Personal Statement
Haven't updated my blog in a long time. A lot has happened in the past month, from visitng and loving this new church, joining a new Bible Study (so now I am going to two small groups), applying to become a Sunday School teacher, to May's visit (miss you sooo much! btw, love your entry about your Philly trip and can't wait to see you again!)... but one thing that hasn't "happened" is my personal statment. :(
For some weird reason... I'm having a very difficult time writing this rather important part of my application. It's been a great exercise to be introspective and reflect on why I want to go back to school, but while all the ideas are in my head, somehow I just can't put them into words! Sighhh... If it were up to me, this is what I would send to the school:
"You’re giving me a maximum of 800 words to describe my academic and scholastic background, my work experience, motivation to apply AND my career goals? Do you know how hard that is?! Seriously… I’m so wordy that I can’t even address the first point without going over the word limit. Sighhh…. This really stinks.
Oh well, guess I’ll have to play by your rules if I want to get in eh? Let me try to convince you of why you should admit me to your school then.
Okay, here I go…
First of all, I am not all that incompetent. I mean, even when I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life, I managed to finish a master degree that led to two first author publications. Not to shabby eh? So imagine what I am capable of when I’m actually passionate about the subject! Think about it… seriously… think about it. Fine fine fine… so it’s true that had it not been because Michael, Sandra and Ron were so nice and so patient and super helpful, I would have never completed it… but at least this shows that when surrounded by really amazing people, I can get great stuff done. So, you’re a pretty decent school right? You’ve got a couple of good people to spare don’t you?
Second, my current boss and my co-workers don’t want me to go… so that must mean something right? My co-workers keep asking me to look into programs in Philly, and when I asked my boss if he would be willing to write me a reference, our conversation went roughly like this:
Mike (ie, my boss… he’s really smart, went to Johns Hopkins and Columbia… and he’s a pediatric oncologist… reaaaaaally smart!): So are you thinking of applying back home in Canada or here in the US?
Me: Back home, to the University of Alberta
Mike: Starting next year?
Me: Ummm…starting this September…
Mike: YOU… diiiiiirty dog!
Me: Well, I’m not 100% sure yet. If I don’t get in, I’ll definitely want to stay here (in hindsight, it was probably pretty dumb to say to your boss that working for them was not your first choice… oops…)
Mike: Oh, you’ll get in… unless I write you a s(censored)ty recommendation.
And here’s what he said when I actually handed him the appraisal form:
Mike: Oh you… stinker...so these are due in October?
Me: No, they’re due in March
Mike: Why don’t you apply in April?
Me: haha… ummm... so you’re okay with doing this?
Mike: Yeah… it’ll be great (then added under his breath) for you… stinker!
Third, hmmm… third…. errr… oh, I’ve got one! As much as people claim to be politically correct and recruit based on education, training, achievements, and so on, let’s face it, appearances do make a difference. Employers, schools, and you name it… all prefer to have good-looking people working for them. I’m NOT saying that I’m physically attractive or anything like that. In fact, my own mother compared my looks to that of a “bull dog” when I was a baby… you know, at the height of everyone’s cuteness I looked like a dog? Really chunky cheeks that hung down because they were so heavy… no nose… well, don’t think about that too much for now… I’m trying to convince you to let me in and not disgust you into throwing my application away. My point is… my cousin is a supermodel in Taiwan, ask anyone living there and they can attest to her hot babe status… so having said that… I can’t be that bad to look at right? (you know? genetics… inheritance… yada yada yada…)
So... please let me in?"
For some weird reason... I'm having a very difficult time writing this rather important part of my application. It's been a great exercise to be introspective and reflect on why I want to go back to school, but while all the ideas are in my head, somehow I just can't put them into words! Sighhh... If it were up to me, this is what I would send to the school:
"You’re giving me a maximum of 800 words to describe my academic and scholastic background, my work experience, motivation to apply AND my career goals? Do you know how hard that is?! Seriously… I’m so wordy that I can’t even address the first point without going over the word limit. Sighhh…. This really stinks.
Oh well, guess I’ll have to play by your rules if I want to get in eh? Let me try to convince you of why you should admit me to your school then.
Okay, here I go…
First of all, I am not all that incompetent. I mean, even when I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with my life, I managed to finish a master degree that led to two first author publications. Not to shabby eh? So imagine what I am capable of when I’m actually passionate about the subject! Think about it… seriously… think about it. Fine fine fine… so it’s true that had it not been because Michael, Sandra and Ron were so nice and so patient and super helpful, I would have never completed it… but at least this shows that when surrounded by really amazing people, I can get great stuff done. So, you’re a pretty decent school right? You’ve got a couple of good people to spare don’t you?
Second, my current boss and my co-workers don’t want me to go… so that must mean something right? My co-workers keep asking me to look into programs in Philly, and when I asked my boss if he would be willing to write me a reference, our conversation went roughly like this:
Mike (ie, my boss… he’s really smart, went to Johns Hopkins and Columbia… and he’s a pediatric oncologist… reaaaaaally smart!): So are you thinking of applying back home in Canada or here in the US?
Me: Back home, to the University of Alberta
Mike: Starting next year?
Me: Ummm…starting this September…
Mike: YOU… diiiiiirty dog!
Me: Well, I’m not 100% sure yet. If I don’t get in, I’ll definitely want to stay here (in hindsight, it was probably pretty dumb to say to your boss that working for them was not your first choice… oops…)
Mike: Oh, you’ll get in… unless I write you a s(censored)ty recommendation.
And here’s what he said when I actually handed him the appraisal form:
Mike: Oh you… stinker...so these are due in October?
Me: No, they’re due in March
Mike: Why don’t you apply in April?
Me: haha… ummm... so you’re okay with doing this?
Mike: Yeah… it’ll be great (then added under his breath) for you… stinker!
Third, hmmm… third…. errr… oh, I’ve got one! As much as people claim to be politically correct and recruit based on education, training, achievements, and so on, let’s face it, appearances do make a difference. Employers, schools, and you name it… all prefer to have good-looking people working for them. I’m NOT saying that I’m physically attractive or anything like that. In fact, my own mother compared my looks to that of a “bull dog” when I was a baby… you know, at the height of everyone’s cuteness I looked like a dog? Really chunky cheeks that hung down because they were so heavy… no nose… well, don’t think about that too much for now… I’m trying to convince you to let me in and not disgust you into throwing my application away. My point is… my cousin is a supermodel in Taiwan, ask anyone living there and they can attest to her hot babe status… so having said that… I can’t be that bad to look at right? (you know? genetics… inheritance… yada yada yada…)
So... please let me in?"
What do you guys think? Probably not eh? Guess I better get back to the drawing board. Sighhh... this is painful...
posted by Agueda | 11:32 PM
5 Comments:
haha. interesting. Didn't quite get what was going on until the last paragraph. =)
You could submit that statement to a school that you don't care if you get into, and see what happens!
awwww...it's cool! i should do something like that for my college app! =]
hilarious statement! ehhe can't wait to see u agua :P
YOU NEED TO UPDATE YOUR BLOG!!!!
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