Acting as a true ambassador of my country. UGRAD Personal Statement

Why would you be a great UGRAD participant?

This is my UGRAD personal statement.

I am a person who sets goals high and believes that they can be achieved with self-confidence, commitment, and a belief that you can always improve. Coming from a low financial status family I could not afford any university tuition fees so for an opportunity to get a higher education I invested my time and effort, worked hard and I got a four-year full scholarship. This motivates me to set my goals even higher and work towards achieving them.

My curiosity for computers, desire to create something unique and work on great projects with a variety of people to serve our community, led me towards Computer Science, as its main purpose for me is to enable us to impact our world positively. Studying in the U.S. will improve my career possibilities, academic knowledge and leadership skills that will help me to finish my bachelor's degree, as well as motivate, inspire and lead other students towards improvement and growth of our community. I hope to use this experience as an opportunity to get a Fulbright scholarship for master's degree in Computer Science.

Few years ago I was on an international cultural exchange tour in Bulgaria as a dance academy member and had a great opportunity to meet people from different countries, learn about diversity, and get a cross-cultural experience and make new friends. I have a strong desire to expand on this previous experience and become a part of American society, learn about a new culture, experience different educational environment, and promote mutual understanding between my country and the USA. I will have a chance to meet a variety of people, build strong relationships and present them my country through International Education Week events and other projects while in the same manner, I will learn about theirs.

My first volunteering activity was at school as a leader of a team that collected some free food and clothing for a homeless people. This rewarding experience helped me realize how even a little effort from every one of us can have a positive impact on our community. I want to spread this practice and gain more experience of volunteering. When I return home I will share my knowledge and experience across my community, and try my best with the help of my university to promote volunteering among others in the best possible way.

As a curious youngster I have always loved to take on new challenges and hobbies. I started learning Georgian folk dances in an academy when I was 8, followed up by teaching myself how to play the guitar and the piano. Music is my passion, a way to communicate with others. I often play the instruments and dance with my friends to have fun and relax. This exchange period would be a perfect opportunity for me to join local music club, make new friends, learn more about American music culture and share Georgian as well.

I assure you, that I will contribute to the program with all my heart and reciprocate the experience by acting as a true ambassador of my country. I realize the potential this program offers and I am certain I will take full advantage of it to return at home as a more mature, independent and a better leader.

Please, feel free to post any comments as I will highly appreciate any kind of help. Thanks.

Gregory, this is a pretty good essay that only requires a simple transition paragraph in order to smoothly transition the discussion from your academic exploits to your volunteer activities. These volunteer activities are quite strong and shows that you would be a considerable addition to the Fulbright Scholarship group if you are chosen. However, I feel that the opening statement is too much of an over reach in your self description. When you are asked why you would be a great candidate for the program, you should focus more on the social interaction part instead of the self motivation section because the Fulbright scholarship is all about helping to promote diversity and unity among the participating nations while in the United States.

When you discuss your first volunteering activity, try to make it a bit stronger by adding information about what you did as a participant in the program. From there, indicate an interest in continuing to participate in similar activities in the United States. Add some ideas about how you hope to spread knowledge about your home country to the less fortunate or the members of the volunteer group in the process. That shows that you have a clear plan of action for your free time as a participant. The academic aspect is pretty much set in stone at this point and doesn't need to be fully threshed out anymore.

@Holt
Thank you for your comment I appreciate it. Unfortunately, I wasn't chosen as UGRAD participant and now I am trying to figure out why and find my mistakes, and I really appreciate any advice and suggestion.

I have a question. Is it clear for a reader that I am talking about UGRAD? I mean the part when I write about Fulbright scholarship. Is it possible that a person may get confused whether this personal statement is for UGRAD or for Fulbright?

For a transition paragraph should I write something like this?: "Except for academic and leadership skills development participating in the program would give me an opportunity to expand my previous volunteering experience and give me a chance to share it with my volunteering group members and across my community." and after that I will talk about my volunteering in more details and how I would spread it.

And what do you think about the paragraph when I talk about my hobbies and joining local clubs? Is it needed or should I just remove it?

Thank you in advance.