Business School Personal Statement Example 3

James Broughton said, “The only limits are, as always, those of vision”. Truer words have never been spoken, for I believe that vision is the foundation upon which the impossible is built. Leadman University School of Business’ mission is centered on vision because, like me, the leadership of the institution believes that with a strong vision, students can go out and achieve the impossible. After all, everything is impossible until it has been done. Leadman has been producing visionary leaders for decades, and attending Leadman University School of Business is an integral part of the vision I have for myself and my future.

The word “vision” entered my lexicon pretty early thanks to my parents. I was raised in a middle class family in New England, the middle child of five siblings. My father had been an advertising executive early in his career but became a professor of organizational strategy while I was in elementary school. My mother was a homemaker who’d met my father while pursuing her doctorate in educational technology. Naturally, education was a major focus in my parents’ household, as was technology and business, and their union represented the union of these two fields. While in high school, I developed an app that won the Emerging Business Leaders of America Award, the prize for which was a trip to Guangzhou, China to study Chinese and the intersections of international business and technology. The trip would only be my second time on a plane (we were a road trip kind of family since buying plane tickets for seven people was a major hassle). I embraced the opportunity from a very childlike perspective. I was looking forward to seeing what the latest gadgets were coming out of China. At that point in my life, I was not sure how this trip connected to my future. I knew I was attracted to technology and the books that filled my father’s library, but I hadn’t yet decided what path I wanted to follow. This trip changed all of that for me, as my eyes were opened to the fact through business, entire industries and countries were being transformed. I was also encouraged by the fact that I could marry my love for technology and business in ways I’d never explored.

In my second year of college, I returned to Guangzhou to study abroad for a year as part of an international exchange program through the college of business. I became fluent in Chinese and gained a deeper appreciation for the culture and the unique relationship between China and America. I dove deep into the history of this relationship and began educating myself on some of the barriers to progress America has encountered in terms of its foreign policy and business relationship with China over the years. It was at this point that I became interested in the ways culture impacts business relationships among groups of people. When I returned to my university, I knew I wanted to pursue a career in business with a new focus, not on technology, but on people. I decided to double major in business and psychology and minor in intercultural studies. I also completed an intensive practicum on international policy and foreign relations. Through the course of my studies, I came to know and work closely with Dr. Oleil Henrickson, a Leadman University alum and former professor in the MBA program and a leader in the field of industrial-organizational psychology. His pioneering research on the impacts of interpersonal relationships on the productivity of senior personnel at major companies in Sweden helped me craft my own vision for myself and my future in business.

In addition to my academic pursuits, I also focused on service learning opportunities through my campus ministries. Service had always been a part of my life experience (the first time I’d been on a plane was to go on a mission trip to Guatamela with my parents and older siblings), and I was always extremely active in ministry.  Service learning took service a step further than my previous experiences had. Through service-learning, we weren’t simply evangelizing or volunteering in communities in need, we were participating in structured projects that had been crafted with intention and in partnership with local organizations to address the most pressing needs of the community. While on a service trip to Haiti, I was able to use my technology skills to help establish an infrastructure for the development of a computer lab in the community. This was the first time that most of the students in the community had access to the Internet. This connection meant exposure to a world that they had never known. It also meant an expanded vision for the community members and leaders—what was once impossible had been accomplished. The community continues to benefit to this day from the computer lab (which is supported and financed through our campus ministry).

Through my experiences, I have learned many things. I have a strong vision for myself that is centered on service and servant leadership and technological innovation. These values are in direct alignment with those that Leadman University promotes, which is why I believe that Leadman would be the right fit for me. Leadman’s alumni base is vast and spans several continents. This means that the Leadman family is a global family, and whether I continue my work here or in another country, I will be in the company of those who also understand the importance of vision and visionary leadership. I hope to continue developing as a leader with strong interpersonal and intercultural communications skills. I believe that the lessons I’ll learn in the MBA program, with its emphasis on global leadership and technological innovation, will strengthen me so that I can continue to build bridges across cultures, within organizations among different levels of employees and stakeholders, and between nations. I hope to one day combine my love of servant leadership and international business relationships to craft a new model that can be utilized across fields and disciplines to ultimately move progress forward on a global scale.