Thomas J. Watson’s famous assertion that ‘to be successful you have to have your heart in your business and your business in your heart’ is an aphorism that has always resonated deeply within me. I am whole-heartedly committed to the worlds of business and entrepreneurship. Where some people would merely see greyish financial matters, I see opportunities for creativity, originality and bravery; above all I see the possibilities for businesses to change the way we live through producing goods and service that make a genuinely positive difference to our lives. Taking business studies at A-Level has been a great introduction to the theoretical side of the business world, and has given me an overview of the principles of marketing, business economics, operations and management, which I look forward to making use of as a springboard into studying business management at university. However, my outlook on life is such that I also see the relevance of my other A-Levels to business. Through studying geography, for example, I have learnt a great deal about globalization and its consequences, a phenomenon that is inextricably linked to business and global trade. It has been fascinating to learn about the role that trans-national corporations have played in figuratively ‘shrinking’ our world, bringing with them greater prosperity through increased trade, employment and cultural diversity.

Studying art has stimulated my belief that the business world can be enlivened by creativity.  It has raised my awareness of the crucial value of aesthetics to a successful business, for example in product design and packaging, and above all through marketing. Indeed, marketing is one of the areas of business management that most interests me, and I look forward to studying it in greater depth at university. My first exposure to the world of marketing came through holding the position of marketing director whilst participating in the Young Enterprise Scheme. In addition to enjoying the general business processes of meetings and decision-making, our group’s success in revenue raising as a direct result of the attention that we paid to marketing questions demonstrated to me its importance to businesses.

My interest in marketing gained a new dimension following a work experience placement at a local magazine, where I gained direct experience of the processes that go into developing a successful product and releasing it into the market. Through being involved with this, I learnt about the importance of research and development as an aspect of business activity. I gained further experience of marketing and its role in business through completing an internship this summer at a careers services website. Here I worked alongside the marketing team, through which I gained an understanding of the processes that go into preparing a marketing campaign. The placement was also a very welcome opportunity to gain a more general understanding of how businesses operate and the personal qualities that are required to work in a management role. Through the placement I feel that I developed in particular my ability to work under pressure and as part of a team, and also greatly improved my communication skills.

I enjoy the possibilities that extracurricular activities offer for nurturing my skillset and my worldview. I was captain of my school volley ball team, an experience that gave me a grounding in the skills of motivating people and encouraging them to work together. I was also a member of my school’s social committee, a body that was responsible for organizing fundraising events. My involvement in the committee helped me to develop skills in being able to develop consensus in situations where several people are in disagreement, and also helped no end in building my organizational skills. Serving as a senior prefect has also helped me in this area, as well as improving my assertiveness.