Communications Studies SOP, please review it. THANKS

[confusedgradhopeful]

Statement of Purpose

I am applying to San Francisco State University, Masters of Art in Communication studies program because I would be an excellent fit for your program. The strong emphasis given to social justice and the opportunity to honor unheard voices is something that speaks to me particularly because of my background. Additionally, the opportunity to work with professors like Dr. Wingard would be an incredible opportunity to work with an expert in the field.

My main interest in communications revolves around the cultural differences and how they affect communication. As human beings we tend to assume that everyone carries that same linguistic and cultural background that we do, but this could not be further from the truth. Each one of us has a unique understanding and perspective of the world that first needs to be taken into account before effective communication can take place. These differences should not be hidden or erased instead they should be highlighted so that we can all learn from them.

My undergraduate degree in Linguistics has given me a strong analytical toolkit that can easily be applied to Communication studies. The methodical research approach of linguistics is a natural fit for methodical research into the way humans communicate. Additionally my minor in psychology gives me an extra insight into the background reasons why communication, particularly in an intercultural arena can be so difficult and why we sometimes assigned certain negative values to people simply because of a difference in background.

In addition to my academic background, I also have a great deal of practical experience in communications particularly when it comes to cross cultural perspective. I grew up in New York City as the son of immigrant parents from South American. This already placed me in a strange but valuable position to look at different cultures and to try bridges all the cultures divides. Additionally, I lived in Ecuador and Chile for 5 years. During this period I not only had to face a new culture but I had to become proficient in Spanish, situations, which forced me to refine my linguistics and social perspectives. I later moved to Georgia, where I completed my undergraduate degree linguistics. All these social changes have forced me to become keenly aware of the differences that we must honor every time we communicate with someone. Most importantly it has shown me that many times we silence voices simply because of slight differences, this reality is something that I hope to change and improve.

What I hope to achieve from graduating from California State University East Bay’s masters program is not only a better understand of communication in general but also more importantly the ability to bridge cultural divides and to apply them to real world problems. Such as finding ways in which we can give people voices when they are silence by a majority culture that is different from their. I hope to take my experience in this program and further refine it by later enrolling in a PhD program.

I look forward to being a part of the diverse academic culture and working with my peers and academic faculty to reach my goals.

 

Thank You.