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The "You" Question
First Experience can be defining. A. Cite a first experience that
you have had and explain its impact on you. B. Recall an occasion when
you take a risk that you now know was right to do.
Coming to the US from an ancient country at the other side of the globe,
everything was so new to me at the beginning: different skin colors,
different languages, different cultures, different styles of thinking…
However, the most striking thing to me in this new world is its well
developed commodity exchange environment that is so different from that
of my home country. While only a minority of people used internet in
their life in China at the time, people here were already used to buying
and selling on-line. I learnt from friends around me that there are too
many on-line markets to count in the US and these markets are ever
developing and getting more mature. By and by I became obsessed with the
convenience and promptness of on-line trading and decided to try it
myself.
I aimed my first on-line transaction at a brand-new laptop computer on
sale on eBay. Its price of US$1900 was very attractive. I quickly
checked the feedback of the seller and found it was 97 points. So I
reckoned him as a trust-worthy guy. I contacted him via email. He stated
his reasons to sell the laptop to me at such a low price and specially
talked about his sympathy with the hard economic situation of a college
student. I was deeply moved and this increased my confidence in him.
Therefore, I didn't hesitate to remit to this guy US$1900 that I skimped
and saved for quite some time and started to wait anxiously day after
day for the laptop. However, it was all despair in the end.
After such an unfortunate experience, many people would never turn to
on-line trading again. But I was not a person to give up so easily and I
love to meet head-on with challenges. I was determined to recover my
loss and earn hundreds of times the sum I lost on eBay. Through one
semester of study of the course "Microeconomics", I learnt that, based
on the Price Discrimination theory, many types of the same products
could be sold at a higher price on eBay UK and bring about a lucrative
profit. So I started to buy in commodities at a relatively lower price
on eBay UK and then resell them at a reasonably higher price. Before I
found a stable partner, I searched for low price items everyday and then
resold them at a good price. This was really toilsome and
time-consuming. However, the payback is impressive, too. I earned
US$3000 the first month and accumulated considerable points of feedback.
I began to sell more and more varieties of products and became more and
more like a shrewd businessman. I used the computer programming tools I
learnt and the service of an auction webpage design company that was
popular in the States and made my advertisements on eBay UK more
eye-catching. Because of this, I beat one competitor after another and
established a monopoly over the market of many products.
My supply of products could no longer meet demands and I realized I
should no longer buy in small quantities from different sellers. I must
find a stable source of supply of commodities. Finally, I found a
supplier with 700 points of feedback. Our trade volume increased from
the initial US$1000 to US$4000. Commodities arrived on time. With this
stable source of supply, my daily profit grew from zero to US$500.
However, at my largest order of US$9000, the supplier abruptly
disappeared from the horizon. No reply of email came. The phone was
switched off. I lost my hard-earned money again.
However, I was not knocked down by this. I still believed I would manage
to earn ten times more if I lost US$2000 and hundreds times more if I
lost US$10000. Standing up after falling down, falling down again and
standing up again, I discovered with ecstasy that I was already in love
with the mysterious science of economics. Its multifarious theories have
high practical values and only he who has brought them under their reign
can ride on the crest of waves and make rapid headway in the roaring sea
of commerce and make himself an outstanding businessman. I believe with
your prestigious reputation and position in the field of economics, you
will be able to help me - student who started his own business at the
age of 19 - to march toward success just as you helped many others
become celebrities in this field. |
