Hello! I would truly appreciate if you can give me some feedback on my personal statement. I will apply the next year for the Global Korean Scholarship in the Master's program of International & Area Studies (East Asian Region)
Personal Statement - International & Area Studies Master's Program
The author Ciore D. Taylor once said: "Differences simply act as a yarn of curiosity unraveling until we get to the other side". I've always been a curious person and I've let myself be guided by this feeling in order to understand the reasons behind what made me feel that. Following this curiosity have led me to find where and what the motivations behind my actions really are, which beliefs are underlying it and deciding if those beliefs are in line with who I am, that's where I started my process of personal transformation.
One of the main reasons I majored in International Relations was the big interest I developed, during my senior year of high school, after taking the Regional & Contemporary Scenarios course. That curiosity guided me to become the internationalist that I am now. During my college studies I had the chance to study different regions of the world and topics related to international affairs, but the course of Regional Scenarios of Asia defined the path that I would follow as an internationalist in the next years. This course was a general one about the whole region of Asia, which made the course contents limited to learn during one semester. The desire to continue learning about this region, and specifically about Korea and East Asia, conducted me to start my studies in Korean, in 2017, in a language academy in Mexico, where, to date, I have managed to obtain the TOPIK I Level 2 certificate. And also, carry out an exchange program about International Relations and Korean Studies at Chung-Ang University in 2018. While studying in Korea I got the chance to experience and learn in a very close way about the culture, politics and society of Korea and Asia, since I also lived and studied with students from different parts of Asia, especially from Japan, China and Taiwan.
Back in Mexico, during my last semester of college, I got into an internship at Hapag Lloyd Mexico, which is part of the German international shipping and container transportation company. In this company I learned and developed skills in the areas of trade, international business and logistics. After 5 months in the team of allocation and already graduated I got hired as a permanent employee for the team of Operations Steering for land and sea transport. During my time in Hapag Lloyd I grew professionally, as it was my first professional experience, and I got consistently praised as responsible, persistent, with a fast sense of adaptability, willingness to learn and great attitude. After 15 months working for Hapag Lloyd I felt ready to give the next step in my life and achieve a goal I set since college, working for a Korean company, since my main professional goal has always been learning more about Korea and the East Asian region and become an expert in the area. On October 2019, I started working for the Korea Trade-Investment Promotion Agency (Kotra) in Mexico, as a research specialist. In Kotra I've been able to work with the Korean Embassy in Mexico and KOTRA's Headquarters doing research about different topics such as Economy, Public Policies, Trade, Markets, Industry, Regulations, among other topics; as well as keeping track of Mexico's news in order to find business opportunities, market dynamics, and political/economic risks. The research team is also part of the Latin America FTA support center, in this area I have been responsible of responding inquiries by Korean Companies and Korean Institutions about the Free Trade Agreements celebrated in Latin America in order to enhance and take advantage of the benefits of these FTAs. The experience I've gained working at Kotra has given me the tools and knowledge I need to take the next step in my life and pursue a Master's degree in Korea.
Studying a Master's degree in International & Area Studies, with the Global Korean Scholarship, will help me to acquire a high level in Korean language, specialize my international studies in Korea and the East Asia region, achieve my career goals and improve intellectual skills that I won't be able to find elsewhere. I want to study in Korea because it's the country in which I am mainly interested in specializing within the East Asia region and it will offer me a high and complete educational preparation for my career. I believe my curiosity and desire to specialize my studies in this area are outstanding and will be an essential part of my personal transformation.Holt Educational Consultant - / 14,835 
4783 Do not open the essay with a quotation from someone else. It will be better to close the essay with that quote or, place it somewhere relevant in the middle of the presentation. It will be more useful there as it can help create more of an impact based on what you have already said, in your own words. The reviewer doesn't want to get to know you through the words of others. He needs you to use your own words. He doesn't care about what some other person said, he wants to know about you, what is in your mind, how does your brain work? He cannot learn about those things based on the words of others.
Skim over the part about you working at Hapag Lloyd. I need you to instead, focus on the TOPIK Level 2 certification you earned. When did you take the test? What preparations did you make prior to testing? How would you gauge your Hangul proficiency at this point? After that, start a new paragraph that expands on the discussion about your work at the Korean embassy and KOTRA. I would like you to specifically mention work that you did in relation to research or work done in relation to your interest in graduate studies. You have the potential to become a top contender for the GKS - G next year, but you need to properly focus on the strength of your Korean prep work, relevant Korean work experience, and anything else Korean you can think of that will coincide with your masters program studies.
