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Certificate Program in Global Studies and IR, Mexican-American


I see your most creative Certificate Program in Global Studies and International Relations at XXXX University’s College of Professional Studies as the best fit for me to begin graduate study, at my own pace, taking one class at a time, so that I might excel through intense focus on the subject as well as continue to work full time to support myself. My undergraduate studies were in Political Science and I am most interested in social justice issues and how they related to globalization, the politics of global hunger.

Born and raised mostly in the USA, I still remember childhood years spent in Mexico with my immigrant Mexican parents. Unfortunately, I lost some of my ability in Spanish over the years, and never learned to write the language. My background in Spanish did, however, greatly facilitate my learning of French because they are in the same family of languages. Thus, still 27 years old, I am off to a great start in the two languages that I need in addition to English to devote myself to a lifetime of fighting hunger in the Developing World: French for the parts of Africa that my English does not cover and Spanish for Latin America.

Born and raised on the South Side of San Antonio where the poor people are concentrated, I have known hunger and I know first-hand how it is related to academic achievement and community involvement. It was only through a great deal of hard work and good luck with a lot of perseverance that I found myself accepted to study at the University of Texas at San Antonio. Each day I spent two hours on bus route 43 to attend classes. I studied, and I watched the scenery very carefully, studying the social stratification around me. Your online program at XXXX will prepare me to excel further along in graduate study as I begin to think about earning the Master’s Degree, what to study. My thinking will mature as I complete your certificate program learning, analyzing, immersing myself in research, so as to develop the technical tools with which to treat my topic in the most rigorous manner.

I would like to see education treated as a greater priority in our society and both access and quality improved.  Higher education has provided me with a fighting chance in life to achieve the intellectual and academic preparation of my dreams. Now, if accepted to your distinguished program at XXXX, I will be travelling far beyond what I observed on route 43 and will learn how to see in new ways, in light of new models that help us to understand the global unbalances and inequities that exist and what can be done to level the global playing field with respect to social and economic opportunities. Raised by my grandmother even more than my mother, I know a great deal about female-managed, single-parent families and their special needs, particularly for little boys with absent fathers.

To work my way through college at UX, I got a job at Gold’s Gym as a housekeeper. Soon, I was promoted from Housekeeping to Front Desk Associate and then from Front Desk Associate to Fitness Consultant. Next, I was relocated to our busiest location in San Antonio where I currently lead in overall membership sales and personal training packages. I help people live healthier and more active lifestyles. I enjoy my work and in fitness and health and I like the idea of continuing in this area for several years to come as I continue to advance in my graduate studies.

While studying at UX, I took a sociology course entitled “Poverty,” exploring it first as a concept and then as a real-world economic struggle, mechanisms, history, structures of exploitation, waste, and injustice. During that class and since then, I have developed a personal interest and passion for the area of food insecurity and its health consequence. This is why I am currently taking an online class entitled “The Challenges of Global Poverty” taught by Professors Esther Duflo and Abhijit Banerjee, authors of the book Poor Economics.

I want to devote my life to the cause of putting an end to food insecurity in my lifetime, at the same time that I also study and investigate in the areas of nutrition and public health, the politics and colour of hunger, its geography, diversity, etc. I study disturbing things—genocide, corporate greed, defunding of social welfare nets. The United Nations would be my ideal professional destination and this is one of the reasons why I have invested a lot of effort in improving my French. Working for a world food program would be my ideal job. A fighter, I survived growing up on the south side of San Antonio because when I did not run fast I fought hard. This instilled in me a no-quit attitude and a great deal of tenacity to pursue my dreams of becoming a professional in the area of human rights, fighting for the most basic of liberties, including nutrition.

Prior to completing my Political Science Degree in August of 2014, I earned two Associates Degrees from Palo Alto College. A student leader at PAC, I travelled to Washington DC to work with several food banks. My grades suffered when I worked too many hours; otherwise, I did quite well, making the Dean and President’s lists. My greatest joys came from volunteering with the San Antonio Food Bank throughout high school and beyond, the American Red Cross in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, organizing events as a student leader. Hispanic, homosexual, I embrace diversity and work well across frontiers. Now living on the upscale north side of San Antonio, I make enough money selling fitness to afford paying my tuition at XXXX University—at the same time that I continue prolonging lives here in San Antonio.  

I thank you for considering my application.

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