German and Philosophy MA (Hons) personal statement example

Why do you want to study this course or subject?

On quiet night shifts at the hotel reception where I have worked for seven years, I began reading Kant's short essay answering the question of what enlightenment is, in German, with an English translation beside it. Kant describes enlightenment as leaving behind a self-incurred Unmündigkeit. My translation gave 'immaturity', which sounded like a criticism of behaviour. When I looked the word up, I found it also describes a legal condition: being under a guardian and not entitled to act in your own name. That changed the argument for me. Kant is not scolding people for being childish. He is saying that letting others think for us is a kind of voluntary guardianship, kept in place by laziness and fear rather than lack of ability. I want to study German and Philosophy together because that evening showed me how closely they are linked. Reading philosophy in its original language is slow, but the slowness reveals choices a translator has already made on your behalf. I left school at seventeen, and I recognised something personal in Kant's point. For years I assumed university was for other people without ever testing whether that was true.

How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare?

This year I am taking a SWAP Access to Humanities course at my local college, alongside my job. My philosophy unit introduced me to Hume's problem of induction, and my extended essay asked whether it can be answered. I argued that any attempt to justify our expectation that the future will resemble the past either assumes that same principle or relies on past success, which is circular. I then considered Popper's response, that science proceeds by attempting to falsify theories rather than confirming them. I concluded that it moves the difficulty rather than removing it, because we still rely on a falsified theory staying falsified. My tutor pushed me to state objections to my own position more fairly, and redrafting the essay taught me more than writing it. Before the Access course I studied Higher German at evening classes over two years and passed last summer. To build my reading, I worked through Kafka's Die Verwandlung in a parallel-text edition. I was struck that Gregor becomes an ungeheueres Ungeziefer, a word closer to 'vermin' than to any particular creature. English versions often settle on 'insect', which fixes an image Kafka seems to leave deliberately unclear. I also read Nigel Warburton's Philosophy: The Basics to give my Access work a wider frame, and I keep a notebook of German words that resist a single English equivalent.

What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?

As night receptionist I am usually the only member of staff on duty from eleven until seven, so I make decisions without anyone to check them. Many guests are German or Swiss walkers finishing the West Highland Way, and speaking German has gradually become part of the job rather than a novelty. Last autumn a couple's hire car broke down late at night. I phoned the recovery service, then explained the options and costs to them in German, checking I had understood their questions before passing them on. Careful listening matters more than fluency in moments like that, and the job has made me comfortable speaking imperfectly rather than staying silent. For three years I have also volunteered with a talking newspaper, reading local news aloud each week for listeners with sight loss. Reading for people who cannot glance back at a sentence has made me attentive to how structure carries meaning, which helps when I unpick a long German clause or a dense philosophical argument. Outside work I play fiddle in a ceilidh band at weddings and village halls, mostly learning tunes by ear. It has nothing to do with my course, but it has taught me to keep going through a long evening and to rely on other people. Returning to education while working nights has demanded organisation, and I have proven to myself that I can sustain serious study. I am ready to give it my full attention.