Hello, I wish to apply GKS. It will be a huge help to me for you to check my essay. Thank you in advance.
these are the instructions.
- 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.
GKS personal statement
I was born into a mega city where the only stars that could be seen were city lights. A city where no one in the crowds cannot be seen twice. People who walk fast, talk fast, pay fast. Every single one of them is in a rush and busy with their own work, trying to survive. Although time is the only real most valuable thing we have. It made me think every morning while going to high school and barely able to stand and breathe; do I want this life? Waking up every morning to work for someone else's dream? This made me realise why shouldn't I spend my whole life helping build someone else's dream, whereas I could work for my very own dream. A question that I read some time ago triggered something inside me which was "What would you attempt to do if you knew you could not fail?" These words made me believe I can do anything. That's how I decided to have a profession that is open to change and advancement and eventually a job that one day I would work for myself. I believed I had to find my passion so I could be best at it and successful. I knew my passion was establishing my own business in the future so I chose to study business administration.
I have never tried to be successful because I always was, it was not needed to be. You know the neighbour's kid who is better at everything, I was that kid for a long time. My life started pretty good but It didn't last forever. When I was small, I was an outcast, the other girls in the neighbourhood didn't let me play with them. Even when they did, they were not being fair and picking on me. So I started to play football with boys, and that's how I became aware that there are always different options at an early age. If I come to my school life, I was always the best student in the classroom and the class president during my primary and secondary school years. I was an active student when it came to projects and contests. I participated in several art and book contests later on a mancala (a strategy board game) and a mathematics & science contest which I ranked 9th in later. I didn't receive great success from these events but I understood that what's important is not always success itself but the courage to try. Just the fact that I tried once gave me more courage to try and succeed more every time so I never give up. Compared to secondary school, my high school life wasn't as active as before, half of the 9th grade and during the 10th grade I only had online lessons, and in the last 2 years of high school, I still had to be busy with the lacks of first 2 years of lessons, also my lyceum was science-mathematics based and it is a known fact that especially the curriculum of last two years in this lyceum is pretty challenging. Other things worth mentioning during my high school life are a canvas I painted for the school exhibition, compulsory annual projects that I submitted and being the class representative for some years. Additionally, from secondary school to the end of high school, during my 8 years of study, I was granted a government scholarship. (a scholarship that is given according to the family income and success of the student)
Since I was aware of my own being, the very first things I loved were numbers and paintings, surely after my mother. I believe it was related to me taking after my mother and as a role model like most of the kids did. She studied economics and painted a lot as a hobby. She lost her job due to the 2001 economic crisis however thanks to that, she spent more time with me and my big brother, even with my little brother who was born 5 years after me. My mother taught me how to calculate numbers in the first place even before I learned the alphabet, she raised the seed of mathematics in me. My big brother was very intelligent so he went to a school with other high-level IQ kids. Because he was pretty intelligent, I preferred to be the less problematic and responsible child of my family. As you know if a seat is taken, you go for the empty one. Being a middle child among two brothers, I had to fight often which resulted in me having an ambitious and competitive personality. Also, I always was the buffer zone that established the balance between my brothers. It took much effort to learn how to get along with them but as a result, I ended up being a competitive but easy-going person.
Until the last year of secondary school, everything was great. Both for my lessons and finding time for my hobbies, it was awesome. I used to swim twice a week and participate in an art club regularly. Aside from that I used to be more of an introvert rather than an extrovert at that time, I preferred reading and painting over most of the things. Everything changed in that last year of secondary school when my mother was diagnosed with cancer. I guess this was the milestone of my 18 years of life. I took the high school entrance exam at the end of that year. The year that I didn't even mind listening to lectures but spent my hours of lessons reading books. Frankly, I couldn't be motivated for anything, not to mention studies, thinking of death that close didn't help. Nobody including myself had the will the think of the entrance exam at that time. But surprisingly, I was in the top 10% of exam takers. People around me were astonished that I managed to do that good without studying however I always thought I could do way better. I kept telling myself "I could get into a better school", "I don't belong here". I was furious that nobody took care of me that year, I thought It wasn't my responsibility to be aware of the necessity to study for that exam, and I thought my parents were supposed to lead me to study. However, as a result of these events, I learned not to blame and hold anyone responsible for something I decided to do or not to do. Life is my life. All are my failures, my successes. Nevertheless, as I wasn't able to get into a high school at the academic level I wanted to have, the possibility of getting into the top best universities in Turkiye was very low due to the system.
GKS was the hope for me to get what I believed I deserved. I have always been deeply interested in both a good education and Korea. Even before knowing of GKS, I desired to study in a Korean university but unfortunately, I didn't think it was possible for me due to the amount of my family's income and also the fact that the turkish lira's value fell significantly in the past 2 years. Back to 2 years ago, when I found out about GKS, It raised my hopes again and I saw it as a great opportunity for me to have a bright future. During these 2 years, I studied hard to have good grades and learn Korean and English at the same time. I should mention I hated English for a long time and my English was awful just about 2-3 years ago. But my hard work paid off in the end and I reached a level of C1 English and almost TOPIK 3 Korean. I applied for this scholarship because I know I would like to spend my 5 years of study period in Korea while experiencing Korean education and culture as much as possible. I must admit the chance to study business in a country that has many globally successful companies and managed to have one of the best economies in Asia after such a cruel tragedy of the Korean War is very tempting.
I choose business administration because I have always been interested in mathematics and human relations/behaviour therefore I have a huge curiosity about learning how money circulation works in society, why some businesses grow while some fail, why less qualified people manage more qualified people and so on. I want to discover the answers to these questions and many more while majoring in business administration. Besides I have been following several programs to learn more about business such as "Shark Tanks" which is about different business models, and "The Profit" about a famous CEO taking advantage of struggling companies. Additionally, I listen to Ted talks of successful people to inspire myself and gain some necessary knowledge that I could apply to my studies and personal life. Nowadays, I am learning some about stocks as it's in demand in the turkish market. I started exchanging stocks about a month ago, and I gained a considerable amount of profit already. My passion for learning more about anything, specifically for businesses and Korea brought me together in the GKS program. I know that you are reading this right now because you want to find a good candidate. I believe in my potential and what I am capable of doing, I told you my story briefly to show it to you. I hope you get a clear image of it.