Reflection Essay on MBA Admission Essay
To live is to choose. But to choose well, you must know who you are and what you stand for, where you want to go and why you want to get there (Kofi Annan).
My primary childhood objective was to obtain a Masters in Business Administration from the US. To this end, I worked very hard at school and obtained very good academic grades. My parents are illiterate and poor. We hail from a rural area of the country. However, my single minded devotion to acquiring knowledge resulted in my obtaining very good scores, not only in the tenth grade but also the twelfth grade. In some of the subjects of study I even obtained the highest marks in the entire state.
Subsequently, I joined a college in Hyderabad, India. While commuting to college, one dismal day in June 1986, I was involved in a traffic accident which led to the complete loss of wrist movement in the right hand. Since, I am a right handed person; this constituted a terrible blow to my educational and other prospects. In this hour of my trial, my family and friends extended all possible cooperation. The upshot of this was that I managed to emerge from a state of depression and move on in life. Inter alia, I made strenuous efforts to acclimatize my left hand to the functions that had previously been the exclusive preserve of my right hand.
Another source of inspiration was offered by the numerous physically and mentally challenged persons, who had overcome their disabilities and forged ahead in life. Some of these people were at the very front of technological and scientific research. One such person from whose life I drew inspiration is Stephen Hawking, who is an acclaimed authority in theoretical physics. Stephen developed motor neurone disease, an incurable ailment. He lost his voice, mobility and was confined to a wheel chair. Nevertheless, such adversity failed to deter him and he continues to make significant contributions to cosmology (Hawking).
I recovered my equanimity and writing skills in six months and obtained very high grades in the second year examinations. In addition to attending college, I regularly underwent physio therapy and I was able to complete my graduation along with the other students of my class.
The year 1988, was witness to the demise of my father. This compelled me to shoulder the family responsibilities. My mother developed nephrological complications and my younger brother and sister had to be supported financially. This forced me to keep in abeyance my dream of higher studies and to commence employment. This experience taught me the value of responsible behaviour. A few years after graduation, I set foot in the US and in this manner I came very near to achieving my goal.
These experiences served to strengthen my resolve and boosted my self confidence tremendously. I could clearly discern what Napoleon had meant when he had stated that “Impossible, ce n’est pas francais” or the word impossible does not exist in my dictionary. This attitude proved to be of great help to the management of F.J. Benjamin and Holdings of Singapore, where I was employed in the year 1996. The management wanted to purchase an application software package, whereas my director was of the opinion that this package could be developed by the existing software professionals.
Accordingly, the management permitted our group to develop the required application. However, after some days, the pace with which our work was progressing diminished greatly, due to the departure of a number of programmers for greener pastures. At the same time management became insistent upon our showing results and stated that it would purchase the software if we failed to develop it. At this crucial juncture, I took the bull by the horns and managed to convince the management that I would deliver the software package.
In order to succeed in my challenge, I approached my friends in the software industry and obtained their invaluable help. Some of them even joined our organization and in this manner I ensured that the project was completed successfully and well within the allocated budget. The management of our organization was extremely pleased with my dynamism, organizing capacity, knowledge, determination and single minded devotion to duty. This reveals my aptitude for management.
I had been devoting my time to several orphanages and helping their inmates in their scholastic endeavours. On seeing my friend lose his eyesight, I developed concern for the disabled and I organized a number of blood donation and organ donation camps. Moreover, I successfully established an orphanage in the city of Vishakhapatnam, India. At present I am in constant touch with Shankar Netralaya in Chennai, India, which is one of the best ophthalmologic centres in India, to treat more persons afflicted with diseases of the eye.
The MBA Program of UCLA Anderson is one of the best of its kind in the world. The faculty is constantly engaged in research and their findings are conveyed to the students. In addition to this, analyses of relevant international event are commonplace in this program. Moreover, the mandatory twenty weeks long Applied Management Research project, which every student has to complete, is with respect to some real business situation.
Thus the alumni of this institution are truly bestowed with the latest theoretical and practical knowledge (MBA PROGRAM). I would like to become a part of this great management movement and my accomplishments, courage, positive attitude, optimism, perseverance and experience of life should ensure that I render complete justice to this superlative course in management.
