Personal statement

Personal statement

My
name is Marciano Rafique Gulele, I am from Mozambique, Inhambane
Province, Maxixe

District.

I
grew up in a little town where people barely dream big. Actually,
poverty has its role but mediocrity is also a big factor.

From
an early age, I refused to let poverty and mediocrity hold me back
from dreaming big.

My
journey started with my English learning process. I developed a
passion for English early in life because I have always wanted to get
a good education, and in order for that to happen, I knew that I
needed to learn English because English is without doubt, the leading
language in science, technology, innovation, theology and so on. Even
though we start learning English in Primary school here in
Mozambique, the classes that we take at school do not help us that
much and pretty much no one learns English at school here in
Mozambique; all we learn in classes is just enough for us to work on
assignments and tests so that we can pass. In the midst of this sad
reality, I decided to do something super challenging. I decided to
teach myself English through watching videos on Youtube. I started
doing all I could to learn as much as I could in the shortest amount
of time possible. Despite my commitment, I committed a big mistake. I
started focusing on studying more English and ignored other
disciplines at school. This lowered my grades so terribly. The
benefit though was that I had learned so much English such that
people even thought that I had been in America. Whenever I met people
who spoke English they always asked one of two questions: Did you
study in America? Where did you go to University? The funniest thing
about the second question is that people assumed that I had graduated
from University.

Back
to my mistake. I felt so bad about it and thought of myself as the
biggest loser I have ever encountered and to make matters worse, I
lost my father in the midst of all this mental tension. I always had
this disturbing and dreadful voice in my head that kept saying
Marciano, you are screwed up and your life is a total catastrophe.
Despite my distress, I decided not to let the tension get in the way
of my dreams. Additionally, I decided to restart High School all over
again because my grades were extremely terrible. During my studies, I
decided to use my English skills to teach English to Primary school
kids to help my mother with family expenses.

My
distress led me into developing a special interest for psychology. In
the beginning, I was studying psychology to understand myself but I
subconsciously developed a passion for Psychology. I used the skills
I learned through the lens of psychology to improve my English
teaching and I also started a lecture series in my community about
emotional health. In fact, studying psychology led me into having two
very interesting insights: First, people barely learn English at
school because teachers use an inflexible curriculum, a rigid
textbook, old and boring techniques which lead to none other than a
superficial understanding of the English language.

Second,
the lectures allowed me to understand that people had emotional
issues that hindered them from growing and flourishing emotionally
and intellectually.

Before
I went through this stage of my life, I had a dream of studying in
the USA that was more tilted towards learning English for self –
satisfaction, but this stage of my life, allowed me to refocus and
rearrange my dream. I decided to shift my interest in Psychology from
a hobby to my purpose in life. I learned that knowledge is not all I
needed, but what I did with it was or is what matters the most. In
fact, I realized that I could use Knowledge through the lens of
psychology to help people grow and thrive emotionally, intellectually
and above all spiritually.

I
restarted High school as I said earlier but this time I did it with
more grit and thankfully, I graduated at the top of my class with a
super High GPA.

I am
currently applying to University, as a matter of fact, I am accepted
to Andrews University for the fall semester.

After
getting equipped at Andrews University, I want to work as a mental
health professional as well as in the education sector. I
appreciate your time and consideration and look forward to hearing
from you soon. Sincerely,

Marciano
R. Gulele, Rua Narciso Pedro, Zip: 1301, E-mail:
[email protected]
Cellphone: +258840180052

Whatsapp:
+258826501132