Motivations with which you apply for this program
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Personal Statement:
Why business? It is one of the most common questions I get asked about my career and the life decisions I have made.
We're living in a world where new ideas are popping up all the time in different industries. Technology is also changing a lot. It's hard to stay up-to-date with market trends and new industry ideas in a field like business. I've always been curious about the world of fashion business since childhood and wanted to know how it works. The inspiration behind my deeply abiding interest in the fashion business comes from my mother. My mother used to make and decorate my festival dresses when I was young. I noticed and admired how skillfully she crafted them. She used to be a tailor, so she sewed lovely clothes and embroidered them with beautiful stonework. Not only did she inspire me with her style, but also with how she handles her household and work-life balance. She sacrificed her dream because of us, but she never let it perish; she was always learning and trying new things, and she was never a giver. Having known my mother since I was young, I found her a great leader who remained strong in the face of difficulties. This has made me an ambitious person who never gives up on her ambitions and works hard to achieve her goals. As I got older, my curiosity in Business grew even more. I want to learn the details of Business management, global marketing and development, exporting, importing, and fashion business. I want to use the knowledge I gain to further my career. Pursuing a Global MBA, my career goal, would give me the chance to start a successful fashion business.
I was born and raised in Chennai, the Southern State of India. I have four siblings, and I am the eldest one. Our parents were very supportive of our personal growth and encouraged us to get a good education despite the fact that they had very limited financial resources. My parents taught me the value of devotion and hard work in order to attain my ambitions. They taught me how to live life and make wise choices, even in the most uncertain situations. They taught me more than I could have learned from any book. I love them and they inspire me. As a result, I grew up to be highly mission-driven, rapidly analyzing and aligning the primary components needed to achieve a particular goal.
From my early school days, I was passionate about start-up business. I've got a vision of what I want to do with my life. This clarity made it easy for me to choose commerce as my middle school course and a Bachelor of Commerce as my bachelor's degree. I've always been academically excellent. I scored 96% in my 12th grade and was a merit student while pursuing my undergraduate degree at [Justice Basheer Ahmed Sayeed College for Women]. I graduated with First Class and was ranked in the top 20% of my college. During my undergraduate studies, I had the opportunity to study various subjects like principles of management, financial accounting, business economics, marketing, entrepreneurship development, and many other subjects. I've always been inquisitive, and I've learned a lot from my teachers. They've answered so many questions I had and helped me to develop my academic abilities. This has allowed me to understand how the latest small and medium-scale businesses and technologies have developed. The well-structured curriculum at [JBAS College] is the main reason for my strong foundation in the fundamentals of Marketing and Business.
I've participated in plenty of competitions and bagged many awards. This includes being awarded the Merit Scholarship in High School (2015), winning the Student of the Year (EKALAVYA) award from Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (2016) from the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, and many voluntary work certifications. I developed leadership qualities in my college days that helped me take ownership of multiple events and extracurricular functions. I did many volunteering activities, especially in the Enviro Club. From an early age, I have observed and studied how the environment is polluted by our negligence. I wanted to change this situation, so I started participating in environmental activities such as beach cleaning campaigns, tree planting, etc. At a camp event, we learned that plastic is a big problem that harms the environment, especially animals. So I decided to speak up on this issue and participated in several forums and camps. As secretary of the environmental club, I first started this camp at my college. I would like to thank all my team members for their support of me and invite people to join this protest and camp to let people know how dangerous it is to consume plastic unnecessarily. At first, not many people were interested, but after two years of hard work, our concerns finally reached the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, and we explained all these issues to him. We wrote a letter to him stating all these issues. After a long period, he declared that everyone who purchased a plastic bag would be penalized. In addition, he even provided small plants for planting in schools and college campuses. It's one of the greatest things I've achieved with my team. We faced failures and learned a lot more from them. This was my first small contribution to society.
Once I had become a participant in these associations mentioned in my CV, they offered me a lot of community service activities to attend and serve as a volunteer. It was a great experience for me to have opportunities as a volunteer for such activities. I have learned many valuable thoughts and ideas and I have learned how to be well-organized in these kinds of organizations. I love challenges and I don't like to give them up easily, even if I don't succeed in completing them. I always find myself learning more by spending more time on those tasks. I am also confident that I can adapt to the new learning environment at university in South Korea.
This volunteer work not only at the Enviro Club gave me exposure to social issues like how plastics affect nature, but also at the Young Entrepreneur Forum and Consumer Rights Association. It gave me practical experience of avenues to develop skills and build connections, and it influenced me to start a business that will make a significant contribution to society and the environment and develop the country's economy. However, at that time, I didn't know about the sustainable fashion business. I just wanted to do a business that is helpful to people and helps save the environment.
Since high school, I have been interested in Business and I want to start my own start-up in the future, but I don't know how to start a business and manage it successfully. My Undergraduate academic, Entrepreneur Forum and Diploma in Women's Entrepreneurship experiences influenced me to hunt for new business opportunities and innovations. I got this opportunity to explore more about new start-ups from my work experience as a Business Development Manager in an R&H sports company, researching and conducting events, running tournaments, etc., which gave me knowledge and improved my leadership and communication skills. In my probationary periods, I didn't know much about marketing and I got nervous about interacting with customers. The Company Director played a major role in helping me to come up with my fear. He gave me complete autonomy to leverage my problem-solving skills to discover issues and find solutions. He always influenced me on how to start any business, what things to keep in mind, the challenges faced by an entrepreneur, how to build good terms with customers, and more. As it's a start-up company, I get to know many roles as an entrepreneur in business. I get inspired whenever I work for the company. While working in this profile, I was responsible for devising creative ideas, leading the team, and achieving the company's profit. As a team executive, I have to guide my team and achieve profit for the company. Even though I made mistakes, I also learned from those mistakes. There's a proverb "Failure is the mother of success". As a result, I came up with my fear, learned to calmly handle customers, and understood their needs.
There are many accomplishments I have achieved, but the biggest challenge was believing in my abilities. I am proud of what I have achieved in life so far. But I also learned that you have to work hard to be successful. For example, in the office, we were losing business and we were not getting customers. After brainstorming, I came up with the idea of starting a sports event for school students, like badminton, chess, etc. Initially, it was difficult for me and my team to handle and muster clients. As a start-up, it was a challenging task for us to build trust with customers. Despite this, I maintained a positive attitude and remained composed even when the situation became difficult. In 2020, the company hosted the first badminton tournament. With determination, my team and I completed the badminton tournament, which was a huge success with over 200 participants from all over India. We got great feedback from customers. There is a saying "Customer satisfaction is the best business strategy". As a result, I got an Employee of the Year award as an appreciation in 2021. This motivated me to continue those sports activities successfully. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I realized how the world is transforming everything online. Therefore, I have taken online courses like inbound marketing and digital marketing courses offered by the Google certification program and Hubspot academy and joined some entrepreneurs' Facebook groups to learn more about real-life small and medium-scale businesses.
I came up with the idea of starting an online contest during a pandemic, and it was also another big success, as we had already gained the trust of our customers. Most of them participated in our contest, and this time during the pandemic we achieved more than 50% profit. I found how important it is to learn about business in order to start a start-up and doing marketing is a crucial part of business.
Subsequently, the company expanded its online competitions to international audiences targeting small countries like Indonesia, etc., and we got a good response from them too. As a result, our company was growing internationally too, which proved to be a great achievement. Additionally, I have worked as a freelance graphic designer for clients in the United States and Australia, which has taught me how to handle international clients. However, I do not know much about the international market and the business world. I knew that I needed to develop these skills to better understand the situation so that I did not face any difficulties in the future. This experience has made me interested in Global Business, and it has also made me want to enter the professional world.
While working for the company, I encountered articles on "Sustainable fashion: what is it and what makes it so important?" and "How brands can take advantage of a sustainable fashion opportunity". These articles gave me a glimpse into the world of sustainable fashion and its growth. From this, my childhood passion for the fashion business came back. Finally, I decided which niche I would do my business in, and that was sustainable fashion. I started exploring the fashion market and learning more about sustainable business through YouTube videos and other online resources.
Since 2017, the fashion of K-drama and K-pop have been my interests. I love the culture of South Korea as it is similar to the culture of India. I started researching South Korea and noticed that not only India but also South Korea is more focused on sustainable fashion business. This inspired me to learn more about South Korea and its culture, traditions, business practices, and latest technology.
In my research, I discovered that South Korea ranks 8th in the World in the 2022 (IMD) International Institute for Management Development's World Digital Competition Ranking, and is a pioneer in sustainable material innovation in the fashion sector. It is also considered one of the fashion capitals of East Asia. The country's fashion style is characterized by expressiveness and individualism. This has attracted the attention of fashion lovers and eco-friendly consumers alike. In addition to fashion, South Korea passed a $30.7 billion incentive package to support its environmental objectives, such as renewable energy sources, energy-efficient buildings, and improved waste management.
In recent years, South Korea has led the way in sustainable fashion through creativity, innovation, and environmental awareness. Brands like Ki Lee, Saint Mill, PARTsParts, and Eclatto have made me even more curious to learn about this business by studying and living in the country.
So, I began learning in Korean language through the Korea Konnect and Learn Korean in India (LKI) programs. I also took part in various essay and quiz competitions sponsored by the Korean embassy in India, for which I did not qualify for the final round. However, these experiences enabled me to gain knowledge about South Korea's fashion, cuisine, art, and history, as well as its rapid growth through its strong educational system. I was also promoted as an ambassador of the Korea Konnect program, which allowed me to represent Korea to my Indian colleagues. This experience was a great one, as it gave me the pleasure of sharing knowledge with my peers and also helped me to increase my education level. My involvement in these competitions led me to become more aware of South Korea's successes, progress, and top-notch universities, which in turn motivated me to choose to study in South Korea for my higher education.
Although, I have worked in the Business domain for more than two years. There is still a gap in knowledge that I need to fulfill to start my company. I realized I need to develop my marketing and business analytics skills so that I can understand the situation better rather than face unexpected difficulties and reach the next big step is to get a master's degree. A Global MBA will make me more marketable as a professional. It will also help me to develop my business leadership abilities as well as build my professional network. After researching the differences between Indian and foreign education systems, I decided to choose an institution outside India.
One of the main reasons why I chose South Korea for my advanced studies is the quality of education provided by the academia. Being a business-friendly country, South Korea provides an industry-oriented education with a high focus on practical learning. Compared to other countries, the education costs are very affordable, and fully funded scholarships like GKS make international higher education affordable for students like me.
I have also found the country of the maple leaf to be very hospitable and safe for people of all nations and cultures. I am sure that living in Korea will be an adventure for me that will push me outside my comfort zone and expose me to new challenges that will be challenging at first but also exciting and rewarding in the long run.
I am seriously considering studying Global MBA in South Korea as I am eager to acquire theoretical and practical knowledge. I chose these universities because of their excellent faculty, academic track record, international student ratio, and environment. However, due to financial issues, my dream of getting an MBA in South Korea will not help me achieve my career goal. Therefore, I am thinking of applying for the GKS Scholarship. GKS is a complete package not only with the financial and living allowances, not also with the free tuition fee not only with the freedom to choose the universities as well as the course. It gives something more. How? It gives me the opportunity to create linkages with different nationalists living in South Korea. It gives me the opportunity to immerse myself in the Korean culture through the 1-year language program. It gave me the opportunity to familiarize myself with Korean culture by inviting me to study in South Korea. So these things are learning beyond the school and the GKS program is the only scholarship I can think of currently of the moment that can provide me with these scholarships. Although, there are other scholarships like Posco, Koica, and everything its linkage and then the number of opportunities I can see myself doing with GKS made me want to choose it. An MBA from South Korea with the prestigious GKS scholarship will provide me with the best academic knowledge and exposure.
If I am successful in winning admission to South Korea with a prestigious GKS scholarship, I will fully dedicate myself to my studies and in return for the academic excellence of the program, I believe I offer leadership qualities, international experience, and a desire to go further. I mainly focus on International Business, markets, and trends. The Global MBA degree will enhance my profile. It will also assist me in the future when I start my own business in India.
Thank you for your precious time and I request you to consider my application and allow me to study at South Korea's best University with a GKS scholarship.
