Personal Statement-- Business School
Some people seem to be born knowing what they want from life, and having a good idea how to work towards those goals; I was never gifted with this seemingly rock-solid idea of what my plan would be for the rest of my life. However, as I continued through my education I slowly came to see that uncertainty could be a positive or a negative thing for the future, depending upon how I utilized my time and resources. I have seen many people hold onto their goals too tightly and burn out early as a result; I have never faced this problem, choosing instead to allow the framework of my life more flexibility.
Over the course of my education, both within the classroom and outside of it, I have come to realize the value of allowing one’s experiences to shape one’s goals for the future. Without the ability to analyze and change short-term goals while maintaining long-term goals, it is easy for an individual to become blinded and short-sighted. I make every attempt to avoid becoming short-sighted in both my personal and my business life.
Unlike many people who choose to go into business, my primary focus upon graduating university with my Bachelor’s degree was not business. I graduated with a degree in computer applications from a university in India in 2000 before moving to the United States in 2004. During my time working in India, I worked in Delhi, Bangalore, and Mumbai. While working in these cities, I was content but not particularly excited about my work in the technological industry; this led me to orchestrate my move to the United States. My experiences in the technology industry forced me to re-evaluate what type of work I wanted to be doing, so when I moved to the United States, I joined Citi as a technological worker, slowly gaining knowledge and experience with financial models and analysis; by 2006, I transferred out of technology and began to work in the financial sector. I quickly moved up within the company, becoming a Vice President and, perhaps more importantly, discovering within this career fulfillment and excitement that I had not known previously.
Allowing flexibility within my life has not stopped me from making and carrying out plans, however. Currently, I am working towards a number of short-term goals; primarily, I am focused on obtaining my MBA. Obtaining my Master’s in business will allow me to expand my knowledge base in new asset classes; I strongly feel that my background in business makes me an excellent candidate for most MBA programs.
In addition to obtaining my MBA, I have a much more ambitious goal in regards to funding projects. I would like to use my business acumen, particularly the skills I obtain through my MBA, to fund different entrepreneurial projects. Ideally, my time and skill set would allow me to fund a different project every year, providing entrepreneurs with the connections and the funding that they need to ensure that their project and their long-term and short-term goals can be realized. This goal is very important to me, as I feel that there are many projects that go unrealized for lack of funding, and better participation by businesspeople could ensure that more of these projects come to fruition. Ideally, I’d like to use my future in the long run to continue to build up my financial expertise. Similarly, I hope to increase my technical and programming knowledge, as well as my structured product knowledge.
My long-term goals stem directly from my short-term goals; I would like to achieve mastery in the financial sector, eventually starting my own business and funding entrepreneurial projects. In my younger years, my goals were unclear and poorly defined, and this allowed me to explore; now, my exploration has led me to certainty about my goals for the future.
Obtaining my MBA and ensuring that I have a clear path forward and all the skills necessary to succeed is the next step on my personal journey. I have come to this place in a roundabout way, but it has given me clarity and knowledge that is unique, and has given me the drive to succeed that is necessary for a rigorous academic program.
