My Passion, Personal Statement Example

“Based on your presentation, Zhuhai has increased its GDP from $1.06 billion to $2 trillion from 1991 through 2011.  But – can you give us some idea of effects on the environment? From the images you showed, the ocean looks horrible.” The question from my classmate triggered a profound connection in my mind.  The environment and economics.  My two, great interests.  I suddenly comprehended how crucial the relationship between them is.

I have always had a passion for the ocean.  The stunning blue of the seascape and  the pristine gold of the beach formed the foundation for my childhood in Southern China.  Somehow, I lost this as I presented my research on the economic growth of Zhuhai.  Near the Pearl River estuary, the city’s chemical factories dump massive amounts of waste water into the surrounding ocean, and the blue of my childhood is today a grim yellow. When that question was posed, then, I experienced an emotional and intellectual epiphany. Responsibility must be attached to prosperity, always, or we destroy what it is we seek to create for ourselves with a vibrant economy.  The seed was planted, and I knew my course would be  to devote my energies to the crucial relationship between economics and environment.

The opportunity to do exactly this came in my internship at the Bank of Changsha. I attended the month-long Corporate Businesses Risk Factor Analysis Training project, designed to focus on increasing repayment rates to the bank’s loans by collecting information from the loan holders.  In this process, my skills in economics grew to meet the challenges. I collected information from 30 companies, reflecting policy, technology, industry, consumers, and competitors.  I computed the firms’ GDPs, inventory turnovers, current ratios, and debt ratios.  My reports were comprehensive, and enabled my superiors to better make decisions regarding loans.  At the same time, the pollutants and emissions created by some of these companies were index issues I keenly addressed, as they indicated corporate responsibility.  I vividly recall, when reviewing one food-processing company’s waste policies, seeing before my eyes how my efforts in economics could translate to supporting environmental issues.  Serving one, I felt intensely, must serve the other, and this remains my ambition.

My internship at the Bank of Changsha forged the link joining my skills and my passions.  As much as I eagerly threw my energies into collecting and analyzing economic information from those firms, I was equally inspired to relate the impacts of this information on the environment we must preserve.  Fueling all this as well is a dream, for I want to bring my skills and ideas back to where it all began, and make a needed difference in Zhuhai.  Through economics, there is a path to serving the environment. Knowing as I do this inextricable connection and armed already with valuable experience, I know as well I will continue to challenge myself to serve this crucial relationship, in my studies and in my career.