Throughout the world politics has transformed, influenced and reshaped societies empowering movements for change be they civil rights in the U.S.A., environmentalism in Europe or demands for democracy in totalitarian regimes such as Burma, China and Indonesia. Yet it is not a one way process and a society also influences the mass culture of politics and what the media produces. Some, for example, argue the health of a modern democracy depends on the willingness of society to challenge the accepted orthodoxy of any established order. Nevertheless few doubt politicians ability to agenda-set and shape public attitudes for good or ill. Sociology is vital as it helps to influence politics with the latest trends in crime, poverty, education and culture determining government policy. I am particularly interested in International relations and the effect this has on society. For all these reasons I am passionate to continue my study of Politics to degree level as I would like to be a part of the debate which will shape the twenty-first century. I have been interested in the Politics long enough to realise that experience is vital and, as a writer for the Winstanley College magazine, I have regularly contributed by writing, editorial decision-making and meeting deadlines. Working for the college's own student television station has given me the most invaluable experience of live broadcasting and allowed me to chair political debate in front of others. I also co-edited the Politics magazine. Academically I have studied largely essay-based courses. I enjoy writing and all my courses have improved my communication skills both orally and in written work. My Media Studies course has given me a better understanding of the commercial world of mass communications. Politics has deepened my knowledge of the essentially symbiotic relationship between the public and politicians both in the U.K. and in the U.S.A. I am particularly interested in the rise (and fall?) of 'spin doctors'. Again English has helped me to appreciate the roles of accent and dialect in modern culture. All my subjects have encouraged my interest in current affairs, helping me to form opinions of my own. By regularly attending the college debating ociety, where issues as diverse as gay adoption and Tony Blair's legacy are discussed, I have increased my general knowledge as well as my patience to listen to others. Whatever I do in life, I do with passion. My upbringing and background has given me a committed work ethic. I follow rugby league, football and cricket throughout the year. Rugby League has always been a big part of my life and my gap year has enabled me to become actively involved in helping at grassroots level of the sport via coaching and charity events; all this has enabled me to meet a variety of diverse people from all walks of life. This has allowed me to further my social interactivity, which I feel is a key aspect of the media. My interest in current affairs is a major aspect of my life and I am constantly learning through the means of television, radio and newspapers. I have good time management skills balancing the demands of college academic work with my extra-curricular interests and this will stand me in good stead for undergraduate life. I am conscientious, highly motivated and determined to succeed; I am looking for to university and would hope to contribute much to departmental life.

I am a Chinese woman, still only 26, who has earned her MS Degree in Environmental Engineering at XXXX University in Bethlehem PA. I am an environmentalist who looks forward to promoting the demise of the petroleum industry throughout the course of my lifetime. I see petroleum as a necessary evil, at least for several decades to come, and I hope very much to be accepted to your distinguished Master’s Program in Petroleum Engineering at XXXX University so that I might learn on the cutting edge how to best go about making this industry as safe and responsible as possible for the duration of its existence. My plan is to work for a large corporation like Exxon. It is interesting to note that Exxon Mobil’s operations in China date back to the 19th century and these days Exxon is fully integrated into several key energy sectors of the Chinese economy. As a result of joint ventures, Exxon is able to export refined products or establish fresh refining capacity to help meet the huge demand for refined products. Therefore, a company like Exxon is in great need of people like me, young Chinese people with refined language, communication, and public relations skills with a focus on environmental engineering generally speaking as well as petroleum engineering in particular. Sooner or later I will go back to China. I also look forward to working here in America, however, and I look forward to gaining many years of additional professional experience living and working here as well, as I have become very attached to America. In this way, when I do go back to China I will be as effective as possible at linking Chinese-American joint ventures to the latest technological advances. I am also very concerned about China’s chronic environment problems and I want to be part of the solution. While I do not have any professional experience in the area of petroleum, I feel that my internship experience working at Wuhan Iron and Steel Corporation has also helped me to cultivate a variety of professional tools that will enable me to excel in your program at XXXX University. I like trying new things and when I set myself to a task I am determined to finish it. I have been working already as an interpreter and plan maker, traveling with my client when they visit the US. I have also worked as actress for a career service film by the Chinese Student Association. My film was actually a short story to encourage students who are struggling to find a job to never give up and to keep working towards their goal. I also worked as student staff at XXXX Art Center at XXXX University, setting up the stage before the performance. I have visited almost 30 states in the US in the last 2 years alone or with friends. I repaired my own car’s front bumper, sanded down the old paint job, put in the Bando body filler, sanded it again, spread primer, first coat, base coat, clear coat. I now have what is almost indistinguishable from a new front bumper and I saved $650. I thank you for considering my application to your distinguished program at XXXX University.

I am a young woman from Jordan and I am writing on behalf of my application to study towards the doctoral degree in Linguistics at XXXX University. I want very much to study at XXU, in particular, because of my extremely favorable impression of your university and the outstanding research accomplishments of your faculty in my areas of special interest. I hope to be able to contribute to your research community and the diversity of your campus, learning from my peers and colleagues from all over the world as well as my professors. My dream is to return to Jordan with my PHD from XXU prepared to become a highly effective leader in the creation of new and exciting programs in applied linguistics and language education, so that we can make more rapid progress in language instruction in Jordan and other Arab-speaking countries. I seek to provide my students with the best opportunities to learn effectively through creative curriculums developed in a way that is tailored to the learning challenges that they face as Arab speakers in a Middle Eastern educational environment. Learning English in Jordan was a great struggle for me personally, as a result of an acute shortage of competent teachers. I consider myself very fortunate to be in a position to come to the USA for a complete immersion experience and I hope very much to combine this with a world-class education in linguistics and language learning at XXU. I completed my BA in English Literature and my MA in Linguistics in Jordan and this has helped me to become extremely familiar with our educational systems and the many challenges that are faced by English language instructors in my country as well as those administrators who make decision about the directions in which progress is or is not made. Eventually, I would like very much to establish my own English Language University or Institute so that I might have the opportunity to implement creative teaching programs that are independent of government-controlled educational programs. Most importantly, I look forward to many decades of giving my all to teaching English to Arab students and Arab teachers of English to Arab students and I am convinced that XXU’s linguistics program is the best platform for me to realize my long term goal of becoming the finest linguistics and English Language teacher that I can become. Most of all, I look forward to teaching Syntax. I also hope to publish in this area and hope to begin with a doctoral dissertation in this area at XXU. When I began learning English as an adolescent, I was convinced that grammar was my greatest challenge because of the way that EFL is taught in Jordan without the necessary language learning tools. Soon, I discovered the great challenge of syntax and have been giving it my foremost attention ever since. I would love to bridge core linguistics especially syntax, with language teaching and learning. Second language learners often struggle so hard with English grammar that they tend to give up and I hope to inspire students with creative curriculums and programs that make grammar and syntax more interactive, symbiotic, mutually reinforcing so as to provide Jordanian students with the vital tools of language learning and teaching. In Amman, Jordan we are desperately underdeveloped in the area of language education and my contribution is desperately needed. For some time now I have dreamed of eventually opening up my own language learning center where I might train EFL teachers utilizing the most current teaching methods and conducting research for the purposes of publishing, and the improvement of English education in Amman, Jordan. Through time, I increasingly came to the realization that I very much wanted to prepare myself for a lifetime of research into the various language-related problems that I have observed throughout my teaching career so far in Jordan. Thus, I am presently pursuing a Master's Degree in linguistics, while at the same time I earned a CELTA Certificate from Cambridge University to be trained on teaching methodologies and instructions, developing expertise in teaching adult second language learners. My ultimate goal is to research and teach syntax; therefore, I seek to coordinate (theoretical linguistics), pedagogical content, and second language acquisition theory (applied linguistics) in my own pedagogical philosophy, always staying abreast of cutting-edge research in these areas. My graduate courses in the MA program with its dynamic linguistic environment have equipped me with ample amount content knowledge and offered me great opportunities to explore the fundamentals of contemporary linguistic theory. This knowledge has served me well in shaping my grasp of theory and enlightened me much further in almost every area of linguistics so that I am confident that I will be able to excel in your program. My graduate education so far has also dramatically changed how I look at and appreciate language as a whole. Accordingly, my desire is to further pursue and master the discipline of linguistics in its broadest sense through doctoral work, which I believe is the right platform that will provide me great opportunities in exploring the different facets of this field and to do all that I can to improve our educational system in Jordan The educational system in Jordan lacks any comprehensive foreign language curricula, teaching methods, and very few knowledgeable teachers who are proficient in facilitating the knowledge needed to produce more students with a skillful mastery of the English language. By obtaining a Ph.D. degree I will have achieved not only the wisdom and knowledge that I will need in order to become an educational reformer in Jordan, but I will also be able to command a position of high responsibility that will enable me to do so. I look forward to helping many new generations of students to assist them in achieving their own personal and professional goals and to not settle for less. I look forward to a lifetime of studying how language is acquired by adults in a scientific, systematic manner while focusing on those aspects of language that are of direct relevance to future language teachers who need to mediate between theory and practice in constructing pedagogies according to specific teaching-learning contexts. Professor XXXX has been guiding me already and I hope to learn from her vast experience in the language field and her guidance for me to conduct my own research with keen attention to the structure of language. I have a passionate interest in Chomsky's work in linguistics, grammar and its relation to the gathering and analysis of empirical language data, the implications of these linguistic and grammatical paradigms for modern language study, description, analysis and pedagogy. I hope to advance in my study of Chomsky as a student of Professor XXXX at XXU. I thank you for considering my application to your especially distinguished program.

I hope to begin studying in the Fall of 2015 in your distinguished Ph.D. Program in Applied Linguistics at XXXX University. I see your program as the best fit to prepare me to meet my short and long term goals of teaching in a university in my country, South Korea, and working as a teacher trainer. I look forward to giving my all to my own research as well as directing the research of my students in the area of teacher education. The other principal reason why XXXX is my first and sole choice for my next professional stepping stone is your reputation for a focus on the sociocultural approach to L2 learning/teaching, which is the philosophy that I aspire to pursue and enhance throughout my professional career. I like very much that your especially distinguished faculty specializes in teacher education. Thus, I find no better place to help me achieve my professional goals than than your program. Korea’s social and cultural macro-structure has large influence on L2 learning. L2 is still commonly viewed as transmission of knowledge rather than social practice in Korea. I have struggled and experienced the challenges as a student growing up, and now as a teacher. After completing my education at XXXX University, I aim to contribute to research on L2 teacher education with particular attention to the proper proportion of L1 and L2 uses. With the “English fever” in Korea and the educational policies constantly changing, a plethora of research has been conducted on teaching practice and the possible challenges with regards to secondary school teachers and students. However, due to the shorter history of the public English education in elementary school, insufficient attention is paid to L2 learning as the current trend is to carry out lessons that foster communicative competence. In this regard, the Korean Ministry of Education has repeatedly required that L2 teachers maximize their L2 use. However, as an EFL instructor currently teaching at an elementary school, I have witnessed an inevitable challenge: the lack of L2 teachers who have adequate knowledge on the social content of English and how this relates to teacher cognition. Most L2 teachers do not share the same beliefs as the Ministry because they were not taught the same way as L2 students. This makes it even harder for them to follow the policies enforced today since elementary school teacher tend not to see themselves as competent bilinguals. Inspired by Dr. Johnson’s publication “Second Language Teacher Education”, I came to better understand my role better as a L2 teacher. Thus, I look forward to engaging in research that sheds light on the relationship between the teacher’s L1/L2 use and their beliefs about themselves as L2 teachers. In doing so, I would like to scrutinize Korean teaching condition and the prevalent state of instructional practice. I believe that with such an investigation I will be able to provide creative pedagogical implications concerning the challenges that teachers and students face. I look forward to developing guidelines for L2 teachers’ L1 and L2 uses and appropriate teaching strategies at different levels. I also look forward to exploring issues surrounding teacher training programs in Korea that emphasize raising teacher cognition so as to approach teacher education from a sociocultural perspective. I look forward with keen anticipation to many decades of dedication to L2 teacher training in Korea, always labouring mightily to bridge theory and practice in teacher education. I am especially confident that I will be able to excel in your program as a result of having earned the MA in TESOL at XXXX University in Seoul, Korea, during which time I explored the cognitive, psycholinguistic, and intercultural dimensions of L2 learning. I especially delved into the relationship between L2 learning and cognition while writing my MA thesis on how metacognitive awareness plays a vital role in L2 learning and higher mental functions. Having acquired advanced knowledge on the significance of cognitive elements of learning, I am excited to apply it to the area of the teacher education and teacher cognition as well. I now look forward to building on what I have learned so far in your distinguished program at XXXX University and I most sincerely thank you for considering my application to your program.

I am a 27-year-old man from Saudi Arabia. Since I was a child, I have been studying English and working to constantly perfect my linguistic abilities in this area. I wish to continue to fully devote myself to helping my people progress in their mastery of English and I look forward to a lifetime of research concerning the special or peculiar challenges faced by TESOL in the KSA. UXXX is my first choice for graduate school because of the excellence of your program and the resources of the surrounding area. I served as a Teaching Assistant in the English Department in the College of Languages and Translation at my university for 2.5 years, gaining invaluable experience. I taught freshmen college students the basics of English: grammar, reading, writing, speaking and listening. I began the Master’s Degree Program in Linguistics at XXXX State University in 2009, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the many courses that I have taken, deepening my understanding of historical linguistics, English syntax, lexicology, and word formation, phonetics and phonology, research methods, language acquisition, and TESOL. I have also worked as a Teaching Assistant here in the Department of Languages, Literatures, and Linguistics here at XSU. In this position, I also had the opportunity to work with professors of linguistics from several different countries, helping them with their research and the development of teaching materials. I conducted interviews, distributed questionnaires, recorded teaching sessions, and collected and analyzed data, particularly with respect to the outcomes of teaching methods and responses to experiments. These professional experiences deepened my understanding of language and made me eager to pursue my graduate study in the United States of America. I especially enjoyed teaching ESL 103A throughout the Fall of 2010. This experience deepened my understanding of language teaching and vastly broadened my pedagogic foundations. Most recently, I have earned my TESL/TEFL Certificate, also from XXXX State University. I am pleased to report that I have a scholarship to pursue the PHD and I am convinced that your program represents the best fit for someone with my background and research interests. The greatest contribution that I might be able to make to society would be to contribute to the development of a better understanding of the process of language acquisition by Arab speakers. I have traveled all over the United States and I have learned to much better detect the subtleties of accent and pronunciation among native speakers of the same language. My interest in the field of linguistics was shaped by my love for language learning and my dedication to multiculturalism. I am fascinated by the similarities and differences found between first and second language acquisition, on the one hand, and students struggling with a new language, on the other. I am especially fascinated by the phonological problems that second language learners face when they come to learn a new language. Problems like stress and intonation are rarely addressed in the context of learning English in Saudi Arabia, presenting a challenge to the learners of English in the mean of comprehensibility. Through my experience of teaching English to college students in Saudi Arabia, I have found that the phonological problems that students have are at the top of the list of linguistic issues for learners in the KSA. Moreover, a lot of students graduate with degrees in English yet can barely understand a native speaker of English or make themselves understood to one. Thus, I would like to do research in the field of second language acquisition with regard to phonological and discourse issues. Through this research, I hope to address difficult problems and work towards finding solutions through the development of methods that can make learning English less stressful, and more natural, facilitating the development of intonation for Arabic speakers of English as a second language. My long term professional plans as a PHD in English are primarily back in Saudi Arabia. I hope to contribute to the advancement of curriculum development in TESOL and also to promote the study of linguistics in my country. I look forward to doing research into a number of misconceptions about language and language learning in the Saudi Arabian context. It is hoped that this in turn will help to lay a theoretical foundation for the practical improvement of the current conditions of language learning in Saudi Arabia, helping us to better understand ourselves as well as the world around us. I want very much to study towards the doctorate at UXXX because of your appreciation for diversity and the generally high and intellectually stimulating atmosphere both on and off campus. I am especially fascinated by the research of Professor XXXX in the field of language acquisition and most excited about studying under a wide range of your distinguished faculty members.

I was born in South Korea in 1985 and immigrated to Guatemala City with my family five years later, in 1990. Later, I would go the USA to complete my college education in Chicago. Thus, I have mastered both English and Spanish, which, along with my native Korean, will provide with an important foundation for becoming a language teacher devoted to the language of Business, my major at XXXX University in Chicago. Korean will always be my favorite language because it is my mother tongue. And Korea will always be the country that I most love because it is where I was born and the Korean people are my people. Growing up in Guatemala, I was so very proud to see more and more Koran cars as the years passed. Now, as in much of Latin America, a majority of the new cars and trucks that are being sold are from my home country. And I am so very pleased to see Korea make this contribution to the rest of the world, helping developing countries improve their economies since they benefit from reliable, safe, and highly fuel efficient transportation. This is why I want to become an English teacher by attending Korea University, so as to help the economy of our interconnected to world to continue to prosper. Guatemala is known for being a dangerous place and it is, because of the poverty and underdevelopment. This also motivated me to work hard on my English skills and to study business in college, so that I could struggle for the rest of my life to contribute to economic development, thus helping poor people and poor countries to prosper. Guatemala does have nice weather, which I soon came to appreciate after having endured my first very cold winter in Chicago studying at XXXX University from 2004 to 2008. I am writing the study plan which follows below because I want very much to study at Korea University, which I see as the finest educational institution in the world, at least for the Korean people. My studies at XXXX University in Korea will be indispensable for my future career development and will benefit me throughout my entire life. When I was thirteen years old, my father told me: “If you read five hundred books with a written report for each, I will buy you a car.” My father’s intention was to improve my English, for me, as a teenager, what I wanted most was the car. In time, however, reading books in English became my hobby, in fact, my passion, and I developed a vast appreciation for reading, especially high quality fiction, biographies, and modern history. These days, I also spend a great deal of time reading in Korean, helping me to prepare myself for life back home and study at Korea University. The four years that I spent in Chicago studying for my college degree did wonders to perfect my English. Now, I look forward to perfecting my English studying in Seoul and benefitting from the company of my countrymen. My desire to become a teacher as my professional calling in life began early on, as I began tutoring Guatemalans many years ago to improve their English. I tutored two Korean children when they moved to Guatemala, and I had the privilege of serving as a substitute teacher at an English speaking school in Guatemala. During my the first two quarters at XXXX University, I studied a variety of subjects and was very involved with sports, in addition to working part time jobs to help pay for my education. My ongoing passion for English literature, however, soon led me to the firm conviction that I wanted to devote my professional life to becoming an exceptionally good English teacher. But I am also a pragmatic person and I want to help contribute towards international economic development. And I want to be an English teacher so as to use the language to help build bridges between countries and peoples through the advancement of business ties. Thus, I began an intensive study of marketing. I came to especially enjoy research in this area and making presentations. Soon, I overcame my fear of speaking in front of strangers and also learned to become an excellent team player by participating in the development of group presentations taking great delight in working as part of a team, building shared commitments and accomplishing objectives together. I began to truly relish the thrill of gaining and sharing business knowledge with my classmates and professors. I do not regret majoring in marketing because I have learned how to do research and to develop analytical strategies. Most of all perhaps, I have become highly proficient in business writing, which will help me enormously as I continue to prepare myself for a distinguished career as a teacher of Business English. During my studies at XXXX University, I want to focus on learning how to make English education interesting and entertaining because I am convinced that this is the best strategy for language learning. While, of course, there are many ways of teaching language and each professor has their own particular method or strategy for teaching, what I have found to be most effective is constant practice combined with making learning English fun, so as to engage the students´ interest in the material. When I tutored a Guatemalan male student during high school, for example, we read together and watched many movies in DVD with English subtitles for the hearing impaired. Although he didn’t understand most of the English at first, soon his accent radically improved along with the range of his vocabulary and the sophistication of his grammar. I was most impressed by the effectiveness of watching movies for improving his English skills and this has caused me to develop a very keen interest in using technological resources for language learning, especially the Computer and the Internet: CALL, Computer Assisted Language Learning. I want to study at XXXX University for many reasons, foremost among which is the wide range of different methods and theories for teaching English, and the laboratory resources of your program to help teachers develop and take full advantage of technological aids for language learning. I am especially pleased that Korea has become such a technologically advanced country with media and internet resources so widely available and young people increasingly skilled at putting these resources to good use. In conclusion, I see media resources as the most effective language learning tools, in addition to books, newspapers, and magazines: television, radio, and especially the internet because of its interactive character. It is through active participation, and dialogue that we most effectively learn language. Yet, learning how to effectively introducing media in the classroom is a great challenge, especially for older teachers who are form a generation that is not as media savvy as the younger generations. I would like to contribute to teacher education in Korea, helping teachers learn how to make the fullest and best use of media materials and resources in the English Language classroom. I hope to begin studying English Education at XXXX University in this upcoming spring semester and I thank you very much for considering my application to your program.

An extremely hard working and dedicated woman, I was able to graduate in the top 10% of my class at XXXX University with a degree in Psychology and a minor in the area of my professional dreams: Modern Languages. I also earned a certificate in TESOL. Because of its international renown and the enormous intellectual and cultural resources available to students, UXX is my first choice for graduate school because I seek to study in the finest, fully theoretical program on the planet. I would be most honored to receive a scholarship as this would enable me to give my all to building the ultimate academic foundation so that I could make the fullest contribution possible to our global society. My long term aspiration is to continue studying towards the Ph.D. Degree and, thus, have the requisite education for a lifetime of continuous study and research. I look forward with keen anticipation to a full immersion in the theoretical examination of language acquisition, bolstered by my own personal and professional experiences as a language learner, teacher, and communications specialist: the cutting-edge issues and debates taking place in theoretical linguistics as well as applied linguistics and English language training pedagogy. Among my numerous areas of ongoing professional engagement, I have a particularly passionate interest in Chomsky's work in linguistics and grammar and its relation to the gathering and analysis of empirical language data: the implications of these linguistic and grammatical paradigms for modern language study, description, analysis and pedagogy. Perhaps my greatest achievement, especially for a non-European, is the fact that I speak five languages fluently. My family in Montreal is very multicultural; mother is French but also speaks fluent Spanish, while my father’s native language is English. Thus, I grew up fluently multilingual, surrounded by various cultures and languages from a very early age. I am told that ever since I was an infant, I have been drawn to new languages, new friends, and my inherently gregarious disposition is perhaps my greatest asset: an open mind, ears, and especially heart. My family also instilled in me a deep and abiding passion for travel, helping me to add Italian and German to the list of languages that I write as well as speak at a very high level of competence. While I enjoyed playing as any child, my early games also involved linguistic puzzles, and I have always found the mysteries of grammatical relationships between various languages to be especially fascinating; the way that Germanic languages, for example, have so many Latin roots (genitiv, dativ, akkusative). Truly, I am destined—I could even say programmed in today’s jargon—for a lifetime of investigation into the nuances of comparative language development, especially pronunciation. More recently, these interests have been further enhanced by my mastery of basic Japanese.My studies in cognitive and language psychology have further prepared me to excel in your program: the relationship between the brain and language learning, language rules, how children learn unconsciously. I look forward to further research into how the brain processes language rules and the relevance of this for pedagogy and the development of increasingly effective language learning curriculums. I also believe that my 8 years of professional experience—in TESOL, global communications, public relations, and the organization of training program for students and international research in corporate communication—will help me to excel in your program.

Although I was born an American, my family emigrated to Tehran, Iran when I was eight. Spending my formative years in Iran, becoming educated and competent in several languages, I subsequently returned to the US as an adult. I have been given two sets of experiences, two cultures and two world views from which to draw, and thereby have achieved a high level of cultural competency. Living in Iran, one gets exposure to many cultures, Middle Eastern as well as Asian and North African. And traveling to India, KSA, and Turkey, as I have, has only increased my exposure to differing cultures. In addition to my TESOL degree, I am hoping to eventually work towards a doctorate in Applied Linguistics, pursuing research in Sociolinguistics. Having experienced life in the US and the Middle East as a citizen of multicultural background, I am aware of the cultural norms, how language is used in various situations, and what is acceptable in which circumstance. In the Iran, I frequently observed how language varied based on an assortment of variables including between the sexes, religious sects, and ethnic groups. Thousands of people emigrate to the US every year, with a pocketful of hopes and perhaps only a loose grasp of English. In this amazing country, rich with possibilities and opportunities for international students, particularly through universities, it is my express desire to serve the English educational needs of this group of which I feel a strong affiliation. Without the ability to effectively communicate, one's ability to excel, blossom and sense of confidence are hindered. It would be my honor to give to international students the same chances for success that I was given. Whilst in Iran, I studied several languages, English, Farsi, Arabic and French. At the time, I began the steps that would set me on the path of Humanities and literature Persian at the time, but I switched to English literature at the AA level and BA level with UT at XXX. It was while in Iran that I first discovered my love of teaching. Even while in high school, with English as my major, I was looking forward to a career in teaching. I pursued and procured a Teacher-Training certificate in Iran and spent one year teaching elementary school children English at an English Institute. UT at XXX has been my sole choice since I began my undergraduate course of study with UT. The school has impressed me with its rich and varied exposition of international students. This diversity alone instills a sense of confidence in me as to the validity, efficacy and relevance of the TESOL program, and only increases my desire to continue my academic relationship with UT. My research has shown me that there are few quality schools in the US that are dedicated to the pursuit of TESOL in an atmosphere of Applied Linguistics, and UT at Arlington stands out amongst what is basically the background noise of other schools.

I was born and raised in Argentina, and I moved to New York seven years ago. I studied for two years to be an English teacher and interpreter in Argentina until I moved to New York. I have a B.A. from XXXX College (January 2006) with a major in English Language Arts and a minor in Psychology. XXXX College is the only program that I am applying to because I love the school and very much want to study here for my Master's Degree in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages (TESOL). I look forward to an in-depth study of second language acquisition theory and methods and the biological, cultural, and sociological aspects of learning a second language. I have always been fascinated by how our brains process information and I study how my own brain responds to English and Spanish in different contexts. I want to learn as much as I can about how people acquire and process a second or foreign language. After finishing my Master's Degree, I plan to teach English (and/or Spanish) in several other parts of the world because I love travel and adventure, experiencing new cultures and being exposed to a variety of languages. I have taught both English and Spanish as a volunteer and worked as an English teacher in a private institute for a year-and-a-half. I am very confident that I have the dedication, enthusiasm, and stability that will be required for outstanding performance as a graduate student at XXXX College.

A Japanese woman, I spent my childhood in Hong Kong and Taiwan, surrounded by people whose native language was different from mine. Thus, I have English when I was nine years old. My first English teacher was an Indian woman whose mother tongue was also not English. Although a solid Indian accent marked her English, her enthusiastic attitude to teaching English contributed enormously to my passion for English. I majored in English American Literature at XXXX University, thus having the golden opportunity of learning English as part of the study of many different subjects such as English grammar, reading, speech, and composing. My dedication to English continued to blossom; after graduation from Chuo University, I decided to go to the United Kingdom to study interpreting and translation, spending two years in the UK. Since then, I have worked as a translator and proofreader at XXXX Corporation. At XXXX, I learned how to translate legal documents and came to gain increased knowledge of the law. I realized that translation is not only the replacement of words, but background or knowledge of the area is essential, perhaps, especially in direction. This long-term experience of translating documents in many places is, perhaps, my greatest treasure. I look forward to continuing to develop and grow in English through lifetime education and personal/professional advancement. The most effective way to use my knowledge is through teaching others. How to face people and tell them about my experiences is still very challenging, but, unlike my translation job, I now have become addicted to the sheer joy of human interaction with world citizens, addressing educational needs through face-to-face communication in our global language. I am fully dedicated to education since it is here where both teacher and student can grow without limits other than the level of one's energy and dedication. My fascination with intercultural and multi-cultural relationships has grown in leaps and bounds when studying interpretation and translation. I see these cultural aspects as being of foremost foundational importance to learning second languages, coming to better understand the basis and nature of social rules and the artistic value of languages in any given context; I would especially like to study sociolinguistics at SLA. In particular, I look forward to having the profound privilege of learning from Professor XXXX XXXX. After completing your program, I intend to continue to develop as a freelance translator and educator, devoting my life to teaching the art and science of translation; then, I would like to teach people who want to be a translator. My long-term goal is to create a textbook that would be most useful for learning basic translation skills appropriate to Asian-Western dialogue. And I dream of teaching English to children, primarily through call, so that they learn English while they think that they are playing. I want to thank you for your consideration of my application.

I ask for admission to your distinguished program to pursue my education to the terminal degree in my field based on my intense passion for occupational justice. I have been inspired to believe that all of us, especially the weakest and most vulnerable among us, have a right to live each day in dignity, which includes being occupied in activities that provide meaning and value to their lives. I want to give my life to research into the challenges faced by individuals and groups, especially children, who have developmental disabilities; in particular, I look forward to studying and publishing about those who suffer from degenerative brain diseases. Nevertheless, I do not want to develop a myopic focus on children; rather, I want to be an extremely competent generalist in OT. This is why XXXX U is my first choice, because of my profound respect for the comprehensive nature of your program. My passion for the subject of developmentally disabled children is matched only by my dedication to the study of dementia in older people. I also want to work with our elderly population as well and always stay very engaged in our struggle to challenge, inspire, and empower them to higher levels of autonomy. I have not yet been to the Developing World. Already 28 years old, I am anxious to go. I desperately need to practice my Spanish, put it into action. It is fundamental to my philosophy of life, justice, progress, that we share our accomplishments with our global neighbors in countries that do not have the resources or the will to make progress on their own. I have my eyes set on Latin America and I look forward to your help, once I am enrolled in your program, deciding where and how to go about my first adventure in OT south of the border. Since my central, long term professional goal is to make important contributions to our struggle for greater independence and dignity for the developmentally disabled, I want to fight stigmas and provide opportunity through higher levels of integration into community activities, bringing new, sustained hope to the lives of those who have dementia as well as the developmentally disabled by laboring to create new opportunities through innovative community initiatives. During high school my brother died in a car accident. His death helped me to better appreciate the value of life, how profound precious it is, and to respect it anew in each and every face, especially the faces of those who need me most. While a sophomore at the University of XXXX, working towards my Psychology Degree, my mom became sick with Frontal Temporal Dementia-a rare form of early onset dementia—at only 48 years old. I spent a great deal of time taking care of her while going to school and this is why I feel strongly that my less-than-stellar GPA is not an accurate reflection of my potential to excel in your program. My mom was a special education teacher who encouraged me to work with people who have disabilities. I would often volunteer in her classroom growing up. Taking care of her also opened my eyes to the injustices and hardships of certain populations of people. I took her wheelchair to the mall one day to try to understand how hard it can be to perform basic activities. Many of the fitting rooms would not accommodate wheelchairs and it was hard to reach things that were higher up. Soon, I found myself coordinating monthly events for adults with developmental disabilities. The centerpiece of my professional activity so far has been my experience as a live-in assistant at XXXX, a home for adults with developmental disabilities, where I learned a lot about life. Every afternoon I would take the core members for a walk to get a drink. We would sit and laugh together for what seemed to be forever. Watching Joni wave at her shadow inspired me to do so as well. Cars would pass by, Joni would smile and wave; Adam kept a tally of those who waved back. After my mom died in 2009, I worked with young adults who have emotional, drug and alcohol, and behavior problems in secure residential settings. I also served as an AmeriCorps member, working on the creation of a mentorship program for minority youth who plan to be the first person in their family to attend college. After deep reflection and careful thought I have decided that a career in OT will fit in best with my goals and values and will also provide me with a vehicle to use my skills and talents in the most effective ways possible. I must live for all three of us now, my brother, my mom, each day we will wave at our shadows and smile. I thank you for your attention to my application.

I have been a PT Assistant since 1998 and have had the opportunity to work in a variety of settings and with a wide range of patient types. I both enjoy my work and feel that I provide a vital service, this highly satisfying combination eludes most people in their working lives and I feel very fortunate to have found it. I regard Physical Therapy as more a vocation than merely a career choice and I now seek to extend and broaden my skills and knowledge in order to increase my usefulness to patients and to enable me to provide training and supervision to PT Assistants to extend therapy accessibility. I recognize that the aging of the ‘baby boomer’ population is already having a substantial impact on healthcare needs and demands particularly in this specialty and that this will increase over time. Although I am not exclusively interested in the elderly, I do seek to be part of the answer to this pressing problem. Much of my work to date has involved elderly patients. I was raised in a rural environment in which respect for the elderly and an appreciation of their experience and wisdom was expected of the young. I enjoy working with older patients, relate well to them and am very interested in assisting them and finding ever more effective ways to do so. I work as managing partner in a private out-patient clinic. Prior to the opening of our clinic, local people were faced with a four hour round trip to access therapy services and, as a result, many did not seek to do so and among these were people who were most in need of such care. We have always taken our responsibilities to our community very seriously and have developed programs to provide treatment to the uninsured and underinsured, especially child patients. We have also sought to provide preventative educational information and activities such as hikes, regular exercise regimens for different age groups and have run regular and very successful ‘Biggest Loser’ contests. I am sure that our preventative efforts have had a very beneficial effect on many members of the local community and their families and feel very proud of them. I like to be seen to take my own advice and enjoy taking challenging hikes and running in marathons. Apart from keeping me healthy, these endeavors offer the satisfaction that comes from the achievement of difficult goals and the empathy to encourage my patients in theirs. For several years, I have led a local campaign aimed at educating patients and seniors about the Medicare therapy cap. I have organized meetings with local delegates and assisted patients to compose letters to state representatives pointing out the problems that the cap creates for seniors and especially those living in rural communities and urging them to appeal the relevant legislation. I know that there will be many well qualified applicants for the program. However I genuinely believe that I am an exceptional candidate. I have substantial relevant experience and can provide very useful insights to my class arising from this; my spare time activities demand the kind of commitment that I intend to fully apply to the program and I have a successful background in running effective preventative programs. My main recommendation is a passion for helping patients through PT especially in rural and underserved communities and especially the increasing population of seniors.