Statement of Purpose

This following is a "Statement of Purpose" I wrote as part of my application to the General English Studies Master's Program at Northern Arizona University. Sometimes I read it to remind myself why I want to go to graduate school. Sometimes I forget, you know, why I'm going to go; school has plenty of stresses.

I intend to go to graduate school to major in General English Studies for several reasons. Some of my reasons for going to graduate school include my enjoyment of English classes so far, my achievement in English classes so far, my expectation that graduate school will help me write better, and my love of English. I want to major in General English Studies in particular because I desire a broad study of English and flexibility in the courses I take.

First, I greatly enjoyed the English classes I took while I was an undergraduate student, majoring in English Education. While I read, wrote, and thought for my classes, I found that my love of these intellectual activities grew. If I enjoyed the courses as much as I did as an undergraduate, I can expect that my graduate courses will be even more enjoyable, since they will be comprised of people who are even more serious about English.

Second, I achieved a great deal in my undergraduate English courses; I earned very good grades. I want to see if I will achieve in a graduate school setting, though. I expect it will be harder in many ways, but hopefully more rewarding.

Third, I am a writer. I have regularly kept a journal for about seven years now. I have written speeches, plays, essays, poems, memoirs, and even comic books on my own, for fun, throughout my youth and adulthood. But perhaps I haven’t had the discipline or know-how to complete a manuscript and get it published. I believe that graduate school will help me learn how to write better and give me the discipline necessary to buckle down and write the novel that I know I can write, or the collection of poems that I know I can write.

Fourth, while I recognize that there may be financial benefits to obtaining a master's degree, I want to go to graduate school for my love of English. I value education for the sake of education. Reading, writing, and thinking are lifelong activities, not busy work assigned by teachers. Even if nothing I learn in graduate school will translate into monetary gain, I still would like to learn lots of things about English anyway.

I would like to add here why I am interested in the General English program in particular. I’m interested in a broad program because I enjoyed my literature, grammar, and writing classes. At times I feel as though I enjoy the more artistic side of English most, like creative writing and literature. But at other times I find the scientific side of English fascinating. From my undergraduate career, I remember how interesting my Introduction to Linguistics class was, and how strangely amusing diagramming sentences was in English Grammars. So instead of getting into a program that specializes in one type of English, I feel like I would get the most out of a master’s program that offers a broader view of English, and allows for a good amount of flexibility when it comes to picking courses.

For all these reasons, and several others that I did not mention, I intend to go to graduate school at Northern Arizona University to major in General English Studies.