GKS 2021 Personal Statement
¡Hello community! I really appreciate it if you could help me with my personal statement for the GKS 2021 graduate program. Is about Public Administration.
These are the prompts
- Motivations with which you apply for this program
- Family and Education background
- Significant experiences you have had; risks you have taken and achievements you have made, persons or events that have had a significant influence on you
- Extracurricular activities such as club activities, community service activities or work experiences
- If applicable, describe awards you have received, publications you have made, or skills you have acquired, etc.
I still remember how the mountains near my house used to be green and lush, and now I can only see them overflowing with houses made by settlers who have nowhere to live. Every day I see children and older people working in the streets to support their families. The news always with the same headline of people suffering from different social problems. All this became part of my daily life. Days in which citizens assume the consequences of not having empathetic representatives with the will to properly manage the state's resources to meet the needs of the governed.
My family and I had to go through many difficulties to achieve a medium socioeconomic level. Despite the barriers and with effort, we were able to get ahead. Even so, we have a tight budget to be able to support ourselves. My father, a very loving and enthusiastic person even in the worst of situations, has a stable job with which he supports my family; he works as a topographer in my country's jungle. On the other hand, my mother is an emotional and, at the same time, entirely rational person who works as a teacher. She works teaching low-income children who live in rural areas of our town. I learned from her what the vocation of service was, regardless of the retribution. Thanks to my parents, I grew up in a warm, affectionate family environment full of values. They both gave stability to my life, motivated me to fulfill my dreams, and taught me valuable life lessons to become the person I am today.
Having to experience different community problems made me decide to study law and political science, a career where I could learn everything related to law's social rule. This career would also help me have a multidisciplinary vision to solve complex problems in different public sectors. My interest in studying law was based more on learning about good governance to create improvements in society and to achieve the standards of good quality of life that we all deserve.
Throughout my career, I was more interested in public administration courses such as regional and local government law, regulation of public services, administrative law, and economic analysis, among others. These courses helped me to acquire skills such as critical thinking and decision-making. In this way, during college, I continued building my ideas about improving the public system.
I had the opportunity to meet people with my same ideals, so we decided to form a discussion group to discuss political issues, jurisprudence, and comparative law. In this discussion group, I developed leadership skills because I was in charge of a group of people, I was able to guide successfully in the projects we proposed. I also belonged to a research association whose purpose was to disseminate and update legal, scientific, and humanistic knowledge. On the other hand, I participated in several workshops to acquire more skills in the work environment. The seminar on alternative dispute resolution mechanisms, conciliation, and arbitration helped me find solutions to social disagreements. I also participated in the workshop on professional performance and leadership. In my last year of university, I was able to do pre-professional internships in public sectors and different law firms. The most significant training was the one I did for a long time in my town's municipality, which served as a great experience to corroborate my future specialization in Public Administration. In this internship, I learned about the functioning of public entities and the nexus they have with citizens. Besides, I was able to experience the inefficiency in solving the people's most urgent needs due to their lack of management in different areas.
Last year I finished college, but due to the pandemic, I couldn't find a job. So, my parents supported me to continue studying, I decided to take distance learning courses focused on the master's degree I would like to study. I took diploma courses in public management and governance, project management, human resources management and auditing, training of consultants for procurement and bidding with the state. Finally, I also took a diploma course on logistics and operations. Thanks to these courses, I was able to learn more about governance.
The national reality and the people's struggle to find a better quality of life motivate me to create innovative measures, formulate reforms, and develop new strategies to improve the public system in my country in the future. I am confident that Korea can help me fulfill my dreams as it has become the only country that has gone from being an aid recipient to one that provides aid to developing nations. South Korea is an economic and cultural powerhouse because of its well-developed public administration systems, a model of administration that I wish to learn from and put into practice in my country. Also, they have an innovative government with particular attention to the public, promoting citizen participation. On the other hand, something that surprised me about their public administration is that they have an electronic government, making them the most transparent government of all times, for me, worthy of admiration. For these and many other reasons, I consider Korea to be the perfect country to fulfill my goals since they are a great model for underdeveloped countries to learn and improve themselves.
I am grateful to the South Korean government for allowing us to apply for this scholarship to international students and study in prestigious universities to fulfill our dreams of creating a better future for our countries.