生命中的那一段&這一段

自從在椰林寫出申請上Stanford Education後，陸陸續續接到許多學弟妹的問題，有的是寫email，有的則是直接電話中諮詢。（我發現我快變成留學諮詢顧問了！）除了詢問如何申請外，一道必問的問題是：那為何最後放棄Stanford，選擇去其他的學校呢？　呵呵！大哉問阿！不過這問題不是此篇文章的重點，因為光說明我為何不會覺得不去Stanford不會可惜(天阿~中文居然可以一句話裡面使用三個不!)，可能就又得花一個版面了。
學弟妹們似乎都很想知道我的SOP是如何著墨的。從詢問我可否出借我SOP的請求中，我隱約看到去年此時的我，也為了SOP如何下筆而煩惱不已。如果自己的經驗，可以幫助後來申請的學弟妹們，少走些許不必要的路，不也是好事一件？於是乎，這篇從來稱不上完美的SOP，就上版啦。願往後無數的申請者，皆能心享事成！

其實真正促使我把SOP上網的因緣，是最近正在看 “當和尚遇到鑽石”這本書。書中提到，修持菩薩慈悲之道的人所具備的美好特質分別是：
布施，持戒，忍辱，精進，禪定，智慧，慈悲等等。
布施是給予你所擁有的事物，持戒是善待他人，
忍辱是放下瞋怒，精進是增長所有美好事物的喜悅，
禪定是全神貫注，遠離邪念，
智慧判定何為真理，慈悲是一種融合了對眾生之愛的高度智識。

而接下來又說明了這些美好品質的相互關係：
布施帶來財富，美好的世界來自持戒，
忍辱帶來美好，卓越的成就來自精進，
禪定帶來寧靜，自由來自智慧，
慈悲成就我們所有的願望。

就某個層面而言，SOP是我所擁有的事物，能給予他人，是我的福分。一顆善待他人的心，願此能成就一個美好的世界。

寫了這麼多，想要分享這份源自佛法喜悅的心，似乎又太囉唆地走篇了主題，還是放上SOP，客倌們就請別吝惜批評與指教！
　
Statement of Purpose

I earnestly desire to enter the International Comparative Education program at Stanford University. My motivations are presented below.

First, I wish to become a skilled researcher in educational policy studies, and thus would like to enter the graduate program at Stanford to improve my knowledge of educational policy theory and practice. My primary research interest is language policy and multilingualism. Since English is an international language, the desire to learn English among Taiwanese is very strong and this obviously has influenced the Taiwanese educational system. Recently, enormous changes in language education have occurred in Taiwan. Children now begin to learn English in elementary schools under the government’s plan to make Taiwan into “a second Singapore” in the area of English education. Unfortunately, lack of English teaching resources mean this policy is infeasible and the results to date have been disappointing. Simultaneously, since becoming the ruling party three years ago, the Taiwan-centered Democratic Progressive Party has dedicated considerable energy to boosting awareness of Taiwanese culture. Therefore, in addition to both English and the official language of Mandarin Chinese, children are also required to take courses in Taiwanese ethnic languages, such as Taiwanese, Hakka, or non-Chinese aboriginal languages, depending on their ethnic origins. Some research has shown that the Chinese literacy of Taiwanese elementary school students is deteriorating and the learning of additional languages at this early stage may be one of the reasons. Indeed, language education reforms reflect the struggle between internationalism and nationalism in Taiwan and Taiwan faces an enormous challenge in developing the full intellectual potential of its citizens. Careful planning and quick work is required. I wish to research language policies in Taiwan and help improve them. As a result, I hope to attend the program at Stanford and conduct comparative educational policy analysis with a focus on language policy in Taiwan. My short term professional objective is to acquire fundamental knowledge in comparative education, education development, politics or social aspects of education, which makes myself well equipped and more confident to achieve my long term objective of being a good language policy analyst.

Second, I wish to enter ICE at Stanford because of its excellent international/comparative education research and its superb global reputation. I am particularly eager to work with some of your famous scholars in School of Education, such as Professors John Baugh, Amado Padilla, and Guadalupe Valdes, who are specialists in language education and bilingualism. Professor Baugh’s expertise in linguistics and will definitely assist my study since linguistics is also my major and it plays an important role in discussing all language related issues. Professor Amado and Professor Valdes’ experiences in multicultural contexts will also help me in examining educational policies in Taiwan in comparative perspective.

Another reason for me choosing ICE at Stanford is that I believe I have the academic ability to excel in your demanding graduate program. My grade point average as an undergraduate at NTHU was 3.97, and I also obtained good grades when studying in Canada. Besides, I have been involved in several extra-curricular activities on and off campus, both nationally and internationally. More important, language learning and teaching has been pivotal in my life. I have been learning English since I was a child and taught English to children on a part-time basis throughout my university study. As an undergraduate, I learned Japanese in Taiwan, and also French in Canada. Following my graduation, I learned Spanish and taught Chinese as a foreign language in Panama. Thus, I am very familiar with language learning/teaching, and have become very sensitive to language use and the problems arising from language learning. Additionally, while in Canada, I gained valuable opportunity to observe how Canadian government integrates French education into their educational system. While in Panama, I also witnessed how a school tried hard but unsuccessfully to arouse motivation of students to learn Chinese. These experiences undoubtedly will facilitate my ability to analyze both the problems and the potential in national language policy in Taiwan.

As for academic training, my first research paper dealt with grammatical constructions in Chinese and their correspondent expressions in English. This research was guided by professor Chinfa Lien and sponsored by the National Science Council. The instruction of Professor Chinfa Lien provided me with valuable experience of writing an academic research paper. I learned how to complete a research paper step by step, and how to work individually and cooperatively with an adviser. In addition to nurturing my problem-solving skills and advanced knowledge in linguistics, the above experience has sharpened my ability to define specific situations, think logically, collect related information, and analyze problems independently. Hence, I believe that I am prepared to immerse myself in Academia and that I have developed the experience and study skills to meet the rigorous challenges of your program.

To conclude, I hope to have the chance to enter ICE at Stanford. I promise to do my best to successfully complete your demanding graduate program. Learning in a superb academic institution and discussing recent issues in educational policies will undoubtedly make me better-prepared for researching this area in the future.


~當和尚遇到鑽石~
http://www.cite.com.tw/product_info.php?products_id=112
http://web.ntit.edu.tw/~ge/rdata/rdata_14.htm