Student Workshop (Spring 2025): Writing Statements of Purpose

On April 24, 2025, the Department of English and Humanities at ULAB hosted a student workshop titled “Writing Statements of Purpose”, aimed at students in ENG 4208, ENG 4298, and ENG 4299, as well as MA students. The session was led by DEH alumna Ms. Jainab Tabassum Banu, PhD Candidate (ABD) in Rhetoric, Theory and Culture, and Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Department of English at North Dakota State University.

Ms. Banu began the session by sharing a detailed checklist of what an international applicant may need before applying to any graduate program. She, then, emphasized the importance of researching the target university, its admission procedure, and the desired graduate program in order to tailor the personal statement accordingly. Before beginning the writing process, Ms. Banu encouraged students to brainstorm and list the key information they would need to include. She pointed out that the first draft will almost always fall short of expectations, but stressed the importance of embracing the drafting process and seeking feedback from different audiences.

She, then, provided detailed advice on how to write each section of the statement of purpose, namely the introduction, body paragraphs, and conclusion. She stressed the significance of drawing the reader’s attention, making the statement unique to oneself, and not hesitating to incorporate field-specific jargon. An engaging activity followed, where students were presented with a sample paragraph from a personal statement and asked to identify its strengths and weaknesses. Ms. Banu concluded her segment by sharing additional important tips.

The session ended with an enthusiastic Q/A segment.

Report by Marifa Khan (211013012)