Mindfulness Personal Statement

It might sound too naïve and optimistic, but my life goal is to contribute to the world peace through mindfulness. I thought about how I could make the biggest impact, and I got to a conclusion that I want to become a professor in psychology. That is why I want to be a a part of Dr. Brown’s Mindfulness Lab and pursue Ph.D program.
You might wonder about my age, and here is the answer. I started my life in US as a cultural exchange student from Korea, which pushed a year back due to visa issue. Since high school, my parents were very autonomy supportive, and I made almost every decision on my own: which state that I want to live in, which high school that I want to transfer, and which college that I want to go. Although I appreciate how much
my parents respected my decisions, I was very stressed with uncertainties all through my high school.
When I became an undergraduate, I started to travel around whenever I could. I went to many places and saw diverse of people, but one thing that I’ve noticed the most frequently is that we get stressed regardless who we are and where we come from. It made me to wonder “how could I live a stress-free life?” To find an answer, I went on a Catholic pilgrimage called Camino de Santiago in Spain, and walked 600 miles across the country. There, I caught a glimpse of peace in the middle of physical hardship, yet I failed to maintain it throughout my hectic life.
When I finished the first semester of my sophomore year, I went back to Korea to serve in the Korean Army. In the service, I was exposed to extremely pressuring and stressful situations, yet I learned how to work under and above others, and I became more responsible and patient. I started to meditate to handle my stress as a corporal, and I ran short meditation sessions as I became more familiar with meditation, and started a meditation club when I became a squad leading sergeant.
With the benefit of meditation in my mind, I came back to school after two years of the service and started to meditate everyday.
For the first couple months, I meditated frequently and was aware of my internal state, but the school swept me again and I wanted to learn how to maintain the peace longer. So for the summer after I came back to school, I flew back to Korea again and stayed in a Korean Buddhist monastery as an acolyte. I learned how to incorporate mindfulness with every day events through a simple yet very strict life that I had in the monastery. When I came back to school, I taught a short course (six lectures with 50 students) on mindfulness as a TA for the Introduction of Psychology class, frequently led meditation workshops for Psychology Undergraduate Counsel and Sigma Beta Rho Fraternity members, and ran a university level yoga class for two times as a substitute instructor.
Earning Ph.D would be the ideal way to fulfill my goals of studying psychology and mindfulness. I feel that the training opportunities offered by Virginia Commonwealth University, particularly in Dr. Brown’s lab would be a great way to become an expertise on my prospective field. I am passionate with studying and practicing mindfulness and I hope to learn more about mindfulness and stress reduction in a graduate level
environment.