My Statement of Purpose Example

For those of you who aren't interested in grad school, sorry for all the grad school posts. Since I wrote my "How to Write a Statement of Purpose" post, though, I thought it might be helpful to include my actual statement of purpose. So here it is!

            Someone had told me that the predominantly Turkish sections of Berlin were dangerous, that these were places where I, a twenty-year-old American from the Midwest, wouldn’t want to go alone. Yet I’ve never been one to heed these kinds of warnings, and it was with a combination of anticipation, nervous excitement, and determination that I entered the Neukölln section of Berlin, on my way to help in tutoring children of Turkish immigrants. As the afternoon progressed and I toured Neukölln with two students and their tutor, I found myself searching for ways to prolong my time there. Maybe it was something in the energy of the place, in the collision of gentrification and immigrant-run shops and ornate 19^th century buildings. Maybe it was the enthusiasm of the tutor with whom I worked and his drive to help his students enjoy learning. Maybe it was the stories of the immigrant children and their experience of growing up between two cultures. In all likelihood it was a combination of these factors that led me to realize that someday, somehow, I would like to work in this environment. From that point on it was a matter of figuring out how this could be accomplished.

What I learned is that, even when you don’t approach life with a clearly defined goal, when you follow your intuition it seems that you are bound to discover your passion. In many ways, this process of following my instincts has characterized my undergraduate education. I began studying German not because I intended it to be my major, but because I wanted to learn a new language, a language that my ancestors had spoken, a language bound together with a tumultuous history, but also a language of many of the world’s great philosophers, scientists, and artists. Above all, I wanted to learn something that was completely new to me.

Throughout my undergraduate education, there was never a shortage of new things to learn, and when I look back on my course of studies, I find that the topics of my chosen classes have many commonalities. I have focused largely on the experiences of disadvantaged groups throughout history and the dynamics of social change by enrolling in a course that investigated the experience of migrants to Germany through the lens of theater, one that explored the role of language in determining a person’s social status, and one that investigates the feasibility of health care reform in the United States, among many others.

In pursuing a Master’s in European Studies, I hope to further explore the origins and outcomes of tension and conflict between social groups. I am particularly interested in the experiences of migrant populations and look forward to an opportunity to investigate their reasons for migration, as well as the struggles and victories associated with establishing themselves in a new home country. Additionally, I am excited to study regional variations within the European Union and the effects of these variations on disadvantaged populations.

The primary appeal of the European Studies program at University College London is its interdisciplinary approach to understanding European identity, with an emphasis on the arts as a means of analyzing European integration and society. My previous coursework in creative writing, literature, and art history has sparked an interest in the arts as a means of addressing social issues, and I look forward to a chance to further explore this interest while focusing on modern Europe.

            I bring to this program not only an educational background in European culture and politics, but also knowledge of research methods in the social sciences. For the past year and a half, I have been employed with a study that investigates scientific literacy among Americans aged 35-40. This work has allowed me to develop a thorough understanding of the methods of survey research, as well as the effects of academic study on public policy. I hope to ultimately work in a field in which I can also work to bridge the gap between academics and policy, and I believe this program will bring me closer to achieving this goal.