must require skills that I could hone through Korean university; my visual storytelling, layout design, and digital communication skills. South Korea will be a suitable environment to grow and enhance my technical, interpersonal, and creative skills, which would contribute meaningfully to my goal in arts in both career prospects and personal growth.
In South Korea, I aim to contribute to the academic community by actively collaborating in design projects, sharing perspectives from my interdisciplinary background, and participating in student-led creative activities. And most importantly, as an Indonesian student, I hope to contribute to cultural exchange between Korea and Indonesia by sharing Indonesian visual culture and perspectives while also deepening my understanding of Korean language and creative traditions. I look forward to the possibility of joining the South Korean creative community and doing my best to contribute valuably with the help of the Global Korea Scholarship.
Thank you for considering my application.
