This blog post examines how to write your motivation for applying to Architectural Engineering and your career plan to convincingly demonstrate your suitability for the major and practical skills, focusing on actual evaluation criteria and example structures.
Writing About Academic Experience and Reflections
“Solving problems through effort, not just intellect.”
While studying, the area where I put in the most effort was ‘application’ or ‘utilization’. This is because breaking through a concept on my own was truly difficult. To begin with, I never attended a cram school. Because I always had to solve problems on my own, the only methods available to me were repetition, previewing, and then reviewing again. Consequently, while I could solve basic problems well and work quickly, I never experienced that breakthrough feeling of truly advancing because no one was guiding me. But seeing myself stuck at the same grade level for so long was really tough. To move up, I needed to develop the applied skills to solve new problems. What I focused on most back then was ‘re-solving problems’.
At first, I didn’t understand how re-solving problems could build applied skills. But re-solving problems and asking myself ‘Why did I get this part wrong?’ really helped my critical thinking. Through studying, I realized that thinking about what I needed to do and continually pondering it was an essential part of who I am today. By re-solving problems, I could internalize the solution process myself. Furthermore, once I understood it, I could build the ability to solve problems derived from that one, or problems that combined elements from this problem and that one. And as those experiences accumulated one by one, I gradually developed areas where I could apply my skills without even realizing it. As I solved more problems, my confidence began to grow. This allowed me to tackle math and physics, the subjects where I most wanted to achieve high scores. Solving problems that seemed beyond the reach of my naturally gifted peers brought me immense joy. That’s why I continue to approach language and other subjects in this way, building my application skills one step at a time as I strive toward my target scores.
Major School Activities and Reflections
“Discovering the Joy of Engineering Through the Invention Club!”
I made many mistakes while in the invention club. I made so many mistakes I’d never made anywhere else. Yet, through this, I discovered the fun of engineering. Because engineering is a field where you must make mistakes to succeed, and you must endure those mistakes to invent something new. For someone like me who loves trying new things and has the strength to endure mistakes, the invention club was truly the perfect club. From that moment, I realized that engineering, which had captured my interest, was the field of study and goal that felt like my true calling.
My very first mistake in the invention club was nearly starting a fire by breaking an alcohol lamp. My role as a freshman was to create a welcoming atmosphere for visitors to the lab. When my friends praised my attempt to make candy by heating an alcohol lamp and sugar, I got carried away and forgot the safety rules, adjusting the flame on the alcohol lamp. The flame then caught on me. Startled, I dropped the lamp, and in an instant, the desk caught fire. If the seniors hadn’t been nearby to throw sand on it, it could have turned into a major accident. That mistake made me realize why safety rules and procedures are necessary. Since then, I’ve become someone who never ignores safety rules or procedures for any experiment or invention.
Another mistake was communication issues with my teammates. Our club preferred working on inventions as a team rather than individually, and we were organized into teams to facilitate that. The reason was that friends with brilliant ideas were usually awkward at socializing or sharing their thoughts. That was indeed the case. My peers who first joined the invention club, like me, were all passionate about inventing. They were individuals with very distinct ideas and preferred developing them alone rather than sharing them. I was no different. Consequently, our club became notorious for members not being close and for dismissing each other’s ideas. However, the disastrous results that followed made it clear why sharing ideas and studying together was essential. The seniors who shared their thoughts and listened to each other’s ideas could develop more diverse concepts, whereas thinking alone led to falling into one’s own mannerisms. Realizing this, we formed teams to develop ideas and learned to identify and address the weak points and difficulties in our own thinking. Through this, we cultivated collaboration and teamwork. Before, I believed that excelling alone was sufficient. However, by cultivating teamwork, I transformed into a more social person who gets along well with friends, making both studying and team activities enjoyable.
Beyond that, I grew immensely through countless mistakes made in this club. Through this process, I learned a great deal and filled in gaps, nurturing my dream of becoming an architectural engineer.
Examples of Consideration, Sharing, and Cooperation, and My Reflections
“Let’s act and strive together in moments when we want to run away”
This happened during my sophomore year of high school. Being boys, we were preparing for the sports day with all our might one summer day. With the sports day scheduled for the following week, we had everything ready—our chants, uniforms, and more—and were practicing hard, eagerly awaiting the day to win first place. But suddenly, trouble struck when our class president fell into deep thought. He noticed the door, which he was sure he’d locked before leaving, was strangely open. Upon entering, the entire classroom was in utter chaos. We’d just finished PE class, returned after practicing hard, and someone had broken in. That thief had stolen every last penny of our class funds from the president’s bag. We were literally thrown into chaos. Because the core of our class was the fun, unified class spirit represented by our class t-shirts and sports equipment. If we couldn’t buy those, we’d lose our identity and our confidence would plummet. Above all, losing that money we had pooled together ourselves was a huge disappointment. Everyone was overcome with helplessness.
At that moment, I thought I had to do something. So what I decided was to start raising money again myself and take action. I looked for places where we could get the class t-shirts a bit cheaper with my friends, and I tried to find them by leveraging the connections of people I knew. Also, for my friends who were feeling down, I started making the tools we had planned to order by hand. Everyone probably felt like they didn’t want to do the sports day and just wanted to give up, but I didn’t do that; I moved forward.
And what I felt while moving like this was that, while the initial steps can be really tough, sincerity ultimately prevails, and other friends don’t look down on the person who moves first. Surprisingly, everyone followed along and joined in. They didn’t run away; they all pooled their strength together. As a result, we were able to hold the festival much more impressively than when we had money.
Efforts and Preparation Related to Motivation for Application and Career Plans
“I want to grow into a professional who can actually get things done.”
I grew up in a very proactive and positive household. My father runs a factory producing mobile phone components. Despite being the CEO, he personally handles every task and takes action. My mother, though the eldest daughter-in-law of a large, well-known family, is always proactive, striving to resolve family conflicts. Growing up under such influences, I too developed into an active person. I was taught that when something happens, you don’t stand back; you act first. Both at school and at home, I always aimed to be someone who takes action. That’s why I developed the dream of majoring not just in ‘Engineering’ but specifically in ‘Plant Construction Engineering’ at ○○ University.
These days, machines and buildings aren’t separate spaces; they’re designed so that space exists within the machine and the machine exists within the space. After realizing how incredibly efficient this approach is and how it yields rapid results, I observed a growing trend where factory construction is increasingly being replaced by plant design. Reading about this in the news solidified my desire to become an expert in this field. I also believed that to become an expert, I needed practical, hands-on education. I wanted to become a professional through practical training, not just academic learning. That’s why I applied to ○○ University.
○○ University is renowned for its ‘practitioner-focused faculty selection.’ It literally invests significant effort in recruiting educators who can teach well to cultivate students. Seeing this, I too wanted to enter ○○ University, receive training from practitioners, and become a talent ready for immediate deployment in the field. Upon enrolling at ○○ University, I plan to diligently build my theoretical foundation through education. Then, leveraging the university’s proactive programs that integrate practical work and industry-academia collaboration to support hands-on training, I dream of growing into an active talent who can quickly start working and sprint ahead.
