This blog post focuses on how to write your motivation for applying to the Geography Department and your career plans to demonstrate both your suitability for the major and your potential for growth. It explores how to connect your research activities and field experience in your narrative.
Writing About Academic Experience and Reflections
“The most enjoyable time is actually study time!”
I was originally a child who preferred track and field or physical education over studying. However, after developing the grand dream of becoming a geographer, I had to study. But no matter how hard I tried, studying never became enjoyable. My foundation was weak, so I had to memorize a lot, the things I needed to study kept piling up, and my grades wouldn’t improve. I think those days were quite exhausting for me. Therefore, what I focused on most was convincing myself that studying was fun.
Whenever I studied geography-related topics that interested me most, I always made myself think about why I needed to study this. I would tell myself, “If I study this, it will definitely help when I go to that country someday, when I measure the geography and soil there,” and I would calm myself down. Then, memorizing truly felt like I was memorizing as a geographer would, making studying much more enjoyable. Or, when I had to memorize tricky mountain ranges, I imagined myself as someone living there, picturing how the terrain affected daily life. Doing this made it feel refreshing and enjoyable, as if I were actually in the mountains of each country. This method of positively associating studying also had a positive impact when I studied Korean language. Specifically, when studying Korean, I started by focusing on texts that dealt with geography-related topics. I began with non-literature, which was my weakest area, and gradually expanded my scope to include literature. As I did this, my interest grew, and I found myself wanting to read more and more. Especially regarding non-literature, I discovered there were various texts about geography, which led me to read more and more non-literature. Expanding my study scope based on interest proved immensely helpful for me. The same applied to math. I justified studying it by thinking of it as previewing the calculation and precision required in geography.
Major School Activities and Reflections
“For the annual field study”
The activity that sparked my unusual dream of becoming a geologist and simultaneously infused my high school years with vitality was the geography club ‘Land Mole’.
Our club is structured around two teachers as core members. We dedicate the time outside of the annual field study to prepare for it, ensuring our activities are grounded in practical exploration. After accepting new members, we spent the year preparing by first researching locations within Korea where we could encounter relatively unique soils or rocks, then determining our exploration site. At that time, various members researched places they wanted to visit, created PowerPoint presentations, and presented them. We then fairly selected the exploration site through a vote. After that, we methodically prepared for the expedition. The teacher simply checks whether the assignments are completed, while the students themselves take the lead in figuring out what they need to study and prepare. So, they spend about a semester organizing the material chapter by chapter, creating resources for their friends, and presenting. Studying beforehand builds much more anticipation and motivation than just arriving and asking, “What kind of rock is this?” While studying, we also save up our pocket money little by little to fund the expedition. We meticulously list everything we need to prepare for the expedition in a corner of the club room, thus beginning our preparations.
Thus, we put in tremendous effort for that one annual expedition, filled with hope. We actively participated in the weekly club activities and enjoyed our time at the exploration site.
The reason this activity was so enjoyable was that it was incredibly ‘proactive’. I think that was the first time I ever engaged in such proactive activities. The idea of personally investigating, researching, and forming a team for the sake of discovering fascinating things I’d never seen before! Escaping the daily grind of following others’ instructions or being overwhelmed by tasks, breaking free from that student identity! That became an incredibly enjoyable activity for me. And through such activities, as I also became club president, my dream solidified further. While leading juniors and fellow members, I found myself dreaming of becoming a geographer who leads people to explore remote areas. Exercising leadership, exploring new worlds with others, surveying their geography to make them better places to live. That’s why I began dreaming of becoming an expert who helps shape people’s homes and workplaces, and above all, supports nature. I realized that even though it’s hard work, this kind of proactive activity brings me great joy, and I thought it would be wonderful to do this for a lifetime. As I develop, I aspire to grow into an expert who can guide humanity and nature toward a better future.
Examples of Care, Sharing, and Cooperation, and My Reflections
“Working part-time together to cover field trip expenses for struggling friends”
Collecting money from students within the school to fund field trips was a highly sensitive activity. This is because using students’ personal funds to visit places can impact both the individuals and the school itself. For instance, in my case, I personally save my allowance and avoid the school store, so I can usually save the target amount by the target date. However, some friends might receive their allowance all at once from their parents without getting it regularly. On the other hand, some friends were in a situation where they couldn’t save any allowance at all. Those friends would secretly work part-time jobs without telling the school. But working alone always has its limits. So I always helped those friends and juniors with their part-time jobs, working together to cover their travel expenses. We did various part-time jobs together. We carved out time from attending cram schools or special lectures to study and worked together. We did flyer distribution the most, and then we started helping out with odd jobs for people in need whenever there was an urgent need at the market.
What I realized through this was that together, anything was possible. It was truly like that. Things I couldn’t do alone, I could do when we were together. Walking around distributing flyers in the cold winter – I think that’s something I absolutely couldn’t have done alone. I might have given up from exhaustion. But we were two, and because we were together, we could endure everything and save money. Even when it was tough or we faced stares, being together actually made us enjoy those glances. That’s when I learned the joy of togetherness. It made me think that anything is possible together, and even hard work becomes enjoyable when shared.
Efforts and Preparation Related to Motivation and Career Plans
“I have a tremendous curiosity about land and its utilization.”
Through planning and executing explorations during my club activities, I realized that land is utilized based on extensive calculations and that it is one of the world’s most crucial resources. This sparked my deep interest in land and my curiosity about its utilization. That is why I chose a career path in geography. What I aspire to become upon entering the Geography Department is a ‘geographer’. Sometimes, when I hear stories from friends who chose geography, many seem to have entered primarily to pursue teacher certification, perhaps wanting to become teachers. However, that is not why I chose this department. Particularly, Korea is one of the countries that has built and operates an impossibly large number of industries on its very small land. If I study geography in Korea, ○○
I believe that studying geography at ○○ University will equip me to become an outstanding geographer anywhere in the world. This is why I decided to apply to the Geography Department at ○○ University.
My post-admission career plan is similar to the one I had in high school. The difference is that while I saved money and studied for a year at a time for fieldwork in high school, I want to travel and plan explorations more frequently during university while dedicating myself to studying geography. First, I will learn more specific research methods for studying geography from distinguished professors than I did in high school. I will acquire foundational knowledge and learn more concretely how this knowledge is applied economically and politically. And I want to become someone who doesn’t just recognize this through learning, but who can study by going out into the world and living there. Therefore, my plan is to combine study with personal exploration. I also want to join a club to explore mountains and rugged terrain—terrain I couldn’t explore in high school due to restrictions—and nurture my dreams more concretely.
