Studying Your Masters Degree in Korea
Overseas Korean Foundation
“The first time I heard about the Overseas Korean Foundation scholarship was when my former Korean language teacher called me a few years ago. She said, ‘I remember you wanted to study Master’s in Korea.” I said, “Yes, I had such a dream.” She said, “You as an ethnic Korean should definitely apply for this special scholarship program! You should go to the Korean cultural center to find out about this program right now!” And that is how all this started. There was a tedious application process, an interview with a representative of the Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Kazakhstan, and waiting time for results to be revealed. I had no idea I could make it.”
Photo provided by Maiya Li! Congratulations on your graduation!
“I studied in Hankuk University of Foreign Studies which is famous for its strong language school. I was so excited that we had Korean people from literally everywhere, including Bolivia, Georgia or Pakistan. I suppose I learned how to be more open-minded and tolerant about things. I believe I was open-minded and tolerant even before since we have more than 130 various nationalities living together in Kazakhstan. In Korea, I reached a completely different level, though. The level when you deal with people’s stories and cultural backgrounds everyday, learn something new about them and transcend your own limits. And that is why I appreciate every single person I’ve met during the three years of my stay in Korea. Especially overseas ethnic Koreans and halfies like me, because sharing our stories helped me to understand myself more deeply.”
Maiya was one of our early interview guests.
Korean and Kazakh, she shares her story here on our channel.