Cultural Personal Statement

My journey with language and culture began at the age of 10, on my first day of a martial arts course where most of the instruction was in Korean. After four years I eventually left martial arts, but I still was fascinated by the people around me who spoke in Spanish or Italian with each other. In high school I enrolled in a French class and immediately took to learning the language and learned about French speaking countries cultures. I was involved in extracurricular activities that aided foreign peoples, classes that discussed global issues, and debated with people over the fact that not all Muslims wish to kill Americans. I want to learn about other cultures and ways of life. I want to help other people and truly understand them. With

In French five I organized study groups where the other five students in the class and I went to lunch together and spoke completely in French for practice. On my sixteenth birthday I was able to give directions to a lost French couple in New York City because I had taken French my freshmen and sophomore years of high school. This past year I started to delve into studying Korean culture by finding a pen pal and extensive research. I have started to truly learn the language in hopes that I may better understand the culture. By learning a language and studying a culture I have grown as a person so that I may be able to have educated conversations with people much older than myself about global issues such as when I conversed with a group of influential women at a Zonta conference on how media portrays an unrealistic image of Asian women and culture. From the many leadership experiences that I have had in the organizations I have been involved in and my natural curiosity as to how people walk their paths of life, I believe that I would be positive addition to the WISc

As an undergraduate majoring in Biology, I believe adding an international component to my education will allow me to work with a larger variety of organisms and understand global medical issues at a personal level. Studying abroad would also connect me with biologists, doctors, and people from around the world, creating a global network I will use in my future career in medicine. After graduate school I would like to join the Peace Corps or Doctors Without Borders to make a global impact by helping whoever I can in whatever way I am able. Being fluent in another language and having an open mind in regards to culture from being educated various cultures as an undergraduate would allow me to assist more people as I travel. After my time abroad as a doctor, I would be able to use the languages I learned in hospitals with patients to comfort them in their native tongue along with the ability to use my experience to educate collaborate with other doctors in the same hospital or globally. By adding an international piece to my undergraduate education I will create a network of contacts, better understand world issues, and better prepare for a global community of