GKS Personal Statement

When thinking about different realms of passion, interests and dreams, it is hard to think of a domain that can cover all those concepts other than the notion of “sense of purpose”. Purpose is what we were born to do, what we do best, what makes our energy and qualities useful, what makes us realize the meaning of dedication and sacrifice. Only when pursuing purpose will humans not falter, even in the face of hardships, and with it, humans are willing to pay a high price for things that go beyond their own selfish needs. It could be a job, it could be a person, it could be a country, it could be anything, it is not necessarily a single thing, but it will light the way as a beacon in the darkness.
In the journey of finding my sense of purpose, I am fortunate to have my family by my side, understanding me and guiding me on the path that suits me the best. My brother, who is currently working as a communication team leader in PetroVietnam Insurance Corporation, the second-largest insurer in Vietnam, is the one who had a direct impact on my pursuit of Communication. Even more so, he played an important role in guiding and shaping me into the person I am today, someone who is well-adapted to challenges and willing to take risks. He is not only mature but also the person who understands me better than anyone in my family. He inspired me to write and helped me set up a blog website, which now has 20 articles in total and attracts over 50 readers per day. By monitoring the number of views on each article, I can keep track of the readers' preferences and trends, and create content accordingly. However, it is also worth pointing out that I started the blog as a way to sharpen my writing skill; however, it caught me unaware that I have confirmed interest in Communication and set my heart on developing the related skill set.
I used to be a “literary girl” who was a member of the school track for excellent students in Literature for 3 years. I was not an English-proficient learner; in fact, I was brought up in the suburbs of Hanoi, where learning English is less focused than other subjects, so I did not pay much attention to learning English. It was not until my cousin failed to get her scholarship to study in the US because she could not get a 6.5 IELTS band score that I realized the importance of English and started plugging away at learning it. However, I did not have as many opportunities to study the subject as students in urban areas do, there were few English teachers in our town, and studying online was not so common at that time. But thanks to my perseverance, I was improving my English by reading books, watching movies, and listening to music. Learning a language for me is not solely about gaining knowledge but I also consider it as a part of my daily life. Starting from children’s books to classic ones, I read as much as I can and listen to audio versions whenever I have spare time. I tried to sing along with American songs and use dictionaries to understand their meanings. As a result, I got fourth place in the provincial merit competition for excellent students in 2018 and then competed against 2900 students to get accepted into one of the most competitive classes at Nguyen Hue High School for the gifted.
When I first entered high school, everything was new and subjects became a lot more complicated. From the very beginning, I was one of the students who performed the most poorly in almost every subject, yet I was never frustrated. I re-adjusted my study method to memorize lessons faster, and I no longer studied passively but always took the initiative to read textbooks before going to class, combined with re-listening to lectures, taking notes and learning by keywords instead of learning word by word and so on. The result was that I successfully completed my high school program with a GPA of 9.3/10 over 6 semesters and was in the top 10 most excellent students at my school despite studying in a highly demanding and competitive environment. After finishing my high school program, I received direct admissions at some of the most prestigious universities in Vietnam, namely Foreign Trade University, Vietnam National University, and Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam.
Complementing my academic performance is my progressive leadership skills. During my time in high school, I was taking part in some extracurricular activities and equipping myself with soft skills that are necessary for studying Communication. Last year, I ran a volunteer project called Envi Ivy to collect garbage and plant trees in my district's Medical Center. In the beginning, I knew it was a challenging task to lead a new project. Due to the unpopularity of the project and the fact that people had little care about medical waste, our team faced the risks of financial shortages and human resources. But thanks to courses that I had enrolled on Coursera, which is an effective platform for learning professional skills, I obtained some insights into Communication and leadership. Afterward, I started working on media campaigns, coming up with some unique ideas to reach out to people and at the same time raising funds for the project. During this time, my team and I were also making videos to convey our project's message to the locals and contacting the Center's media department to post them on their Facebook page. We also distributed leaflets to patients coming to these clinics to provide them with a better understanding of the purposes and activities of our project, alongside having a clear financial plan to mobilize money and efforts. After pitching our ideas to the board of directors, we received funding of 3.5 million VND for the purchase of seeds, fertilizer and waste collection equipment. In addition, we looked for other sponsors and received an amount of up to 5 million VND. As a result, we successfully planted nearly 40 trees around the area as well as collected 1.5kg of waste to send to the medical waste disposal center. The rest of the money was used to take care of those trees for the next 3 months. After the project, I was so glad that I got to use my knowledge to participate in community services and enhance necessary skills such as leadership, communication, and most importantly, organizational skill.
My interest in Communication has also driven me to research the Vietnamese Communication industry. Under such research, I came to discover that Public Relation (PR) activities in Vietnamese enterprises today still have many limitations with the spirit of merely "buying land" in newspapers. There are 4 main reasons that led to the current situation, notably the misperception about PR activities, capital misallocation, shortage of professional PR training and lack of a unified legal framework for PR activities. Said factors have uncovered a complex reality that despite PR’s co-existence in the business-journalism dynamic, it has not been recognized as an independent industry. These major limitations have been hindering the development of PR in Vietnam, and businesses have not harnessed the full potential of PR activities. Only by becoming a PR Director am I able to limit the negatives in Communication work and create a more complete view of PR.
To achieve such an ambitious though not an impossible goal, I want to study at a university that could provide an in-depth understanding of advertising, interpersonal communication and public relations, which will help me solve problems relating to Communication that businesses are facing. Though I have found some places to study Communication, I am most excited by the idea of pursuing my degree in Korea and working for a Vietnam-Korea company in the future. Korean media and communication are considered as one of the most developed in the world, making Korea one of the best destinations to study Communication. Unlike the US or European countries, Korea is currently adopting the media model of liberalism. The peculiar characteristic of this model is that communication is independent of the government but still has a close relationship with enterprises. This is especially similar to the current status of the Communication industry in Vietnam, therefore, it will be more practical and suitable to apply knowledge from Korea to companies in Vietnam.
Through research, I also learned that Vietnamese and Korean cultures have a surprising number of similarities. Apart from both being Asian countries, the most prominent resemblance is that the way of life of native people is rooted in Confucianism. This will not only help me adapt more easily while living in Korea but thanks to Korean people’s carefulness and persistence with strict and practical principles, studying in Korea will also provide me with an opportunity to train myself to work in a highly competitive and professional environment. So if I have the chance, I can combine Vietnam and Korea’s strengths to consolidate our amity which will benefit both countries. I will develop my Youtube channel to become a cultural bridge between Vietnamese and Korean people, helping students who have dreams of studying in Korea, and at the same time making the scholarship more widely known. Once I am fluent in Korean, I will teach Korean to those who are passionate about the language and if given the chance, I will also write a book about Korea.
Yearning to study in Korea, I have been searching for a variety of scholarships as my family would not be able to afford my tuition and living expenses without any financial support. Therefore, I am applying for the Global Korean Scholarship to fully concentrate on my studying without having to work part-time. I was also drawn by the Korean language course included in the scholarship. I learned Korean myself and found that my communication skill and vocabulary still have much room to improve, I think it is because I did not have the opportunity to practice speaking with the natives. Thus, this is a good chance for me to enhance my Korean proficiency, which is also a necessity when I study Communication because the nature of this work requires deep cultural understanding, and only by excelling at Korean can I become acquainted with Korean culture. If I earn the scholarship, I promise to study hard and exert my talent and knowledge to contribute to the mutual friendship between Korea and Vietnam, as well as supporting those who are seeking for Korean scholarships. I guarantee you my devotion, persistence, and my burning desire to stand among the greatest would permit me to make an exceptional commitment to the college.
Finally, it goes without saying that Communication has been a part of my life and has become my purpose. Though it does not make me nobler, wealthier or happier than others; but thanks to it, I have a reason to work harder every day and dedicate myself to the community. Thus, I hope I can have a chance to study in Korea to pursue my life goal and devote myself completely to the country.