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Sample Personal Statement for Globalization and Development
Anyone who has ever practiced medium- and long-distance running
knows the tediousness, the boredom and the helplessness involving in
the process. It is often the case that you will be filled with an
overwhelming sense of resignation and despair in the middle of your
running, trudging along the endless track as if you will never make it
to the finish. There used to be a thin and weak girl who had a deep
fear for the physical education during her middle school days, always
failing in her medium- and long-distance running events. To change the
situation, her father would accompany her in the early morning to
practice and to improve. On one of those occasions, when she was
apparently losing her confidence and stamina, with her steps slowing
down, she heard a voice from the far end of the playground: “You must
make it to the finish. You’ve got to do it even if you crawl there on
your knees.” With tears in her eyes and sweats on her cheeks, the
little girl fought to continue. That year, she passed the tests in
those two events. Most importantly, she developed her stamina.
Perhaps you have guessed that I am that girl, a girl with a strong
willpower who believes in the axiom that “No pains, no gains.”
Looking back on my past, I must say that scholastically it has always
been a process of plain sailing for me, as my friends would also
describe me. After finishing my elementary school, I entered the key
middle school in my city as 5th top student. In my middle school, I
ranked the 13th among a total of 240 students in my grade and in 1999
I passed the highly competitive national university entrance
examination, with distinguished performance, to enter Shandong
University, the most prestigious university in Shandong Province, one
of the universities in China with the longest history, and one of the
key comprehensive universities directly attached to China Education
Commission. I chose economic finance as my major.
The first year I entered the university, I was attracted by the
fascinating diversity of student life on the campus. I joined the
university’s Students Union and was appointed leader of its Social
Investigation & Research Department. I organized Union members to
visit a number of large-scale state-owned enterprises which faced
major difficulties in the country’s economic transformation. We
carried out sample investigations concerning the economic conditions
of those enterprises’ employees and reached important conclusions
regarding the impact produced on their conditions of life by the
country’s overall economic reshuffling toward a market economy.
Unfortunately, my active involvement in extracurricular activities
somehow affected my academic performance. In a competitive environment
consisting countless elitist students, I found myself only ranking
32nd among a total of 113 students in the final exam of the first
year. For the first time in my life, I realized what it really meant
to incur defeat and failure. But deep inside me, the spirit of never
bowing down to challenges was at work. I made up my mind that I must
succeed where I failed. With due efforts, I made remarkable
improvement in my coursework and I managed to rank 4th and 8th in
those two years. I was awarded second-class and first-class
scholarships and honored as the Three-Fold Excellent Student. Also
worth mentioning is that I passed the Grade 4 and Grade 6 National
English Proficiency Test, the two most difficult English tests for
college students of non-English majors. Moreover, I spent my spare
time to minor in some law courses because I believe that my knowledge
of economics can be strengthened when informed by my knowledge of law.
I have also tried to enhance my analytical ability by undertaking some
tentative research. I have published several papers in the economics
journals of our department and of our university, which include A
Study of the Reform in State-Owned Enterprises, Perspectives on the
Illegal Practices of Listed Companies, and A Study of E-Commerce in
China. Some of those won prizes in our department’s student research
contests. By far, my most important research effort is embodied in The
Future Development of Chinese Banks written when I was a junior. This
paper offers a detailed study concerning the challenges that Chinese
banks will face with China’s WTO accession. As China has to open its
financial market after its WTO accession, a growing number of foreign
banks will open business in China. If Chinese banks fail to perfect
their service to meet international standards, foreign enterprises and
even domestic enterprises will shift their business to foreign banks,
thus posing serious threat to the existence of Chinese banks. One of
the professors in my department who specializes in this subject has
made positive comments on this paper for some penetrating views that I
have raised in it.
In retrospect, I am grateful to the unsatisfactory performance in my
first-year final exam. It stimulated me to make greater efforts. It
changed my bad habit of learning economics by mechanically memorizing
individual terms and concepts without really delving into the essence
of economic phenomena that were actually happening in the real world.
With the improvement in my coursework, I became increasingly
interested in economic finance. As far as I am concerned, economics
incorporates the strengths of both political science and physical
sciences to form a true social science. It examines, with the
scientific objectivity, the daily lives of ordinary people and how
they transact between one another. On the other hand, it attempts to
discover solutions to the fundamental economic challenges that a given
society is confronted with. The subject of finance as I studied
focuses on the external and internal balance in an open economy from
the perspective of monetary banking. Like economics, it is also an
applied science aimed at the solution of realistic problems. My study
of such important courses as Principles of Economics and Money and
Banking broadened my professional horizon and helped to lay a solid
theoretical foundation. I also self-studied classic works in economics
by Samuelson . By now, I have systematically mastered knowledge in
foreign exchange, basic theories of international finance, and
financial market. I have also grasped the standard knowledge and
practices of management and operation of modern banks including trust
and investment, capital circulation, international settlement,
financial investment.
Although I have made some initial achievements, I realize that
complacency would only result in a downturn. My present application
for an advanced degree program in Globalization and Development is
precisely motivated to scale new heights in my intellectual pursuit.
Globalization and Development is a most pressing issue for present-day
China and my specialized trainings in this field will make me a
professional with talents important to my country, hence there will be
a bright future for my career development when I return to China after
completing my proposed degree program. My careful observations show me
that in its economic construction China generally lacks advanced
economic, financial and managerial approaches. In particular, with
China’s accession into the WTO, China will call for a large number of
financial talents who know well the global economic situations on one
hand and domestic economic and financial realities on the other.
Britain is a country with long history and London is one of the most
celebrated financial centers in the world. Warwick University is one
of the British universities with unparalleled academic prestige. I am
fascinated by such courses as Globalization, Governance and
Development, and International Business under the Globalization and
Development Program. I plan to lay a very solid foundation through
painstaking studies in the one-year program, further improve my
analytical and problem-solving skills. Through diligent coursework and
fruitful internships, I will submit a qualified dissertation in which
some tentative breakthroughs are expected.
A contemporary Chinese writer asserts that “During the long journey of
life, only several steps are crucial, especially those during one’s
youth.” Undoubtedly, to seek an education in Britain is exactly a
crucial step for me in my lifetime. I firmly believe that such an
education will effectively broaden my ken of knowledge, exploit my
potential to perform serious scholarship and strengthen my capacity to
solve economic problems in the real world. It is also beyond doubt
that this experience will be my most valuable asset when meeting
challenges in my future life.
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