JET Statement of Purpose

For the JET Program, I have to write a 2-page statement of purpose detailing my motivation for attending the program, my qualifications, and how the program will help me. I spent a good chunk of time writing this, but my make slight revisions.
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Arriving in Guatemala on a two-year church mission, I immediately noticed how different everything was. My first breath after stepping off the plane filled my lungs with warm, humid air. Upon exiting the airport, voices came from everywhere, obviously directed at me but not completely understood. Guatemalans love to peddle their wares to tourists, and apparently they wanted me to buy something. Kindly declining, I took my luggage and hoisted it onto the roof of an old van, which I then boarded. The ride to our home was an adventure, complete with near-death experiences, broken conversation with the driver, and torrential rain. The experience was an eye-opening introduction to a culture that was completely different than the one I was used to. The next two years were full of similarly enlightening moments.

I set a number of personal goals upon entering the mission, one of which was to remove cultural barriers in communication. To accomplish this, I studied social interactions between friends, family, and business professionals, and did everything I could to make my own interactions as natural as possible. In the process, I learned that each person had different experiences and interests, and that communication strategies that worked with one person might not work with another. I received a great sense of accomplishment as I built lasting relationships and communicated effectively with people from a foreign nation. That satisfaction has given me the desire to help others do the same, through teaching.

The desire to communicate effectively with speakers of a foreign language is a passion that has led me to study linguistics, as well as other languages. Growing up, I had a neighbor who often spoke highly of his time spent in Japan. As a result, I hoped to serve my church mission there. Unlike the JET Program, the church did not allow us to make requests as to where we would be placed, and I was sent to Guatemala. My time in Guatemala was life-changing and highly enjoyable, but the desire to experience Japan never ceased.

One of the requirements of the linguistics program at Brigham Young University is the study of a non-Indo-European language. Of all those available, Japanese was by far my top choice. As I learned more about the language and culture of Japan in my classes, the more I wanted to experience it. The JET Program is a wonderful way for me to work towards my ultimate career goal of teaching Spanish and Japanese to speakers of English. Teaching English to speakers of Japanese will help me understand many of the challenges of teaching a foreign language, while helping Japanese children to become familiar with traditional American life and speech. Living in Japan will give me the chance to learn the nuances of culture and language in Japan.

I have had many experiences that will help with my position as an Assistant Language Teacher. As a missionary, my main task was to find people to whom my companions and I could teach a series of religious lessons. Each morning, we allotted time to discuss the specific needs of the people we were teaching, including ways that we could tailor the lessons based on their age and level of education. We constantly studied ways to improve our teaching, and were required to be flexible. Occasionally, we would offer English classes at night, where we taught people of all ages basic sentence structure and pronunciation. I have also spent over two years teaching religious Sunday school lessons to young adults, always encouraging class participation. Furthermore, I have experience training and coaching. A few years ago, I coached a basketball team of young teenagers, helping them along with encouragement and instruction. I have worked exceptionally hard as a banker, consistently achieving top honors for sales and service, and training many others in my branch to be able to do the same.

As an ALT, I will work equally hard to help the people I teach break through cultural barriers by designing lessons to meet the students' needs, giving praise and encouragement, and constantly striving to improve my teaching methods.