This is a draft sop for my 2026 gks u application which explains my growth as a student with improvement of academics over time and strong extracurricular profile. Please provide your insight and suggest me how to make amendments, I appreciate it. Thank you
Every step I have taken, even in times of uncertainty, has taught me more values and lessons than standing still, being an inhibited individual who simply waits and watches ever could. And the domino effect all began with that split-second decision which would go on to shape much of my trajectory during my formative years. My name is Shubhay Sawant, I come from a non-metropolitan background from Goa, India, and my story stands as my answer to the question, "Why Korea, why this scholarship and major, and what do I hope to obtain and share through this program?"
I sat there, head deep in thought, voices in my mind quarrelling over whether I should even try. The announcement for an inter-school state-level quiz had just been made, and for a moment, the entire atmosphere seemed to pause, as if waiting for me to come to a conclusion. Until then, I had never been the kind to participate in activities beyond the standard school curriculum. Fresh out of the pandemic, I had become academically and socially paralyzed, with no sense of direction of my efforts, watching my Class 10 performance stagnate. Though the competition was hosted at a prestigious convent school and the field was daunting, I made a conscious decision: to try. Even if I failed, I wouldn't let the chance pass me by.
The next thing I knew, I was in the vice-principal's cabin, along with about thirty other students vying for only four available spots. When the results of the preliminary selection were announced, I was astonished to be among the four who cleared the cut-off. Representing my school on the day of the competition, our team stumbled early on but managed to recover in the finals. I turned the tide by cashing in on questions which I had anticipated the quizmaster to ask after analysing the syllabus during preparation. This success, anchored in my knowledge of Goan and global current affairs, revealed that the real victory was not the award, but the realization that effective action under pressure depends on strategic forecasting and rapid critical analysis of historical as well as present data. This raw ability for strategic forecasting would soon be scaled from anticipating quiz questions to modelling policy impact, a necessary foundation built during my high school years and ultimately refined by observing issues of unproductive land sales and gentrification faced by my home state, solidifying my interest in business and finance policy-making.
With the strategic forecasting skill established, I entered Class 11 with a powerful, if undisciplined, drive toward social sciences and economic policy analysis. My newfound quizzing interest, fuelled by a desire to test my analytical ability in high-pressure environments, became an intense, consuming focus. While this intense pursuit sometimes strained my capacity for academic balance, it propelled me out of the classroom, where I sought events that demanded meticulous research and strategic preparation. This period of singular focus led me to represent my school at inter-collegiate quizzes and eventually, the national-level business quiz at the Indian Institute of Technology, Indore. Facing senior opponents as the sole high school finalist was pressurising, yet I did not let their seniority consume my resolve. I focused instead on leveraging my preparation. Emerging as the winner after the two-hour competition taught me that resolve, combined with a rigorously prepared strategic model, could overcome vast gaps in experience. This success was not so much about the victory as it was about the final affirmation that my analytical approach was sound, and it needed to be channelled into real-world policy application. It was from here on, that my field of interest, my "what" evolved into "how", and the dots began to connect to the powerhouse on the Korean Peninsula.
"Four Asian Tigers" is a term given to four nations that underwent intense industrialization in the late 20th century, and transformed from underdeveloped to highly advanced economies despite their size and lack of natural resources. For my class 11 internal assignments, I conducted case-study research on two of these four tigers, Korea and Singapore, as I drew parallels with my state's scenario about its size, land use and the impact of their economic models. The connection began less academically, sparked by the "Feel the Rhythm of Korea" campaign which revealed a nation balancing dynamic modernity with rooted identity-a balance Goa desperately needs. This initial curiosity transformed into academic necessity during my Class 11 case-study research for my assignments on the Four Asian Tigers, particularly Korea and Singapore, which drew immediate parallels with the crisis facing my native state Goa. I also got insight into the rich Korean culture and ethos through this campaign.
Since the passing of late Goa CM Manohar Parrikar, a leader known for his anti-exploitative policy stance and rootedness with the native people, the state has observed a vacuum of meticulous policy-making. This has led to the systematic gentrification of our landscape: unproductive land sales fuelled by a detrimental "second home" economy where luxury villas purchased by wealthy non-locals from metropolitan cities, often vacant for most of the year, artificially inflate the market. This scenario, where external wealth disrupts the local economy from the land's soul, threatens our unique heritage and outprices the average Goan. I am driven not to mourn this loss, but to take action, recognizing that the solutions are structural, not revolutionary. My Class 11 research pointed to models from Korea and Singapore, driven by strong urban planning and exports rather than mere dependency on natural resources and tourism. This intense need to refine, frame, and implement effective policy is what compels me to seek the specialized knowledge necessary to help Goa achieve sustainable growth without falling into the soulless pit of concretization.
Observing the urgent need for structural solutions in my environment, I entered Class 12 with a renewed determination to not only improve academically but also address a growing weakness of strained focus in my character. I successfully led the formation of a higher secondary quiz team, which went on to win inter-collegiate accolades and advanced through three preliminary rounds of the national Indian Navy Quiz. However, a defeat in the zonal finals delivered a critical lesson: my analytical strength had become a comfort zone, and true growth required me to intentionally seek challenging new domains.
Success apparently has a hundred brothers, and failure is an orphan, but I shall gladly make it my brother for what it has taught me. I vowed to expand my activity base. I applied my strategic forecasting skills to new areas, participating in finance bootcamps and successfully placing as a finalist in the highly competitive National Economics Olympiad of SRCC on my first attempt. My efforts culminated after high school with the pursuit of external publication, leading me to submit research to the finance journal of SRCC, Delhi University, affiliated with 180 Degrees Consulting, the world's largest university-led consultancy. My published research rigorously analysed Public-Private Partnership (PPP) as a crucial financing tool for emerging economies. This focused comparative analysis of Korean, Chinese, and Singaporean models led to the specific discovery of sophisticated governance frameworks, including the PIMAC (Public Institution Management Assessment Center) model and vacancy taxes. These precise structural tools, which transcend general urban planning, fit the piece of the policy puzzle for Goa's sustainable growth.
The experiences I had in high school are what I strongly consider as life lessons I will carry forward in this new stage of adulthood and beyond that. My journey, marked by breakthroughs and resilience in the face of defeat, drives my pursuit of the GKS program. I seek to study Business Administration with a specialization in Finance, identifying Yonsei University, Sungkyunkwan University, and Pusan National University as institutions offering the ecosystem to cultivate the skills and insight I seek. The highly regarded Business Administration programs at these institutions for their emphasis on finance policy and robust opportunities for practical engagement and networking such as Yonsei's CAC and 180DC clubs, SKKU's student clubs involved in case competitions, and Pusan University's direct connection to the Busan finance and logistics hub provide the ideal pedestal and ecosystem. Leveraging my published research experience with 180 DC, I am keen to engage with the universities' student-led research and consultation initiatives.
My commitment extends beyond the classroom; I have already begun learning the Korean language, recognizing that fluency is essential to fully understand the national spirit and values that drive Korea's exemplary development. My goal? To utilize the GKS program as the next step to acquire the tools, refine the model, and return home to join the new generation of Goans dedicated to preservation and sustainable growth. I express my gratitude to the Korean Government for providing young students like myself with such an opportunity to develop ourselves as young adults.
Every step I have taken, even in times of uncertainty, has taught me more values and lessons than standing still, being an inhibited individual who simply waits and watches ever could. And the domino effect all began with that split-second decision which would go on to shape much of my trajectory during my formative years. My name is Shubhay Sawant, I come from a non-metropolitan background from Goa, India, and my story stands as my answer to the question, "Why Korea, why this scholarship and major, and what do I hope to obtain and share through this program?"
I sat there, head deep in thought, voices in my mind quarrelling over whether I should even try. The announcement for an inter-school state-level quiz had just been made, and for a moment, the entire atmosphere seemed to pause, as if waiting for me to come to a conclusion. Until then, I had never been the kind to participate in activities beyond the standard school curriculum. Fresh out of the pandemic, I had become academically and socially paralyzed, with no sense of direction of my efforts, watching my Class 10 performance stagnate. Though the competition was hosted at a prestigious convent school and the field was daunting, I made a conscious decision: to try. Even if I failed, I wouldn't let the chance pass me by.
The next thing I knew, I was in the vice-principal's cabin, along with about thirty other students vying for only four available spots. When the results of the preliminary selection were announced, I was astonished to be among the four who cleared the cut-off. Representing my school on the day of the competition, our team stumbled early on but managed to recover in the finals. I turned the tide by cashing in on questions which I had anticipated the quizmaster to ask after analysing the syllabus during preparation. This success, anchored in my knowledge of Goan and global current affairs, revealed that the real victory was not the award, but the realization that effective action under pressure depends on strategic forecasting and rapid critical analysis of historical as well as present data. This raw ability for strategic forecasting would soon be scaled from anticipating quiz questions to modelling policy impact, a necessary foundation built during my high school years and ultimately refined by observing issues of unproductive land sales and gentrification faced by my home state, solidifying my interest in business and finance policy-making.
With the strategic forecasting skill established, I entered Class 11 with a powerful, if undisciplined, drive toward social sciences and economic policy analysis. My newfound quizzing interest, fuelled by a desire to test my analytical ability in high-pressure environments, became an intense, consuming focus. While this intense pursuit sometimes strained my capacity for academic balance, it propelled me out of the classroom, where I sought events that demanded meticulous research and strategic preparation. This period of singular focus led me to represent my school at inter-collegiate quizzes and eventually, the national-level business quiz at the Indian Institute of Technology, Indore. Facing senior opponents as the sole high school finalist was pressurising, yet I did not let their seniority consume my resolve. I focused instead on leveraging my preparation. Emerging as the winner after the two-hour competition taught me that resolve, combined with a rigorously prepared strategic model, could overcome vast gaps in experience. This success was not so much about the victory as it was about the final affirmation that my analytical approach was sound, and it needed to be channelled into real-world policy application. It was from here on, that my field of interest, my "what" evolved into "how", and the dots began to connect to the powerhouse on the Korean Peninsula.
"Four Asian Tigers" is a term given to four nations that underwent intense industrialization in the late 20th century, and transformed from underdeveloped to highly advanced economies despite their size and lack of natural resources. For my class 11 internal assignments, I conducted case-study research on two of these four tigers, Korea and Singapore, as I drew parallels with my state's scenario about its size, land use and the impact of their economic models. The connection began less academically, sparked by the "Feel the Rhythm of Korea" campaign which revealed a nation balancing dynamic modernity with rooted identity-a balance Goa desperately needs. This initial curiosity transformed into academic necessity during my Class 11 case-study research for my assignments on the Four Asian Tigers, particularly Korea and Singapore, which drew immediate parallels with the crisis facing my native state Goa. I also got insight into the rich Korean culture and ethos through this campaign.
Since the passing of late Goa CM Manohar Parrikar, a leader known for his anti-exploitative policy stance and rootedness with the native people, the state has observed a vacuum of meticulous policy-making. This has led to the systematic gentrification of our landscape: unproductive land sales fuelled by a detrimental "second home" economy where luxury villas purchased by wealthy non-locals from metropolitan cities, often vacant for most of the year, artificially inflate the market. This scenario, where external wealth disrupts the local economy from the land's soul, threatens our unique heritage and outprices the average Goan. I am driven not to mourn this loss, but to take action, recognizing that the solutions are structural, not revolutionary. My Class 11 research pointed to models from Korea and Singapore, driven by strong urban planning and exports rather than mere dependency on natural resources and tourism. This intense need to refine, frame, and implement effective policy is what compels me to seek the specialized knowledge necessary to help Goa achieve sustainable growth without falling into the soulless pit of concretization.
Observing the urgent need for structural solutions in my environment, I entered Class 12 with a renewed determination to not only improve academically but also address a growing weakness of strained focus in my character. I successfully led the formation of a higher secondary quiz team, which went on to win inter-collegiate accolades and advanced through three preliminary rounds of the national Indian Navy Quiz. However, a defeat in the zonal finals delivered a critical lesson: my analytical strength had become a comfort zone, and true growth required me to intentionally seek challenging new domains.
Success apparently has a hundred brothers, and failure is an orphan, but I shall gladly make it my brother for what it has taught me. I vowed to expand my activity base. I applied my strategic forecasting skills to new areas, participating in finance bootcamps and successfully placing as a finalist in the highly competitive National Economics Olympiad of SRCC on my first attempt. My efforts culminated after high school with the pursuit of external publication, leading me to submit research to the finance journal of SRCC, Delhi University, affiliated with 180 Degrees Consulting, the world's largest university-led consultancy. My published research rigorously analysed Public-Private Partnership (PPP) as a crucial financing tool for emerging economies. This focused comparative analysis of Korean, Chinese, and Singaporean models led to the specific discovery of sophisticated governance frameworks, including the PIMAC (Public Institution Management Assessment Center) model and vacancy taxes. These precise structural tools, which transcend general urban planning, fit the piece of the policy puzzle for Goa's sustainable growth.
The experiences I had in high school are what I strongly consider as life lessons I will carry forward in this new stage of adulthood and beyond that. My journey, marked by breakthroughs and resilience in the face of defeat, drives my pursuit of the GKS program. I seek to study Business Administration with a specialization in Finance, identifying Yonsei University, Sungkyunkwan University, and Pusan National University as institutions offering the ecosystem to cultivate the skills and insight I seek. The highly regarded Business Administration programs at these institutions for their emphasis on finance policy and robust opportunities for practical engagement and networking such as Yonsei's CAC and 180DC clubs, SKKU's student clubs involved in case competitions, and Pusan University's direct connection to the Busan finance and logistics hub provide the ideal pedestal and ecosystem. Leveraging my published research experience with 180 DC, I am keen to engage with the universities' student-led research and consultation initiatives.
My commitment extends beyond the classroom; I have already begun learning the Korean language, recognizing that fluency is essential to fully understand the national spirit and values that drive Korea's exemplary development. My goal? To utilize the GKS program as the next step to acquire the tools, refine the model, and return home to join the new generation of Goans dedicated to preservation and sustainable growth. I express my gratitude to the Korean Government for providing young students like myself with such an opportunity to develop ourselves as young adults.
