Personal Statement Essay

As a child numeracy was something that appealed to me on all levels. Having to learn the business-related topics such as profit and loss even made it seem rather more interesting. As I grew older, I was taught to plan, as a result, I needed to have a career path so at least I would have a direction and an idea of what the future held. Having learnt percentage profit and loss, I decided to venture into knowing what it really meant in the world of Finance.

Hence, I got a work experience at Spices Bakery and Confectionary Limited over my 2015 summer break. It was indeed worthwhile, as I learnt from the team of learned accountants how to prepare a budget forecast, my quest for knowledge took it a bit further to analyse the forecasted result {either favourable or unfavourable} as well as how the results could be improved upon through strategic decision making. Consequently, I saw finance on a whole new level as the eyes of my understanding had been more enlightened, so clearer goals were set.

The hunger for more was stirred up, irrespective of my colleagues opting out prior to the final exams, I was determined and thus, solely took on the final exams in a class of 50 students and emerged the best accounting student in my year.

Having to look at my African background where there is a need for transparency has given me a reason to venture into accounting. Growing up with hardworking parents such as mine, who believe that ‘excellence is a moving target’, made it difficult for me to rest on my oars, as I was always ready to go the extra mile to succeed. Having this as the foundation of my upbringing, my resilience improved. Prior to my final exams, I had woefully failed further mathematics which was a vital course to my career choice, but due to the basis on which I was brought up I was deliberate and intentional about improving, in the space of 4 months I was able to improve by 6 grades. While awaiting my admission into Bellerbys College, I was opportune to further sharpen my accounting skills by being the Finance Manager of Bianese Beauty Parlour, where I did double entry book-keeping, controlled the cash inflows and outflows and reconciled the accounts. Back in high school I was privilege to serve the community by teaching pupils to prepare them for the upcoming state’s scholarship exam in June 2018.

Nowadays, education is rather incomplete without extra-curricular activities. Singing, playing the Piano, getting involved in sports such as Volleyball and swimming were a few things which I realised over my six-year period in high-school helps foster teamwork and boosts sportsmanship. Being the volleyball captain of the school team helped us collectively cross over hurdles as we never let past failures get in the way of our future success knowing fully well that past failures don’t define us but nonetheless the lessons learnt weren’t forgotten so as to help avoid a repetition. Also, having led the young entrepreneurs club, helped improved my innovative skill as we always had to think of different ways to raise funds for the less privileged around us. This, in addition to being a room head and class captain thrice in a row further helped improve my leadership skills. Being a boarder all through high school helped improve my level of independence and self-discipline. Having been able to joggle around both academic and extra-curricular activities has helped improve my time management skills greatly. In need of growth, I decided to attend a Business Foundation course before university to give myself the best grounding in the subject as well as Academic English Skills. It is giving me the opportunity to improve my critical thinking as well as broaden my knowledge on an international level. Having the opportunity to study in the university in conjunction with a placement year would help me get the desired exposure and experience after which I would be able to control the finances of the family business more adequately in the short term as well as work towards shaping the use of finance in Africa in the long term.