Business and Economics Personal Statement
I have grown up surrounded by business and trading interests, and it has long been my ambition to become a successful entrepreneur. The examples set by several members of my family have been my principal inspiration. My uncles are in the jewellery and garment business. My grandfather left his home in India and set out to begin trading in West Africa, determined, despite his own inexperience, to succeed and improve the lot of his family. It is through his enterprising efforts that my father received an education and became a businessman himself. I have been privileged to work with him in his import/export firm, which has taken me to trading fairs in Germany, China and Sierra Leone, where the importance of understanding cultural and economic diversity has struck me forcibly. An awareness of the contrasts between societies in different parts of the world, the prevailing values and ethical assumptions governing business, wealth and possessions, must be central factors in the planning of any international enterprise, and I am eager to study business management from this international point of view. This is surely an imperative area of knowledge for the businessman who operates in what is an increasingly globalised market place. I have experienced the world of business in working with my father, but I have also undertaken other work placements that have been informative. I spent a period at the headquarters of the International Cricket Council in Dubai, helping with the accounts department, as well as the human resources and corruption department. This experience of the workings of an international body gave me a sense of the global scale of such a concern, as well as of the business methods used. As a keen sportsman, one of my posts has been as a supervisor at the Dubai Tennis Championship, where I managed a large number of staff, an extremely useful preparation for my projected career. I have also worked in a children’s orphanage in Gujarat, which gave me a healthy insight into the relative nature of material values.
I have a good academic basis for my planned degree studies in the A-level subjects I have undertaken. A knowledge of economics is, of course, an essential to anyone planning to work in the world of commerce and trading, and my study of geography has introduced me to many aspects of the increasing globalisation of business affairs, and indeed of most human activities. My business studies AS course has also given me a good grounding in the core material of the subject.
Outside my business interests, my main concerns are sporting, where I feel I have learnt many skills which will prepare me for the world of business. I represented the United Arab Emirates U-17 side in the Asian Cricket Council Cup in 2009, an international competition which called for all my resources of energy and determination. I have captained my school cricket team for several years, which has developed my team-working skills as well as my powers of leadership. I play basketball in the school team, and have achieved many successes in championship tennis.
I keep in close touch with current economic and business news in the media, following the Forbes Fortune 100 and reading The Economist. I find much inspiration in the world’s leading businessmen, the changes they have brought to our society, and the prestige they have so deservingly attained. I should like to follow their example and become a well known face across the world. But I am also impressed by their capacity for hard work, their determination, and their human brilliance and resourcefulness. I am academically very capable, and passionate about my ambitions, very determined, and willing to go to any lengths to realise my plans. My enthusiasm and undoubted commitment mean that I should bring as much to the course as I draw from it, and I hope you will consider my application.
Hopefully this Business and Economics personal statement will be a useful guide when writing your personal statement during your university applications.