Personal Statement
Program: Ecomoics
As a 28-year-old female, there has been nothing sensational1 about my past education and career experience. I do not feel any regret because I have always been making worthy2 efforts to achieve personal development and to enrich my life in my own way. Helen Keller serves as a paragon3 that I will emulate4 in my entire lifetime. The beautiful things that she brought to the world with her loving heart and her strength convince me that the power of the spiritual motivation is infinite. An individual lives a meaningful live only to the extent of benefiting the welfare of others. Both my education and my five-year work experience have unmistakably made me believe that economics is a science whose ultimate function is the improvement of human welfare. The motivation behind my current application for a Master’s program in economics is to pursue a more fruitful career development in the future so that the process of my self-actualization will also be a process of making contributions to others.
My education background makes me an appropriate candidate for your program. My education consists of two stages. From 1993 to 1995 I received a junior college education from the Business School of XX University, majoring in marketing5. Then I proceeded onto an undergraduate program in the Department of Business Administration of XX University, waived6 of entrance examination because of my distinguished7 academic performance at the junior college (ranking top second among 31 students in the class). During my undergraduate program, I continue to maintain a satisfactory academic performance, ranking top ten among a total of 51 students. Completing my undergraduate program in 1998, I obtained a Bachelor’s degree in economics.
Through my undergraduate program, I gained an increasingly deep understanding of the importance of economics. As far as I am concerned, economics is by no means an abstract discipline. It is closely connected with reality and is designed to explore and explain diverse economic phenomena8 and economic laws. For the foreseeable future, the conflict between the scarcity9 of natural resources and the infinitude of human demand will continue to persist, posing a long-lasting threat to the social development of all nations. The necessity to seek a solution to this conflict gave birth to Economics, which promises to maximize material wealth through an optimum allocation of resources. Because of my diligent10 efforts at coursework and my strong interest in economics, I managed to achieve a top-10 ranking in my class，winning the honor of Outstanding Student and a second-class scholarship. I familiarized myself with most classic works on economics and management, including Principles of Management by Harold Koontz, Economics by Samuelson, Competition Strategy by Porter and Wealth of Nations by Adam Smiths, etc. From the very beginning of my economics study, I have tried to expose myself to western perspectives.
Starting from the premise11 that economics will be lifeless unless it is applied12 to the problems in the real world, I paid special attention in my undergraduate program to the combination of theory and practice as a way of learning and applying my knowledge of economics. I once spent a whole summer vacation on conducting a survey of the fast food business in XX City. I sampled 15 fast food restaurants, carried out interviews with restaurant owners and the customers. I applied quantitative13 analysis to my statistics and proposed concrete measures for developing the city’s fast food industry through improving management, business environment, food variety and service quality.
My research ability was improved through writing my thesis –The Protection and the Development of China’s National Industry in the Age of Reform and Opening Up. The thesis focuses on China’s joining of WTO and its possible negative impact on the growth of national industry. My conclusion is that a careful balance must be struck between the protection of national industry and the introduction of foreign capital. The thesis was rated “Excellent” for its comprehensive theoretical formulation, detailed15 statistics and creative perspectives.
Since my graduation, I have been working with XX CO., LTD. I first worked at the Management Department and then at Business Planning Department, of which I am the vice14 manager. Over the past 5years, I have accumulated rich experience of business operation and deepened my understanding of economics. Some of the major projects I have participated in and carried out include the adjustment of corporate16 equity17 rights and structural18 integration19; the organization and implementation20 of the MRPⅡproject, the establishment of the ISO9000 System and its relevant internal examination. I have obtained the qualification of a certified21 ISO9000 examiner and my distinguished professional performance made me the Outstanding Contribution Employee.
My work experience has given me important opportunities to update my knowledge. By attending economic forums22 and attending professional trainings, I have kept myself well informed of the latest economic development of the world. The most important occasion happened in 2001 when I attended XX, during which I listened to the serial23 thematic presentations on Adjustment & Participation—WTO and the Developing Economies. The presentations delivered by celebrities24 as Mr. XX, candidate chief director of WTO, and Mr. XX, former chairman of WTO’s General Committee of Directors, heightened my understanding of a number issues: globalization and developing economies, multilateral trade system, the principle of transparency and the legislation, administration in developing economies, etc. In 2002, at the XX on Chinese Enterprises’ Entry into International Capital Market, I obtained systematic25 knowledge concerning the listing of Chinese domestic enterprises on the foreign stock market and developed a comparative understanding of NASDAQ and XX stock market.
In this age of rapid changes, a more advanced education is a must for me to upgrade my professional and personal development. With China’s increasing integration into the international community, I am interested in a systematic study of globalization and economic integration. The concept of globalization was first advocated by major western countries but the paradox26 is that the anti-globalization waves are raging most strongly in those same countries. Meanwhile, most developing countries blame globalization for the inequalities that they are suffering from. I am really intrigued27 by this issue of globalization — what kind of world we are living in and what should be the proper way of economic development for this world? I believe those questions will become hot issues in the future economics study and as an individual from the largest developing country in the world, I can seek satisfactory answers in a developed country like XX.
XX University is the largest university in XX，reputed for its long academic tradition and the concentration of many world famous scholars. The Department of Economics has accomplished28 important research on globalization and on developmental economics. This parallels perfectly29 with my own research interests. Therefore it naturally becomes my priority. I believe that my educational background, my relevant work experience, and my research interest all make me a motivated candidate for your program. A recent immigrant to XX, I believe that receiving advanced XX education will be vital for me to quickly integrate myself into XX society and to become a successful XX citizen.
