University of California, Personal Statement Example

What is your intended major? Discuss how your interest in the subject developed and describe any experience you have had in the field — such as volunteer work, internships and employment, participation in student organizations and activities — and what you have gained from your involvement.

I have been a curious person since childhood particularly with business related matters which is probably an influence from my parents, who by reason of their trade, being proprietors for a sunglass retail outlet in Hong Kong naturally inspired me in this field. It is in my opinion that by acquiring thorough knowledge in the fields of mathematics and economics, I will be in a position to proactively solve economic related problems.

The relevance of such knowledge cannot be overemphasized, news headlines across all media platforms testify of this fact. It would suffice to say that thorough knowledge regarding behavior of firms and industry is the key to starting and running successful business ventures. Mathematics on the other hand does influence all aspects of life, regardless of how you look at it and economics is no exception, thus in-depth understanding of this unique subject would have immense benefits to my academic endeavors given the close association between the two subjects and the resultant synergy thereof.

I have taken the initiative of closely monitoring the economic world with a view of keeping abreast with developments in this field of interest by consistently reading newspaper articles dealing with this subject matter. In addition, I have gone an extra mile of trying to research on web based materials for any information that would help me accomplish this noble dream of becoming a world-class economic consultant and distinguished businessperson. This has helped on improving my computer and communication skills besides helping shape my thoughts for critical analytical thinking for matters related to economics. I have used this knowledge to challenge my parent’s way of doing business by proposing better economical and mathematical approach to doing business and this has brought them an increased sense of happiness. Thus I have been able to apply economic theories to solve real-life problems.

The year 2009 was an important period during which I worked as an intern in a bookkeeping department. This opportunity gave me the chance to evaluate the applicability of theories learned in school in a real world situation. The practical experience I gained taught and instilled in me the values of time management, teamwork, responsibility and hard work, which are time tested principles through which reliable personalities are made.

In college, I was the marking co-chair in the business club (Phi Beta Lambda) where I was charged with the responsibility of obtaining funds for the club as well as advertising it. This helped me to intermingle with like minded people. This experience helped boost my confidence by enhancing my management and communication skills. Duties delegated to me at times required decision making at critical times and to accomplish this, one need to have had seasoned and splendid leadership qualities.

America is an economic power house and I believe it owes its history of success to the competitiveness of the programs offered by its universities. The usefulness of math and economics cuts across the board and for this reason, there is a huge appetite for professionals from this field and the prospect of landing a high end job is quite alluring. I possess the internal drive necessary to help me in my pursuit of quality education and by joining your university; I hope to take advantage of the resources at your disposal to further my understanding of economics and mathematics for the betterment of my life, my family, friends and the society at large.

Tell us about a personal quality, talent, accomplishment, contribution or experience that is important to you. What about this quality or accomplishment makes you proud and how does it relate to the person you are?

During my tenure as the marking co-chair of (Phi Beta Lambda), I managed to develop a database to store member profiles and activity logs. The database has helped other officers to organize the club activities more efficiently resulting to increased membership. Moreover I have this passion for travelling and it sure does provide me with that exposure to different business environments with varying degrees of developments. I have benefited not a little from such expeditions, for instance, I once went to Cambodia for a 1 week field trip and words alone cannot account for what I witnessed. Majority of the people that I came across lived in deplorable conditions. They were destitute and the sole cause of this was due to poor allocation of resources and poor planning by the local government authorities.

The local government obviously needed to come up with stringent measures to develop its vital industries by implementing policies to encourage foreign investment. The local agriculture industry also needed a boost for instance by subsidizing some of the agricultural inputs such as fertilizers and cutting down the tariffs for all imported agricultural inputs, also, this end can better be achieved by availing credit at affordable interest rates to the medium and small business owners to help improve the living standards of its people and facilitate job creation to alleviate poverty.

During this field trip, I took the initiative of engaging the locals in dialogue to try and find what ideas they had and what steps they were taking to improve their conditions. In the course of exchanging ideas, I put forth the proposition that the locals needed to stop blaming the government for all their problems but rather look for ways to influence the government to implement policies that will favor the growth of small businesses by using social media, like the Face book, to marshal support from people by enlightening them and creating pressure to persuade the government to act on implementing key policies to improve the countries economy.

It has always been part of my understanding that not taking part in contributing to the well being of society is tantamount to aiding in its destruction and what better way to improve a persons life in the long term than to take or create an opportunity to open peoples eyes by demystifying the concept of economic theories through illustrating to them the ease of its applicability on their day to day activities. You cannot lead people without the requisite knowledge touching on their problems and without having any offer to solve those problems in terms of ideas. I hope to broaden my knowledge base by joining the university.