Mary Yama Sow: Personal Statement

Studying abroad will be an experience of a lifetime. Going beyond the US Coastlines that I have never crossed will get be valuable life lessons that I must learn to be successful in my future career. I want to increase my knowledge both inside and outside of the classroom, and I believe the best way to do that for me is to continue to go beyond those small town borders that have kept me

I had the amazing privilege to serve as an informal ambassador for my country of birth (Italy), clearing up cultural stereotypes, and creating positive connections between two cultures. I had the joy of meeting people from other cultures. Sharing problems, connecting with cultural differences and similarities gave me the opportunity to learn not only about other cultures but also about local and global issues. The desire to understand these issues, and to solve them (like for example immigration issues with Mexican-born people living in the United States) inspired me to apply for the study abroad program-language immersion in Cuernavaca, Mexico.

Situated on Saadyat Island within a planned cultural district, NYU-AD is the first ever university at Middle east to provide Liberals arts education as well as affiliated with a major American University. The campus covers a large area of 50 acres where I can relax, learn explore and research in various areas. As a liberal arts college, NYU covers a broader area of study and offers study programs from Arts and Humanities to Science and Technology. The small class size at NYU allows student to have active participation, intimate discussions, and one on one interaction with the scholars. The best thing about studying at NYU-AD for a travel lover like me is the NYU’s Global Network. I can study up to two semesters at different cities all around the globe which includes Florence, London, Paris, Shanghai, Berlin and many more. Through this global study strategy, I can have intercultural understanding, explore rich cultures and lifestyle of the

The Harlem Children’s Zone is a community based education system started by Geoffrey Canada. His main goal with this program was to close the achievement gap between affluent and low-income children in Harlem and ensure that every student that attends the HCZ also attends college. His charter school, referred to as “ The Promise Academy,” is unique as it provides a high-performing academic program supplemented with a variety of social services including parenting classes, support system for former HCZ students who have enrolled in college, fitness programs, community centers, and an onsite-medical clinic. Children living in the inner city are historically low-performing students, because they are not worried about their grade on a test like

After so many incidents, I was determined to learn this foreign language and prove to people that I wasn’t not lost in this country. Every day afterschool I would ask my family to help me with my English. One year later, I was able to understand what people around me were saying, and I could do basic communications with people. School came to me as an enjoying part of my day, something I looked forward to when going to bed, and an opportunity, a gift for me to learn the language of this new country.

My personal and professional lives are undoubtedly interwoven, and have been affected by my independent emigration from my native Iran at the age of 17. I knew that my desire to pursue higher education would be better fulfilled abroad, so, with the support of my parents, I decided to move to France. After I gained a degree in French language there, I moved to Los Angeles with my eyes set firmly on graduate school. The linguistic, cultural, and financial difficulties I faced during these times have played a significant role in teaching me about independence, perseverance, and resilience. Additionally, my diverse exposure to three very different cultures and languages has allowed me to become more accepting of others who are dissimilar from me, and has made better capable at communicating effectively.

In Julie Otsuka’s novel When the Emperor was Divine, a Japanese family living in America is taken to an internment camp due to suspicions of treason. From the point at which their father is taken away to their return home, the family has their identity eroded. Otsuka represents this loss of the family’s identity through their fear of being different, and their names.

Even though I fully understand the Ibo language but cannot speak it, I find it difficult to understand my cousins from Nigeria when we talk on the phone. I have now developed an effective alternate method of communicating with them. We can now talk and converse on the phone as long as we want. This experience has made me to learn how to interact with people from different backgrounds and cultures and I will bring this diverse cultural experience to my university community. I know that undergraduate college education is only the beginning of a lifelong journey, it would be a pleasure to start that journey as a student in your

I have been independently studying Italian, German, French and Norwegian for the past two years beyond the limited choices offered by my high school’s World Language program. I am absolutely ecstatic to finally be able to take challenging World Language, Linguistics, and Culture Study courses with experienced professors and Graduate students. UW-Madison also boasts an impressive study abroad program that I am eager to take part in for a semester after my Sophomore year.

My intended major is that of bachelors in Japanese. Japanese has always been an interest to me as I grew up in the Japanese side of my household. Due to this upbringing I have been exposed to Japanese culture since I can remember. Though my Father and Grandparents refused to teach me the language as a young age, they began to support my interest in the language and culture when I started journey in Mira Costa Community College. In Mira Costa, while taking my first Japanese course, I was introduced to the Japanese club at the college. In this Club, the members made sure to create activities and programs that would help spread the culture and knowledge of Japanese and the language. Along with this came people that introduced myself to the International

On September 1, 2012 I moved to Virginia, United States. Many can say that, but to me it is one of the greatest things I have done in life. Being born in Puerto Rico, an island in which Spanish is the main language, the wish of learning English was constantly in my mind. As I grew up I started to take English courses in school; however, the courses were not as effective, since I only learned the basics of English. Later on after graduating from sixth grade I was enrolled in a bilingual private school. The fact that the school was mostly in English and that it was private challenged my learning even more than in a public school. Although the school was a great one, I was doing badly accademically. It wasn’t until the school year was over that I decided to move to the state of Virginia in order to begin with my journey. A journey in which I learned many things from life and because of this experience I am preapared to overcome anything that comes between me and what I want.

Coordinated as part of the summer JHU-SAIS / Ajou Language Immersion program, I visited to

Over the past four years since John started school in Australia his level of English has improved a lot; especially his receptive use of the language. John is a talented language student and is achieving great results in both additional languages he is studying at the moment, English and Japanese. Due to his cultural background John does not volunteer to speak freely during class. This makes it hard for his teacher to find the degree of depth of his understanding of new concepts learned in class. However, he is a passionate language learner and his focus is to perfect his knowledge in both additional languages.

Arenson, K. 2008 19 February. Princeton to help students spend ‘gap year’ abroad. The New York

A famous Japanese writer Ihara Saikaku, born in 1642, was a son of a wealthy merchant in Osaka. He had a wife and three kids, one of which was blind and in addition to taking care of his family, he learned to write haikai poetry and comics at a young age. Since his wife died at a young age, he became adventurous as “he traveled extensively writing about the various parts of the country” (Rollins, para.4). One of his first novels is called Koshoku Ichidai Otoko in 1682, which led to Saikaku becoming the first Japanese writer able to reflect the life of the modern city Japan and how he supported equality.