Finance and Investment, Personal Statement Example

The rapidly growing global economy is quickly evolving into a complex facet of the human race. It is has become essential that each and every country develops expertise and an in-depth comprehension of financial factors and aspects that play an integral part in the development and integration of a country’s economy into the globalized world economy. It has become essential for industrialized and growing economies to take into account the need for financial and economics in the management of government business and operations. This become more apparent with the advent of the most recent economic downturn and credit crunch that affected the entire world. The current nature and volatility of the financial markets has intrigued me as I seek to learn the workings of the financial markets and develop ways to read and predict movements of these markets. It is for this reason that I am applying for the undergraduate program in finance at Blank University. I seek the knowledge and skills on financial markets and instruments.

I have a rich educational background that include 9 grades of Russian middle school. During this time, I had a particular liking for numbers. This liking would soon develop into curiosity when I joined high school. I joined a Russian musical high school that taught its students to strive for excellence in all fields, in essence not only creating citizens, but flexible citizens who could fit into any area of expertise. After graduating from high school, I soon started HL Economics in IB as my curiosity in finance and economics grew.

I have also had experience in the financial field, a fete that I am particularly proud of. During one summer break, for a month I joined Sberbank. I was posted in the credit department where I was exposed to a number of tasks that amplified my interest in Finance. Some of the tasks included:

• analysis of financial reports of various contractor and groups of companies;
• drawing up of office memorandums for cases to be submitted to specialists of the Support Department
• calculation credit rating of companies using “AC”CRM – Corporate” software;
• preparation of requests of the credit division for fixing of credit limit to borrowers with the objective to hedge currency risks
• preparation of presentations for the credit committee together with the credit officer

Though my interest in Finance dates back to my time in high school when I had a knack for understanding the economics of savings and investments. The understanding of when and how to save came to intrigue me during my time with Sberbank. This is when I sought out literature by well renowned writers on financial issues. There were two books that most fascinated me.

The first book, “Financial accounting for decision makers” by Peter Atrill and E J Mclaney gave me a comprehensive introduction in the manner and forms through which financial information and financial statements can be employed to enhance the decision making process for a company and/or government. The book uses MyAccountingLab to develop a companion guide that is friendly to the student, an online assessment and tutorial that is gaining popularity with scholars in the field of finance. The book helped learn ways to solve financial problems given different case scenarios, some of which utilized real-life information.

The other book, “How the City of London Works: An introduction to Financial Markets” by William M Clarke was particularly eye opening. While the first book looked at how financial information can be used to make good financial information, this book revealed the workings of financial institutions that exist in London’s financial markets. The book critically delves into the complexities of recent financial and economic developments like infrastructure and the Euro currency launch, looking at the financial implications and forces behind such developments.

Reading these books, I finally understood that finance was not only a liking but a passion that I had discovered. I believe that the field of finance is where I belong for it is in-line with my personality, interests and goal in life; to understand and develop mechanisms that would help understand the global financial market comprehensively.

I believe to graduate at Blank University to be challenging, demanding and in the long run, rewarding. I anticipate a rich and diverse intellectual and social experience that will allow me to grow as an individual and financial analyst. I hope I will be given the opportunity to accomplish this at Blank University.