KGSP personal statement
Why KGSP?
I believe KGSP is an outstanding program, which will help those like me to get an education, which is not obtainable in another way. What motivates me to apply only for GKS is the generosity of the program, covering all the expenses for students, and also granting possibilities, that would've not been possible otherwise. This has encouraged me to seek better education and not limit myself to the few educational institutes offered in Ukraine. Therefore, the GKS program in South Korea is capable of helping me to get the higher education that I want and truly deserve.
From early childhood, I remember myself as a very active and creative child. Every day I was drawing, creating, and inventing different things. Every day after school I would come home and draw for hours until it was time to go to bed, I had my special world, with lots of different characters with different stories and styles. My mom was very strict but loving, so we would sometimes gather together and sew dresses for my dolls from my childish drawings. Since then, my love for making my designs into real life has started. But I realized that fashion is my passion only after failing the GKS scholarship last year. That time helped me to overthink all my life goals and understand, what I really want to do in my life, not caring about the risks of being broke because I chose this job.
Being a person, who loves art in the form of films, cartoons, or even anime, I loved some characters' designs and personalities that much, that I even started making cosplays of them. Cosplay means costume play, when you interpret characters from fiction into real life, sewing their clothes, matching wigs, and doing appropriate makeup and other details. The first attempts were very rough, as I never learned how to sew before that. I was only looking at how my mom did it, but never allowed me, because it was too "dangerous", as she would say. My first projects weren't exactly easy. I love to make myself a challenge, so after I succeed in it, others will say that they didn't even believe that that could be possible. After some time, in 2018 I was a leader in a cosplay group with 6 people. We were making cosplays together and participated as a group in a cosplay contest at Kyiv Comic-Con, and we won 3rd place! I was so grateful for this award as well as thankful to my friends, who always cheered for each other and believed in us, so we did it, together. After the coronavirus outbreak, we ought to sit at home, so I had a lot of time to work on my projects, and suddenly halfway through one of my experimental projects in sewing, I realized that this is my passion! Designing clothes on paper, and making them come true, is making my eyes sparkle with joy. I have already quite a lot of designs, which I am going to make in the nearest future. My own fashion collection with my designs, and now I don't care if this is a risk or that I might fail, as my parents say. This is what I absolutely adore, and if I am doing this with all the love, that is in my heart, it must be successful. I know it!
But nobody has only positive things in their lives, I have also made some mistakes and been in despair. I was rejected by KGSP last year. But I've learned my lesson, and I think it was a good experience for me to learn from my mistake and make it to something positive. I have been working as a freelancer, helped my family, and understood what I want from my life. Also, talking about bad situations that I have coped with, I must say about a situation that has happened not long ago, in September. For two years I have been working on a cosplay project, making one for more than 300 hours. But when I applied to be an accredited cosplay, I have got a rejection. This felt like an end to me, but I didn't give up, and instead of crying I signed up as a volunteer and as one, helped with setting one of the small photo zones on the festival. And it was one of the best experiences in my life. So, it taught me a very valuable lesson in my life. In the end, I have met so many cool people, helped as a volunteer to organize such an important event, and also made it possible for me to wear my costume. After a few days, I was very surprised to find myself on more than 10 news portals, on a few of them, on a few articles there was even an interview with me. It was my childhood dream, so after this situation, all I know is that God helps those in need, if you really want something, and you do work hard for it and don't give up, you will be blessed.
Talking about my educational background, I must say that my family is very strict but rewarding. I have a full family with parents and two older sisters. They have already finished their university, but after doing so, they didn't start working at a job, that suits their major. Because of that, my parents didn't want me to be the same as them and tried to guide me in every aspect of my life, for me not to be their "disappointment". At a young age, I already had different skills, that people usually acquire only in school. I started learning English when I was 4 years old. All my childhood I was staying up until late, comparing to a friend of mine, because I had extracurricular lessons of piano, tennis, swimming, dancing, and so on. But in the end, it all helped me to get into one of the best schools in Kyiv. The school was focusing mainly on language learning, so from first grade we had English, then followed by German, Russian and Ukrainian, and from 2018 started learning Korean as a hobby, at that time, because I enjoy learning new things. I believe that my languages' knowledge is also an achievement. So currently, I can speak and understand 5 languages, but in the future, I am willing to start learning even more. Languages - keys to our world. Among all languages that I have learned in my life, I love Korean the most. The spelling, structure of this language, differ so much from other languages, making it so unique and amazing. I understand why UNESCO designated Hangul as a World Record Heritage in 1989. And it is strange, but I really do enjoy it and I hope to be more fluent in it.
To sum it up. I know what it takes to be a hard-working student because that is what I have been for my whole life. Korea is the place of my dreams because there I will be in the society that truly suits my way of thinking. I do know what I am saying because I have already been studying there for a month. I worked very hard for it as a freelancer and with help of my parents, in 2019 I was able to pay for a month of Korean language classes, to see if my love for this country will live up. And it did! It grew even bigger and bigger. I love the style of Korean people, the way they speak, and the way they think. This is my motivation to study there. I want to learn fashion from my fashion idols. Not celebrities, but just casual strangers. Studying the past, present and future is my most sincere, not a dream, but a lifetime goal. And I will never give up, and manage to bring it to life at any cost!