Help Each Other: Share Your Purpose Statement!

[Talmid]

For the sake of helping each other, I thought it might be nice to share our purpose statements. Obviously we don't wish to plagiarize another's work, but as resume cover letters are often shared throughout the business world for training purposes, I hope my idea will be helpful to get a good feel for what has impressed admissions committees. So I'll start by breaking the ice, and I ask that you post yours if you don't mind sharing your ideas. Here's my letter for UGA's online post-bac I submitted a few years ago. Admittedly, getting into the program wasn't competitive, but this purpose statement got me accepted on my first application. 

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     There are multiple reasons I wish to pursue the online Post-Baccalaureate Certificate in Classics. Having read the program’s aims and criteria for ideal applicants, I fit every general category in the candidates you seek: (1) I come from a different educational background (theology) and now wish to change directions to get a Ph.D. in Classics upon my retirement from the Army; (2) I wish to increase my knowledge of classical languages to assist me in my present related vocation as a clergyman; and (3), I am a homeschooling parent of four children and wish to increase my knowledge of classical languages to improve my pedagogy and pursue future credentials. Additionally, I have a wonderful relationship with Dr. LaFleur as one of his private tutorial students during his retirement, and consequently I have great admiration for his and UGA’s pioneering work in distance learning for classical languages. Being well into a professional career as a military officer, distance learning is my only option to prepare for grad school, and this is the only suitable program that will accommodate my status. No other American or British school offers this program via distance learning, and since I must deploy and travel a lot, being a resident student at a university is not possible. 

     I am confident my past experiences and preparation have groomed me well for this pursuit. I am a seminary graduate with some 34 semester hours of New Testament (NT) Greek, and I have taught the first year of NT Greek at the college level three times (currently adjunct for Howard Payne University). In one of my semesters I taught from Crosby & Schaeffer just so I could learn classical Greek by teaching it. Currently I am instructing my 3^rd grader from Wheelock’s Latin, and I was appointed the department tutor in Latin when I worked at The Master’s College as an Academic Counselor and Adjunct Professor (2003-2008). On my own and in school I have also studied Hebrew, Sanskrit, German, and Spanish, and I have taken study trips to archeological sites around the Mediterranean and spent nine months in ancient Bactria (my deployment to Afghanistan obviously). From 2010-2011, I was the Principal of The Classical School of Wichita, a traditional Latin school in Kansas where I gained exposure to the methods of Latin pedagogy at the primary and secondary levels of education. Although some of my background in education and languages may seem decent, I feel it is deficient in some ways, and this is also why I wish to study more in this Post-Bacc program. Namely, my background in NT Greek is very narrow, and Graduate Advisors at other universities have directed me to enter a Post-Bacc program to broaden my exposure to classical writers. Right now I do not have enough of a Classics background to matriculate in a grad program.

     Although I am lacking in formal credit hours in Latin and classical Greek, at nearly 40 years old, I have had a lot more time than typical undergraduates to read classics in translation and study its ancillary disciplines of history, art, music, archeology, philosophy, religion, numismatics, literary theory, etc. I am a voracious reader and have thousands of volumes and some rare books in my personal library—in my home I have all the necessary tools to conduct careful research and produce sound scholarship. Beyond the languages, I love reading the Great Books series compiled by Mortimer Adler and solving Euclidean geometry. I am a life-long learner in the classical tradition and liberal arts. Just for personal edification, I attended the annual meetings of APA, CAMWS, and Association of Classical & Christian Schools, and I held memberships in ACL, APA, and Society for Classical Learning. I have also read many volumes of TAPA, AJP, The Classical Outlook, and Amphora newsletters. In the mornings as I cook breakfast, I watch Donald Kagan on YouTube or listen to Susanna Braund on iTunesU to supplement my readings. As you can see from all of my activities, I have an insatiable desire to learn in this field, and I am willing to do whatever it takes to grow in my knowledge of the classical world in spite of my present circumstance being detached from the academy.

[Talmid]

Here's a more recent statement I submitted weeks ago for Villanova's online MA. I found out yesterday I was accepted for the status I requested as a visiting/non-matriculating student. I don't think that's too difficult to get into under such conditions, but seemingly this letter worked just fine to get what I wanted by applying. You'll notice I used contractions in my writing. I know in academic papers this is forbidden, but for an application, I figured the admissions committee would appreciate something that reads faster and is straight to the point. Thus, I'd love to hear if others know whether contractions are appropriate or not for submitting purpose statements.

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     My goal is to obtain a PhD in Classics after I retire in my career as an Army officer, and by applying to Villanova, I seek the university’s help toward this end through its online MA in Classical Studies. Thus, I’m applying for non-matriculation status with the possibility of seeking formal matriculation later. With a PhD in Classics, I aim to promote the discipline through outreach and to create jobs for classicists by founding classical schools in my hometown of El Paso, TX, which painfully lacks institutions for authentic liberal arts. Every class in this program will provide the foundation of learning I need to lead, teach, administrate, and set the educational philosophy for the schools I envision starting for my underprivileged community.

     A few more unique qualities of the program attract me. First, the program is online, and because I’m locked in a career and must provide for a family, I don’t have options to attend a campus, as there have never been graduate programs in the vicinity of my assigned military installations. Distance learning is my only hope for training in philology, and it’s the only way to maintain continuity between frequent job moves, as career service members must do every 2-3 years in addition to deployments and frequent travels.

     Secondly, this program offers both classical languages, and thus it differs from the emphasis in the Latin-only programs offered online by the University of Florida. As much as I love Latin, my forte is as a Hellenist, and Villanova’s program includes the Greek courses I seek.

     Thirdly, the program aims to benefit teachers—per this department’s website, “Villanova loves teachers!” With years of adjunct experience in New Testament Greek, I currently volunteer to substitute teach online for Freedom Project Academy and homeschool my 4 children daily in Latin, Greek, Euclid, literature, and history. Therefore, this program would equip me for my immediate pedagogical responsibilities expositing different genres of literature and interdisciplinary subjects.

     You will notice in my transcripts I am half-finished with University of Georgia’s post-baccalaureate certificate in classical languages. I’m currently on a year’s hiatus from this because of my recent job transfer to Europe, but I intend to resume this program to completion in the near future.

     I’m confident for success if accepted to Villanova—I survived the rigors of a 102-hour master’s degree and can do it again because resiliency matters. In seminary, I was inspired by one philologist and polyglot on the faculty who knew 17 languages. I have not caught up to him yet, but I’ve worked hard as an autodidact going beyond Latin and Greek by focusing on Sanskrit, Spanish, French, Hebrew, Mandarin, and German (as a side note, I live in Germany and daily communicate auf Deutsch). I’ve studied abroad, visiting archaeological sites and observing different cultures in 23 countries throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, North & South Americas, and the Near East. A voracious reader at 42 years old, through the years I’ve read by far more volume of classical literature than the average B.A. graduate in the major. In this sense, aging provides a unique benefit for getting ahead. I’m an amateur scholar in the purest sense of the word—namely, I devote myself to the discipline merely because I LOVE it! Nobody pays me to do the work, and I’m quite proud of it.

     Regarding professional development, I attended SCS in Toronto (2017), APA in San Diego (2007), CAMWS in Oklahoma City (2010), ACCS in Raleigh-Durham (2010), in addition to holding memberships in APA, ACL, SCL, and Ascanius. At Richard LaFleur’s personal request, I serve as his Co-Administrator for his Facebook group (“Latin in the Real World”) to foster a cyber Classics community, and I’ve assisted him at editing the newest Wheelock’s workbook (my name is mentioned in the Preface). Finally, n.b., I’m an avid book collector and have adequate resources at home for research—my personal library is impressive and provides answers to solve the exegetical challenges I’ll encounter with translating and hermeneutics. My toolbox is ready.

Edited February 24, 2018 by Talmid

[ClassicsCandidate]

Congrats on beginning at Villanova! Please share your experience with their program once you start; I'd love to hear from someone who is attending! I'm still waiting to hear back from them for the MA program. I'm worried I committed the faux-pas of telling a story from my youth at the beginning of my Statement of Purpose; I'm a bit nervous about sharing it, but here it goes: 

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     My mother handed me Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone when I was nine years old. Her co-worker told her it had witches and magic, which she knew would entice me to read it since I was fascinated with those subjects. The creature names in the book intrigued me, so I began to investigate them on the Internet, which awakened my love of mythology and research. I spent hours reading about the origins of three-headed dogs, mythological namesakes of my new heroes, and early astronomy. My curiosity was piqued, and I delved into heroic epics, mythology, and ancient history.

     A lasting fervent interest in these subjects led me to undergraduate degrees in History/Classics and English/Creative Writing with minors in Art History and Theatre at the University of Delaware. Each department allowed me to explore different aspects of the Classical World, and two experiences stand out as particularly memorable. First, Dr. Lauren Petersen’s Women in Antiquity course sparked my interest in gender and sex in the ancient world, especially when we studied Aristophanes's Lysistrata. Additionally, while participating in the Curatorial Apprenticeship Program, under the advisement of Janet Broske, I conducted an independent study on an Apulian pelike from the 4^th century B.C.E. in the university collection, analyzing and identifying the images of patterns to determine the use of the pelike and who might have owned it.

     My professional experience in the Classics began when I secured a position at the Erotic Heritage Museum in Las Vegas. As a member of the Curatorial Staff, I designed a Sex in Ancient Rome exhibit and researched artifact provenance on Roman frescoes in a newly acquired collection, which I immediately recognized as copies of art found in Pompeian homes and brothels. In addition, I will be expanding my Classics training this summer as a participant in the Balkan Heritage Field School’s “Ancient Greeks in the Land of Dionysos - Excavation of Emporion Pistiros, Thrace” project.

     My past and current experiences in the museum world prompted me to pursue a Master of Arts in Museum Studies at the University of Oklahoma. While there, I studied the representation of disabilities in Rick Riordan’s Percy Jackson and the Olympians series. For this research, I combined my interest in media representation and mental illness with Classical Studies and analyzed ancient medicine and disabilities, ancient religion, bilingual linguistics, dyslexia in modern Greece, ancient and modern warfare, and the presence of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder in both the ancient and modern worlds.

     The primary reason Villanova University stood out to me was Dr. Valentina DeNardis's great care during our correspondence to answer my questions and concerns about the Classical Studies program while I was evaluating which options would be available to me as a distance learner while employed full-time. My research interests align with Dr. DeNardis, specifically in ancient astronomy and astrology and in gender studies. Learning from Dr. Melanie Subacus on the topics of gender and race in the ancient world would also be rewarding, and I was particularly interested in the informal reading group of Harrius Potter et Philosophi Lapis she hosted.

     The intersectional experience of my undergraduate programs, my professional experience, and my graduate program in Museum Studies have prepared me for the challenges of Classical Studies. I am certain that with expert faculty and an exemplary program, the Classical Studies Master of Arts degree at Villanova University will prepare me for a Ph.D. program and assist me in reaching my goal of becoming a curator in a museum with a strong Greek and Roman collection of art and artifacts.

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I did not have room to say this in my SoP, but my favorite part of studying Lysistrata was performing it on the stairs of the art history building, a performance in which I played Kinesias, and was the only guy who decided to make a fake phallus; our professor brought us blue pool noodles for it (it looked ridiculous; it was great). It was definitely something that got the attention of other students! All of us had masks as well, and it was the best time I have ever had in a class. 

Edited February 28, 2018 by ClassicsCandidate

[Talmid]

ClassicsCandidate, thanks for your courage to share your work, and I REALLY enjoyed your story. I knew I could count on you to join this discussion. Unfortunately, this forum is not very active or else everyone is shy.  Hopefully others will chime in. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Keith

[ClassicsCandidate]

On 3/5/2018 at 11:59 AM, Talmid said:

ClassicsCandidate, thanks for your courage to share your work, and I REALLY enjoyed your story. I knew I could count on you to join this discussion. Unfortunately, this forum is not very active or else everyone is shy.  Hopefully others will chime in. Let's keep our fingers crossed.

Keith

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I was so nervous about starting out with the "I've liked this stuff since I was a wee lad" type story, but apparently it worked! I got the acceptance into the MA program just a little under a week ago, so I'm really excited to start at Villanova! 

 

I think a lot of people can get nervous about sharing their SoP or that it might have too many identifying bits in it if they want to remain a bit more anonymous. I was nervous because I'm always over-critical of my own writing and I wasn't sure if I hadn't gotten in yet, so that made me hesitant to share as well. 

[superdupergirl]

My bits of advice -

Never start with an anecdote. I cannot tell you how many professors have warned me against this. Nobody wants to hear how you fell in love with ancient Greece because your parents took you on a trip to Athens when you were 12 years old. Nobody wants to hear about how you read Greek myths instead of watching spongebob when you were a kid.

Stick to solid facts about your preparation in the languages and your research/fieldwork/internships/whatever. Make sure you talk about why X school is a good fit for you. Be very specific, i.e. I want to apply to X University to work with Professors like Professor Y and Z; I want to continue my research on underwater basketweaving with Professor Y, who has recently published a monograph on basketweaving on Mars that was a tremendous resource for my undergraduate thesis. I am also interested in Professor Z's research on A, B, and C, and I would like to work on her project because there is overlap with my own work on 5th century BC depictions of basketweaving on vases. (WHATEVER you get my point)...I would like the opportunity to participate in X University's Center for Basketweaving's summer program, etc etc etc; I want to teach as a graduate student and I am happy to see X University allows for that in years 2-4. I would someday like to design my own class, etc etc.