Do you always feel happy? It’s the first class of SPED 501 today. I am working on Microsoft Educator courses for professional development and was helping Desiree with her application. I am lucky that 10+ years ago, I have several unsung heroes who helped me out and earned my master’s degree from SUNY-Albany. Furthermore, as I dig deeply into educational field, so I am able to distinguish the differences among autobiographical essay, personal statement,  and statement of purpose (SOP).

• Autobiographical essay is a more traditional Chinese style in first-person perspective by chronological order.
• Personal statement is a self-intro narrative under the big theme of “What leads one to become a teacher?” and the applicant uses this document to express the passion and ambition of pursuing the teaching certificate and/or degree and further, convinces the committee members to offer the admission. (Note: It’s neither a persuasive essay nor argumentative essay.)  
• Statement of purpose (SOP) is a narrative document of what the applicant has done from the past, present, and extended to the future plan. It is a combination of what you learned from the past experience and what you plan to do.