Motivation letter

Good night to everyone, I am applying to an exchange program and I have to write a motivation letter, can anyone help me checking it?

Misael X
Adress
Mobile: ----
E-mail: ….
September 20th, 2015
University ABC

Dear Sir/Madam,

First and foremost I would like to introduce myself, my name is Misael X, student of the Faculty of Economics at the University Y. The main purpose of this letter is to explain the reasons why I want to take part in the X exchange program.
I have two main reasons for applying to the X exchange program. First, I would like to spend one semester at X, which has one of the best social science programs in the world, because I believe it will offer me the opportunity to support my professional development. Second, I think that as an economics student at a public university, I have a duty to society and I hope to work in the Mexican Government as a policy designer when I conclude my studies, to give something back to my country. I think that the best way of achieving that is to have the best education.
I decided to study economics because of my father. He is member of a small cooperative enterprise which provides a transportation service from Puebla City, where I came from, to several little towns in the Sierra Mixteca Mexicana, an underprivileged region in the State of Puebla. When I was a teenager, I worked at that enterprise as route inspector, and I had the opportunity to meet the bus drivers and the inhabitants of the towns, and that is when I realized how big is the contrast between urban and rural areas in Mexico. I also became conscious of the immense income gap in Mexico, and that motivated me to study economics to help to reduce that difference.
I work as a research assistant with two academics at my school. The first academician has a Doctorate in Economics and runs a project that aims to develop a basic agricultural economy, in this project I analyze databases of rural topics and look for definitions. By the other hand, the second academician has a M.A. in History of the Hispanic world and she is developing a research about the history of a mining company during the first three decades of twentieth century, in her research I translate documents from Spanish to English and, inquire in historical Archives looking in historic journal to rebuild the history of that company.

I used to participate in mission, which I already went to eight of them, and in this missions a group of young people go to rural communities and live with the inhabitants for several days, trying to understand their traditions and experiencing the way that them enjoy his holidays.

Before I start to explain the reasons of why I want to study one semester at X, I am going to say what I think I can offer to X. As I write in the last paragraphs, I am working as research assistant in two different projects at my school, and because of that, I believe that the knowledge that I have been acquiring in the development of that could enrich the lectures, also I think that I can transmit to the classes and to my classmates the experiences that I have from the missions.

I want to study for one semester at X, because of the courses it offers. I strongly believe that studying there will help me gain a better understanding of this income disparity problem, and the tools that can be used to tackle it. I am convinced that a fair distribution of the national revenue is closely linked with better wages and higher rates of growth. That is why I want to study at your institution: to learn more efficient mechanisms to design or execute public policies with a higher level of effectiveness.
As part of my economics degree, I have studied macroeconomic theory, from which I learnt to read the macroeconomic indicators of Mexico, and I could see that Mexico seems a healthy country if one only looks at those indicators; but If one takes a look at the country's development indicators, it becomes clear that a giant inequality exists between its inhabitants. After those courses, I attended a lecture in my last semester on Mexican Economy, which analyzed the public policies of the past administrations. I realized that those policies did not attempt to deal with the country's income inequality. Moreover, I was reading about the social welfare system in France. I compare it with the Mexican system, and I discover several gaps in ours. Thus, I wish to study for one semester at X since it is the best university in France for Social Sciences: to learn more about public policies. Then I can return to Mexico and have the opportunity to put into practice that knowledge.
In addition, I also want to take part in the exchange program because I really want to know the French culture, traditions and society. France is the cradle of freedom, and I want to know more about the spirit of freedom of the French people.

Thank you for considering my application, and I will be looking forward to your positive response.

Yours faithfully,

Misael X.