TaLK Program Application (B)
PERSONAL ESSAY (Statement of Purpose)
★ Directions: Please use this opportunity to provide a clear and precise statement. Your essay will be evaluated and may influence the acceptance decision. Examples of topics may include: insights about teaching/learning, your potential role as a Scholar/Teacher based on your experiences, self-introduction, family background, educational background, work experience, motive to apply, plan of service & other activities as a TaLK scholar, plans for further studies during your time in Korea, etc. The type-written essay should be a minimum length of 700 words and a maximum length of 1,000 words.
About me-
My name is Precious Shaw, I am 27 years old, and I am from a small country called Oakdale, Louisiana. I come from a large, close-knit family that consist of nine people, my mom and dad who have been married for 41 years now, my four older sisters, my older brother, and my younger brother. most of my siblings are married with kids right now, but none of them ever have gotten the chance to go abroad and teach. I would love to be the first in my family and where I am from to say that I taught in South Korea!
why do you want to teach in Korea?
I want to teach in Korea because it is a once in a life time opportunity that only a few people get to experience.
– What experience do you have to help you teach/live in Korea?
Growing up my mom had her own babysitting service, and I use to play school with the younger kids and of course I was the teacher. Teaching others something they did not know or understand when I was younger made me feel whole and complete as if I were making a difference in their life and when they caught on and actually grasped and understood what I was teaching them made me feel so happy that I can share what I know someone else. Teaching kind of stuck with me after that, when I was in high school I got the opportunity to teach in a program called Character Counts where high school students got to teach younger students that was either in elementary or middle school basic values called the Six Pillars of Character: trustworthiness, respect, responsibility, fairness, caring and citizenship. This program was one of the most amazing things I got to experience when I was in high school because my intentions were to teach younger kids and teens about values that were already instilled in me and how these values would help them deal with situations they were or would face in school or at home. The whole time I was helping them, they unknowingly help me realize my desire to want to help people that were younger than me because their desire to learn what you already know kind of fueled me and made me excited to want to teach them even more. When I went to college and began to experience real life situations and go through my own personal trials and tribulations, it was not until after I could understand and conquer what I went through that my desire to help and teach kids, teens, and young adults around me so I talked to my pastor and told him about my passion and desire to help kids, teens, and young adults around me and in 2007 I started helping teach children church and Sunday school classes to kids, teens, and young adults age ranging from 3 – 25. Teaching them made me feel amazing because I began to feel the connection and relationship to hear their personal life stories and things they experienced and it touched me because they began to love me and trust me and they felt love that I always taught them about, they saw that I respected how they felt, they knew that they could confide in me things they would not tell their parents/friends/siblings and knew that I would not judge them but give them advice out of love and tell them how I would handle something if I were going through what they were going thru. Through these different teaching experiences, my passion and desire to teach others something that they don’t know nor have full comprehension is what truly makes me happy.
– What special personality/qualifications/experience do you have to help K students learn English?
My special personality would be I am pretty much a happy bubbly person, always smiling like 95% of the time. I am a really person who loves to make others smile and I always try my best to make others feel comfortable around me. I feel that in its purest form, a smile is an open sign of friendliness or happiness and that its meaning is universal amongst all cultures around the world.
My qualifications and experience to teach English to South Korea students would be my love and passion to teach people younger than me something such as English that was instilled in me and taught to me growing up. Something else that I would qualify me to teach English to South Korea students is that I taught in high school through a program called Character Counts when I was in high school, and that I have been teaching kids, teens, and young adults ages 3-25 in my church since 2007 and currently still teaching there. My love and passion when teaching others make me so happy. I feel that all of my learning and teaching experiences that I have prepared me to do something like teach English to Korean students because I will show them the same love, compassion, patience, and understanding that I show to all of my students. I know that it is going to be a challenge mainly because of the language barrier but I feel that being able to teach them English would be so much fun and that it will be my greatest experience yet because I will be able to teach students something that will improve their lives and teach them something that they will be able to use for rest of their lives. That for me would mean the world to me!
– What are your future goals?
My future goals are to travel, experience, and learn about different cultures around.
– How do your goals fit in with teaching in Korea?
Well I love to travel and I love teaching others and even though I am going to school for information technology my heart, passion, and love for teaching will always be a major part in my life. Teaching in South Korea will fit in to my goals because I never thought that teaching abroad as being an option for me but after doing my research and finding out about the TaLK program. Being part of the TaLK program would help me experience a one in a life time opportunity.
-What specifically are you interested in about Korean culture/traditions (lay this on thick)
One of the first cultures that really caught my attention was South Korea because growing up when I was in elementary school one of my best friends was
from South Korea and when we were in third grade she moved back to South Korea and it broke my heart. The older I got the more research on South Korea because I wanted to know more and more about where she was from, their life style, and their culture. I found myself falling in love with the culture, food, and their beautiful language and as I began to find more videos online to help me better understand everything about South Korea and fall in love with South Korea! I’ve always wanted to visit South Korean to learn all about their culture past and present first hand. I have always wanted to taste and learn how to cook Korean food. I have always wanted to learn their beautiful language and be able to have a conversation and become fluent in Korean, but to go there and teach there and be able to experience South Korea first hand would just be simply amazing. It would be a one in a life time opportunity experience for me!!
– Stress that this is a once-in-a-life-time opportunity for you. Help children learn something to improve their lives, visit the Orient, study Korean culture – learn about Confucianism – live in dynamic Korea (mix of old and new cultures) bla bla bla.
