下文中是我在申请加拿大留学签证时准备的材料，希望能对签友有所帮助。
Study Plan
Dear Visa Officer:
It’s my great honour that I’ve been admitted to the University of Toronto in the program of Social Science as a transfer student. (Although the offer letter didn’t mention the specific major, an email that sent from U of T later made sure of the program. The copy version of the email is enclosed with the Study Plan.) The program will begin on September 13th, 2010. And U of T marked me as “year:3” student.
A brief introduction of my background and my choice of sociology
My name is Yingchu Mao, born on June 1st, 1989, in Hangzhou, China. Currently, I am a sophomore of Wuhan University，majoring in Editing and Publishing Science. Last semester, I’ve got a chance to attend the AIESEC (one of the largest students’ organization around the world) Youth Leadership Conference in Wuhan. The conference focused on Non-governmental Organization topic with several excellent speeches made by Julie, Wei Zhang and Cong Du who worked in Wall Street for more than 10 years before he quitted and devoted himself to NGO-the Chiheng Foundation have left me a deep impression and arouse my intense interest on NGO.
What’s more, I happened to have applied for an internship in Xiaoshan Nanshi Community Center last summer vacation. And I found out that successfully running a NGO is everything but simple. You should be well equipped with a strong knowledge background in social science. I feel I’ve got that passion to study this issue. Meanwhile, I was attending a sociology-related course which I found social science a magical field using a variety of unique methods and skills exploring individual and collective ways of thinking, feeling and acting.
Since going abroad to study the advanced knowledge is what I always have in mind, I started to browse some famous universities’ websites and finally made a decision to abandon the major I’m not interested and to transfer to Canada given Chinese social science is still in the beginning stage and many theories are introduced from western countries.
My Choice of University of Toronto in Canada
First, Canada is a peaceful, beautiful and harmonious country which means two things to me. First it means that the country can provide the international students the high-quality education at lower expenses relative to UK and US. And second, those features just well show the sociology theories are closely combined with the practice within this country. Besides, Canada’s social science is covering more and more topics and the level of specialization is high, which indicates the highly development of the discipline.
Second, University of Toronto is ranked one of the world’s best universities with a long history. UT was established in 1827, one of the oldest universities around North America. The richness embedded in its history nurtures the ground for studying humanities disciplines. Matter of fact, UT has a strong academic background of those social science subjects. And UT’s Sociology classes discussed a wide range of social issues which fit my interest a lot and will be quite useful in NGO operation.
Plans to achieve my academic goal
First, because I applied as a transfer student, I must try my best to catch up with the regular students there. So I keep practicing English every day, trying to read some original novels and monographs. Only in this way can I conquer the language barrier as soon as possible when I start my study in UT.
Then although I’m a transfer student who can receive transfer credits to reduce the length of completing the program, I know my current major is not similar with sociology, so that means I have to work harder and take some first and second level courses to make up the missing credits. If possible I will make use of the summer vacation to take some courses.
Simultaneously, I know that the practice related with the program will include some field research. I wish that I can catch the chance to visit some NGOs in Canada, and write some reports about their operation patterns in order to learn the advanced modes.
Career opportunity in China
Upon my graduation in U of T, I plan to return to China for the following reasons:
Firstly, my training in sociology will provide skills for jobs in many fields in China, including government, politics, industry, education, journalism and so on. So there are many job opportunities lying ahead of me. But I am particularly interested in working at NGOs. There are more and more NGOs established in China, such as Chiheng, Narada, Greenpeace(China) and Action Aid(China). However they just need some more advanced ideas and talents to support the institution. With a degree from world-famous university and my skill in thinking and research that I’ve been taught when I study in UT, I am confident that I can find a place in Chinese NGO that fit me the best.
Secondly, sociology is about the way of thinking and acting which is penetrated into the local culture. I was born and living here, so it will be more confident and comfortable for me to apply the theory to Chinese conditions than any other countries.
Last but not the least, I wish to go back to my hometown Hangzhou, which is a metropolitan city with many great job opportunities and a very beautiful and comfortable city for living. Besides I love my parents very much. For I am the only child of them, I wish to go back and take good care of them.
Yours sincerely,
DateSignature of Applicant
