Statement of purpose

I am the oldest of three siblings and have many cousins, so I grew up with an
abundance childcare opportunity. When I was six years old, my sister was born. Since
my parents were always busy at their work, I had to take care of my sister. Also, my
parents used to be small group leaders so whenever they invited their members in our
house, I was in charge of taking care of the young children. Through those interactive
experiences, I have learned many things about young children. However, I had never
been taught any teaching skills directly from anyone By spending more time with young
children, I learned to enjoy being with them. When I was in middle school, I went to the
Philippines for a mission trip, which was an important turning point in my life. In the
Philippines, the missionaries that guided us for our mission trip ran a pre-school so, our
team had a chance to volunteer at their school. Compared to the children who went to
the pre-school, children who lived in rural areas had less access to education. I thought
that since God loves everyone, we all have a right to be educated. I decided to major in
Early Childhood Education, so I could return in the future as a teaching missionary who
will offer children, especially in rural areas in developing countries, learning
opportunities and show them the love of God.

In 2016, I earned a bachelor’s degree in Early Childhood Education at Hoseo

University in Cheonan, South Korea. Since Hoseo Kindergarten was established by my
college campus, it was a great opportunity for me. I was often provided chances for
observation and field experiences. To continue my training in childhood education, I
worked as an intern in a public kindergarten in South Korea, assisting a primary teacher
with a class of 16 students. I faced the challenge of helping one student with a
behavioral problem. The student physically demonstrated his strength to his classmates
at any given opportunity and was often rude to the teacher’s assistants, including me. In
collaboration with the primary teacher, I observed and studied the student’s behavioral
pattern on when and how the negative attitude was provoked. I made suggestions on
how to communicate with the student and his family by understanding his fundamental
frustrations, which had resulted from a dysfunctional family background. With continuing
effort in engaging close communications with him and his family, the student showed
progress in behavioral improvement and better academic performance in the class.
From this experience, I acknowledged how crucial the holistic approach of close
communication and collaboration between the family and educators are important in
Early Childhood Education.
 My mother was a Sunday school director ever since I was in elementary school. So, I
was interested in volunteering as a Sunday school leader and started to volunteer since
I was in high school. I had learned how to communicate with parents through Sunday
school experience at church. While I attended the university, I was a member of
NASAMO, a group of students who love to share with others. Our purpose was to share
what we learned from our professional knowledge and our love for the children. Those
volunteer activities were the most meaningful experiences of my college life. NASAMO
was one of the clubs created by department of Early Childhood Education. We provided
childcare for a single mothers’ shelter while their moms were participating in job training
or parenting education. We also raised funds for donating supplies for the shelter every
fall. We competed and won sponsorship by Hyundai. I’m so grateful I was given those
experience. I learned abundant information about taking care of children and importance
of family support for children. Although I learned so much from working at the women's
shelter, I also realized that I needed to enhance my education if I wanted to meet my
goals of helping children in underprivileged areas.

To pursue further professional teaching experience in a multicultural setting, I came

to the USA in 2016 as an Au Pair, which means ‘equal’ in French and provided
childcare to three young Korean American girls. Unlike previous teaching experiences in
which I engaged with students for only a limited time, being an Au Pair gave me many
opportunities to observe and study the children by living and interacting with them all
day. Meanwhile, my verbal engagement with them was encouraging and positive and
significantly contributed to developing not only their verbal communication skills, but
also their positive self-image. From this experience, I gained an insight into how crucial
it is to be fully committed to education in shaping intelligence and emotional confidence
at the early stage of child development. At this early stage, children absorb and build
problem-solving and social skills via interacting with their parents and caregivers.
I worked as a co-teacher and bilingual teacher with three native English-speaking
teachers at BIS Sprout. Korean parents think that English is an essential skill for their
children to be successful in their future. Therefore, they push their children to study
rigorously and for many hours a day. This is typical of the Korean schooling culture.
While being sensitive to the culture, one of my co-teachers contributed to the children’s
enjoyment of the learning process by using a mixture of activities, including games,
projects, art, and literacy in lessons, to meet the needs of all the children. By working
with her, I realized that this teacher had skills that I had not learned yet. When I
discussed about my weakness and career with her, she suggested that I get further
education in this area.

Since my parents are missionaries in Cambodia, I often talk with them about their
schools and work. One of the most heart-breaking stories, was that one of the parents
wanted their children to drop out of school and the children cried a lot on the last day of
school. Even though my parents tried to convince the children’s parents about the
importance of education, they didn’t change their minds. So, I decided to research ‘How
low-income parents affect their children’s academic achievement?’ for the EAP 405
class. Throughout this research, even though I cannot change students’ parents’ socio-
economic status, I want to help students to keep pursuing their academic achievement
by supporting other factors (e.g., health, school, teacher, parents).

Given my personal and professional aspirations, I am convinced that Curriculum and

Instruction with a concentration in Early Childhood Education for Diverse Learners
Program from George Mason University, will provide me an excellent academic training
and knowledge. I believe the Program emphasizes deep research and study on needy
young children and their families. One of the difficulties that they are facing is hiring
qualified teachers. As I mentioned above, my parents are running a pre-school in
Cambodia, and we often talk about their school. Many researcher agree with the fact
teachers are one of the factors that determine of students’ education outcome. When I go
back to Cambodia, I would like to train teachers as well as students to maximize students’
educational outcome. I envision it to be an integral factor to providing them an equal
opportunity of education in developing countries, and to help and strengthen them to be
an active contributor in society.

With the focused and effective training provided by the George Mason University, I am
fully convinced that my career goals as a teaching missionary could help children and
their families in need due to lack of educational opportunity. Also, I could help them to
realize their full potential and strength. At the conclusion of the academic training
provided by George Mason University, I envision returning to Cambodia to fully commit
to reaching out and bringing the joy of learning to children in isolated communities.