Please address the following in an approximately 750 word personal statement:
- What are your personal expectations for study abroad?
- Why did you choose your First Choice program? Why did you choose your Second Choice program (if applicable)?
- Identify one or two current issues of interest in your program country/countries (e.g. social, political, environmental, etc.). Review 2-3 online newspaper or journal articles to learn more about how these issues are currently being handled or discussed in your potential host country/countries. Explain why you are interested in these topics, and how they relate to your academic goals. Note: if your First and Second Choice Programs are in 2 different countries, make sure to either select a current issue of interest and address how it pertains to both countries, or select an issue from each country to discuss.
As a child growing up with immigrant parents from China, I spent a lot of time with my family watching television shows broadcasted from Hong Kong. The places that were filmed in these shows were beautiful, and I developed an early desire to someday visit them. As a native of Chicago, I did not grow up with tall mountains to hike, nor did I have the vast blue ocean only a few minutes away. My parents were always busy working, so there was never any chance to visit these types of places in America. Even when they had time, we would instead just have a short road trip to relatives nearby. When I watched these shows, I truly felt at home. They were a way for me to connect with my family on a cultural level. As a result of speaking the language with my parents and watching these shows: I grew up learning Cantonese, a language currently spoken by over 80% of the Hong Kong population. However, I usually only speak Cantonese with my family, as it is not very widely spoken in America.
My personal expectations for studying abroad include embracing the differences of the culture in a foreign land, finding similarities between myself and others, being completely independent from my family, and developing another perspective of the world that I would otherwise not have. Studying abroad will allow me to expand my knowledge beyond the traditional sense, as I will be able seize this opportunity of a global education to become a well-rounded citizen. It is also very important for me to step outside my comfort zone, as I have been living in Chicago all my life, and even at college, Evanston is not far from home. The fact that I will be on the other side of the globe does not terrify me either. Instead, I see it as an exciting opportunity to better understand life in other parts of the world.
Hong Kong is the city I chose for my first and second choice programs, in HKU and HKUST, respectively. I chose this city for a variety of reasons, which include my ability to speak the native tongue with the locals, the reality of a fast-paced urban metropolis, the city being a regional hub due to the close proximity to other countries in Southeast Asia, the trendy fashion and growing tech industry, the availability of delicious food from my culture, and the much warmer weather. Moreover, in the television shows I watched as a child, I desired to visit Victoria Peak in Hong Kong, spend time in Ocean Park, in addition to riding on the cable cars at Ngong Ping 360, in which my favorite actors and actresses so easily enjoyed. Furthermore, Hong Kong as a major financial city where the "East meets the West" directly relates to my interest in studying economics with an aspiration of also someday conducting business in Asia.
Speaking of economics, one current issue facing the city of Hong Kong is its skyrocketing real estate prices. Even as the government attempts to make housing more affordable by raising interest rates, the demand for new apartments is still high. For example, potential buyers had to enter a raffle for the chance to even make a deposit on new apartments. While the supply of housing is slowly increasing, the importance of Hong Kong as an impressively influential city continues to drive real estate prices up. As a result, the cost of housing in Hong Kong is the least affordable in the world. Many young adults are forced to live with their parents, or pay high rent for a small living space that is not ideal for raising a family. Furthermore, this issue interests me because investments are a fundamental concept of economics, and real estate represents a practical and realistic example for me to understand.
By studying abroad, I hope to continue to grow and learn more about myself as a person, embrace my unique cultural roots, and increase my marketability for my future career. Moreover, television shows can only show me so much about Hong Kong. For me to experience the culture in real time and fully understand it, it would require me to immerse myself by living in it, eating in it, and breathing in it. It would be both a privilege and a joy to find myself strolling through the places I could once only see through a television screen, hoping that one day, I too, would be there.
- What are your personal expectations for study abroad?
- Why did you choose your First Choice program? Why did you choose your Second Choice program (if applicable)?
- Identify one or two current issues of interest in your program country/countries (e.g. social, political, environmental, etc.). Review 2-3 online newspaper or journal articles to learn more about how these issues are currently being handled or discussed in your potential host country/countries. Explain why you are interested in these topics, and how they relate to your academic goals. Note: if your First and Second Choice Programs are in 2 different countries, make sure to either select a current issue of interest and address how it pertains to both countries, or select an issue from each country to discuss.
As a child growing up with immigrant parents from China, I spent a lot of time with my family watching television shows broadcasted from Hong Kong. The places that were filmed in these shows were beautiful, and I developed an early desire to someday visit them. As a native of Chicago, I did not grow up with tall mountains to hike, nor did I have the vast blue ocean only a few minutes away. My parents were always busy working, so there was never any chance to visit these types of places in America. Even when they had time, we would instead just have a short road trip to relatives nearby. When I watched these shows, I truly felt at home. They were a way for me to connect with my family on a cultural level. As a result of speaking the language with my parents and watching these shows: I grew up learning Cantonese, a language currently spoken by over 80% of the Hong Kong population. However, I usually only speak Cantonese with my family, as it is not very widely spoken in America.
My personal expectations for studying abroad include embracing the differences of the culture in a foreign land, finding similarities between myself and others, being completely independent from my family, and developing another perspective of the world that I would otherwise not have. Studying abroad will allow me to expand my knowledge beyond the traditional sense, as I will be able seize this opportunity of a global education to become a well-rounded citizen. It is also very important for me to step outside my comfort zone, as I have been living in Chicago all my life, and even at college, Evanston is not far from home. The fact that I will be on the other side of the globe does not terrify me either. Instead, I see it as an exciting opportunity to better understand life in other parts of the world.
Hong Kong is the city I chose for my first and second choice programs, in HKU and HKUST, respectively. I chose this city for a variety of reasons, which include my ability to speak the native tongue with the locals, the reality of a fast-paced urban metropolis, the city being a regional hub due to the close proximity to other countries in Southeast Asia, the trendy fashion and growing tech industry, the availability of delicious food from my culture, and the much warmer weather. Moreover, in the television shows I watched as a child, I desired to visit Victoria Peak in Hong Kong, spend time in Ocean Park, in addition to riding on the cable cars at Ngong Ping 360, in which my favorite actors and actresses so easily enjoyed. Furthermore, Hong Kong as a major financial city where the "East meets the West" directly relates to my interest in studying economics with an aspiration of also someday conducting business in Asia.
Speaking of economics, one current issue facing the city of Hong Kong is its skyrocketing real estate prices. Even as the government attempts to make housing more affordable by raising interest rates, the demand for new apartments is still high. For example, potential buyers had to enter a raffle for the chance to even make a deposit on new apartments. While the supply of housing is slowly increasing, the importance of Hong Kong as an impressively influential city continues to drive real estate prices up. As a result, the cost of housing in Hong Kong is the least affordable in the world. Many young adults are forced to live with their parents, or pay high rent for a small living space that is not ideal for raising a family. Furthermore, this issue interests me because investments are a fundamental concept of economics, and real estate represents a practical and realistic example for me to understand.
By studying abroad, I hope to continue to grow and learn more about myself as a person, embrace my unique cultural roots, and increase my marketability for my future career. Moreover, television shows can only show me so much about Hong Kong. For me to experience the culture in real time and fully understand it, it would require me to immerse myself by living in it, eating in it, and breathing in it. It would be both a privilege and a joy to find myself strolling through the places I could once only see through a television screen, hoping that one day, I too, would be there.
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