In this blog post, I will introduce how to effectively incorporate what you want to learn in the Department of Applied Statistics into your personal statement.
Write about your academic experience and what you learned
Study while understanding the theory, not just memorizing it.
The reason I hated studying was because of “memorization.” I felt that the teachers who said that you should memorize the language section and the math section were old-fashioned, and I hated the fact that you had to memorize things to study well. Even if I memorized something, I would forget it again, so I had to keep trying to remember what I had memorized, which was like pouring water into a bottomless bucket. I thought a lot about what to do, and that’s how I found my own way of studying. It was ‘understanding’. I wasn’t confident in memorizing theories, but I was confident in understanding the theories. So I started studying by understanding the core theories. When I studied while understanding, math was especially fun. I started to apply what I had learned based on the core theory. As a result, I found it fun to understand and enjoy solving math problems. I also enjoyed the language section. I solved problems based on my understanding, and I began to see the answers to problems that had seemed ambiguous before.
So, I started to organize the basic theory so that I could understand it better. Other friends were busy solving problems and organizing the wrong answers, but I preferred to write down the concepts and understand them first. No matter how basic the theory was, I read the theory to understand its background, and then studied it in context. It was relatively slow at first, but I was able to study faster later. As a result, I gained confidence in subjects that require understanding based on theory, such as language and mathematics, and as I studied with that confidence, I felt that I was getting closer to the grades I had set as my goal. Even now, I’m not trying to solve many problems, but rather I’m focusing on organizing concepts and solving problems by reviewing them.
Write about your major school activities and what you felt. Calligraphy club, brings peace of mind!
After entering high school, the thing I spent the most time on besides studying was the activities of the “calligraphy club.” The reason I first joined the calligraphy club was that I had a lot of brushes left at home, and I joined the club to use them. However, since our art teacher majored in oriental painting, we were able to learn how to write calligraphy and use ink properly, which was fun. Also, once a month, we invited a lecturer to give various lectures and let us draw, so we quickly became absorbed in the fun of this activity.
And the best part of the activity was that it gave me peace of mind. No matter how calm and easygoing I may seem, the pressure I felt about studying since I became a high school student was really great. In particular, as I got older, I would become frustrated and disappointed when I saw my friends who were better at studying than me and when I saw my report card, which showed no improvement, even though I was struggling to improve my grades. This is why I would only get anxious and not be able to study properly. And I was also anxious and nervous, with so many friends like that. If I hadn’t been in the calligraphy club, I think I would have spent my exam preparation life quite sharply. However, through the process of grinding ink sticks by myself, dripping water slowly into the ink, trying to achieve the desired color, and calmly dyeing the ink on Korean paper, I regained myself, which I could have lost if I had not been careful, and gained the strength to study calmly. Those weekly hours when I silently ground ink sticks and drew pictures became a great source of strength for me.
And one more thing that was great was that I was able to hold an exhibition based on what I had drawn and raise money. I had once set up a small collection box at an exhibition in a historical building near my school. I had put a note there saying that if people who had seen our exhibition and felt better about themselves would put in 500 won, I would use the money for a good cause. And, amazingly, we were able to raise a lot of money. All we did was donate the artwork, install it, and stay on site to look after it, and greet those who came to see the paintings. But the citizens came forward to raise money voluntarily, and as a result, we were able to donate a considerable amount of money to a nearby senior citizens’ welfare center. There, they used our money to make kimchi for the elderly living alone, and they even put up a placard with our name on it.
That was when I first realized that small acts can help people. Since that day, I have learned a lot about volunteer work and started to look around society to see if there was anything we could do and to become interested in various issues in society.
Caring, Sharing, and Cooperation: Examples and Thoughts
My most grateful friend who I have been with all year round
Our school has a program that is run by students to voluntarily reduce the gap in grades. It is called “Best Friends.” Those who apply for this program are expected to donate their talents to each other. For example, if you think you are good at math, you can find a friend who is good at Korean language to help you with math. Based on your major and weak subjects, you can fill out an application form and we will help you find a friend who can help you improve your weaknesses. Teachers arrange meetings for students in weak subjects to contact each other. And I helped and received help from a friend who I had been with all year through that program. I was good at math and interested in it, but I was weak in English. So the friend who became my best friend was good at English but had a hard time understanding math.
We first met as best friends, but we didn’t get along well from the start. In fact, we were more like opposites. This is because I tried to make him understand, while he insisted that he had to memorize everything. We couldn’t cooperate with each other because we had completely different ways of studying. However, I am relatively calm in nature, so I tried to slowly adjust to him. I listened to him and did not reject the methods he suggested at once. I tried to accept them without arguing about who was right or wrong about the way we studied. Then he also began to understand my way of studying, and at some point we became inseparable friends who understood and cooperated with each other. So we started helping each other study, and because we got along well, our grades improved without any tutoring. In a cooperative relationship, winning by putting your pride first is not everything, and thanks to this friend, I was able to experience for the first time the joy and pleasure of working together.
Efforts and preparations related to motivation and career plans
I will become a person who can read the trends of society and the times.
I know what I’m good at. It’s ‘understanding.’ I’m much calmer than other people. No matter how busy or difficult the situation, I’m good at understanding the cause and effect. When I was studying math, I was the only one who understood the process of deriving the theory rather than just memorizing the theory. I’m also good at understanding people. When something goes wrong, I first think about what I did wrong to figure out the problem. That’s why I get along very well with my friends and have an inclusive attitude, thinking that there is no one I can’t understand. I thought that my ability to understand and think about cause and effect in a rational way was a good fit for statistics. In fact, I found it easiest to learn economics, society, and mathematics when they were related. That’s why I chose to study applied statistics and applied myself to my studies with the goal of attending ○○ University. I want to enter the Department of Applied Statistics at ○○ University and become an analyst and consultant who can read the trends of society and the times.
To do so, I am currently most focused on getting the grades I need to get into ○○ University. So I am doing my best to study using the study method that works for me. And if there is one more thing I am focused on, it is reading newspapers. I know almost nothing about how to see the world except through newspapers. And since I started reading newspapers properly, I have come to know how fast-paced economic and social issues are. So, I try to read and clip three different newspapers every day so that I can have a basic knowledge when I enter college. It’s hard because I spend about 40 minutes reading the newspaper in the morning, but I’m enjoying it in my own way.
