please help me to check my motivation letter

Yulia — Sun, 26 Feb 2006 04:12:50 GMT

Hey, I am a Chinese who really wants to have my master's degree in Netherland. I wrote my motivation letter, but not sure about how it is, whether its good enough to get me in a research master's program.

So, please help me!! I would be really thankful for all of you here~~~~~

It is not often that a Chinese girl strikes up a passion for Indonesian and Malaysian civilization, since the two countries had been against Chinese for a long time. Nevertheless, my interest in different cultures flourished during my childhood and adolescence in Hang Zhou.

To a large extent, and by most definitions, I have always been a non-traditional and unconventional student. I went to a high school named HFLS with a curriculum that was as challenging for me as any course I have taken in college. This high school was unique due to its English education. As one of the countryâs best known high school for English education, it allowed me at a very early age to experience a language and culture different from mine. During the six years there, I got more chances to meet people from other countries and cultural backgrounds, and was being encouraged to read not only Chinese Philosophy, but Western Philosophy as well. In addition, they inspired me to see life from a different perspective. Another unique feature of this school was that once every semester we had to give an oral presentation in front of all teachers and students from the same grade. This experience helped me develop my ability to think critically and present a cogent thesis. It forced me to grow not only as a student, but more importantly, as an individual.

With the big quantity of reading about Western culture and literature, I found that I was deeply addicted to different cultures, and that is why I chose Indonesian language and culture as my major in University. This decision was to the great dismay of my parents, who wanted me to enter business school. With much resistance, I enrolled at GDUFS. The university provided me with a variety of subjects that ranged from History and Geography to Linguistic and Literature. All the knowledge Iâve learned about Indonesia increased my interest in this country, making me want to know more about it. That was when the chance of applying for the fellowship program of exchanging students between Indonesia and China came to me. Without doubt, I applied for the program although I realized the possibility to be accepted was very small, but fortunately I got the chance!! I was so excited about actually going to the country to live there and experience the local culture first-hand, and to practice oral Indonesian.

When I arrived in Jakarta, I remember getting off the airplane and fearing everyone speaking Indonesian. Everything I saw and heard was so attractive to me. Although Iâve learn about the country quite lot, seeing the real country still made a huge impact on me; I can still recall how exotic my environment was.

During one year, I went through an intensive Indonesian language immersion program. Quickly I felt comfortable living there, as I began to communicate with people better in Indonesian. I was invited to teach Mandarin Chinese in the faculty of business at Padjadjaran University, but I told the dean that except tutoring some high school students, I had no public teaching experience. The faculty informed me that if I joined some of the facultyâs best teachersâ classes, I would be ok to teach. However, I still felt hesitated about the teaching job. So as a preparation, I reedited all the teaching materials for the class and settled a whole new schedule for the program. The faculty was so impressed by this that after I completed all the preparation they appointed me coordinator of the Mandarin Chinese program, and even offered me salary. I was astounded by the generosity and honesty that I received from the people in Bandung.

This was a truly remarkable experience. In Bandung, I lived with a Sundanese family. This allowed me to assimilate my culture with the customs and habits of this particular Indonesian family. We had long conversations about fundamental aspects of Indonesian culture and philosophy. The family also brought me to all the Indonesian festivals and celebrations. It was in Bandung that I realized I must earn a higher degree in Southeast Asian Studies. After spending a year in Indonesian and visited many different islands and cities, I returned to China to complete my degree. My time in Indonesian taught me so much about myself, and it gave me the perspective to see things from both a local Chinese and an Indonesian point of view.

Since my return to China, my last year study in university became more exciting for me. Now I do not study it because I find it somewhat interesting but because I am devoted to it; I want to make it my life. I am learning more about Indonesia and Malaysia, as I chose Ancient Jawanese Literature and Melayu Literature courses, with helped me to understand more about the world view and thinking pattern of Melayu people. Also with the course about Political, Economy and Chinese Indonesian issue in Indonesian, Iâve learned about Indonesian society nowadays. With the determination of further my knowledge about Indonesia in Leiden, I found myself fully motivated in learning now; even I planned to join a language program of Dutch. Currently I am a senior, majoring in Indonesian-Malaysian Language and Culture with a minor in International Finance.

In addition to maintaining good academic performance throughout my university career, I have also worked hard as a vice president at universityâs students union. Working my own way through university not only demonstrates my determination to gaining a high quality education and the seriousness with which I treat academics, but also attests to my leadership ability, maturity, and responsibility, both as a leader and as a student at Guangdong University of Foreign Studies.

The growing importance of Indonesia as a determining factor in global economy and the increasing interaction and commerce of Indonesia with China, suggests to me that pursing a degree in Southeast Asian Studies would be pertinent and appealing. While I have no doubt the program in Leiden will push me to my limits, I am confident that I can face the rigorous challenges posed by graduate study and thrive under the demanding environment that advanced studies entail. My knowledge of Indonesian culture and mastery of the Indonesian language would be a very strong asset. Armed with the confidence that I can excel at difficult courses, I believe I can achieve the highest level of success and satisfaction by taking the most demanding graduate program available.

Southeast Asian Study is more than just my primary area of education; it has also become my hobby and lifestyle. The questions posed and answered via the study have fascinated me for a very long time and have stimulated me to ask and seek to answer further questions. With my mind set on the very specific goal of preparing myself as excellently as possible for a future in the field of Southeast Asian study, I am fully confident that, with the ability to pursue my education at the University of Leiden, I will not only be able to fulfill my dream, but to contribute substantially to the university as well.

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please help me to check my motivation letter