When I got to know that the selection will be made based on the personal statement, I was clueless - what is it all about? Lina's brief description was: A statement showing our added values and attributes, which distinguish us from others. 'TING!' My thinking bulb is on.. Below is the statement which I wrote by myself, with my full heart.
I never thought that I will be dwelling around numbers for my entire life after graduating from secondary school. Neither do I had any interest in any business or entrepreneurship field of study before. Looking at my mother, who is breaking bones and shedding sweat in order to earn us some money through her small food stall made me think that business or anything linked to it is absolutely; not my cup of tea. I was in pure science class during my teenage years, and I was attracted to science matters and even language and cultures.
I was stuttered when an offer letter came from MARA University of Technology (UiTM), offering me a place in Fast Track Accountancy Program. As I had no thought of doing accounting at that time, I was pretty reluctant to pursue this course. My father’s words, which I remembered most until today, “Why not giving it a try? God has something for you in the future and He knows what the best is for you.” As I got no other offers, I kept my thoughts to silence and went for the course.
My thoughts had a tremendous change and my naïve perception about numbers vanished. I learned so many wonders of numbers in accounting. I never thought a statement comprising numbers and currencies can actually narrates a story about the performance and ups and downs faced by a company. During the first couple of weeks in pursuing the course, I only aimed at getting the figures right, stacking them in the right journals or ledgers, getting the final statements balanced, and voila! An excellent star in the making! However, as I am diving deeper and broader in the world of accounting and financial instruments, I got to know that balanced and all-correct reporting were not the main points of accounting world. It is about understanding, interpreting, and decoding the numbers into a situation where people can easily understand and make it useful to themselves. It is not just about summarizing the financial transactions within a business, but it also involves critical thinking on how to improve the business’ positions besides providing recommendations and suggestions where necessary.
Even though I had a smooth time flow loving the beauty of accounting, I managed to polish my other side of passion; arts, languages, and culture. I joined the Theatre Club of UiTM as a novice and went for training for about 5 weeks before I was given a hard task. My first assignment was to be in a stage performance, starring as a mentally-retarded lad, who is actually the key to all problems and arguments in the story. I also enrolled for Korean Language Club of UiTM as Korean Language is my third language, beside Malay and English. I had new experiences with sunbaenim (seniors) and teachers. From my point of view, learning other language could strengthen our thinking and understanding skills. In order for us to converse well in any language, we have to understand how the language works and we have to put ourselves in their shoes. In addition, I was also involved in some event planning and management works. I joined an Event Management team and was appointed as the head of Transportations and Logistics Bureau. The experience of being in a team really taught me on how to be confident when dealing with people using professional mannerisms and ethics.
My ambition is to be in academic profession; more likely as a lecturer. I found that making people understand something is quite hectic and tedious, but why not if you could make them do so? I assisted my fellow classmates during my 3rd semester by conducting classes for two subjects. I duly understood that being a teacher or lecturer does not focus only on sharing knowledge, but it also involve sharing skills, experience, thoughts, and anything you could give. Thus, I think that by pursuing my Bachelor’s degree in foreign countries could help me gain knowledge and experiences about other things that could have never crossed my mind before.
Studying in foreign countries means a lot of hard times and we need to be mentally and physically strong to achieve what we want. I always hold on to the saying : If we fall once, laugh twice. A positive attitude is what I always demand myself to have. I’m ready for any challenge that awaits me.
*The above essay is rejected by Lina*
"You haven't read the requirements yet, have you?"
The problem was my statement is too flowery. Need to make it precise, short, but informative. However, the above essay is showing the real me. That taught me another point of life : Sometimes we need to mask our personality to suit the others around us, even though it might be painful to us.." (^_^)
