Hello, everyone. I am applying for a taught master degree in LSE but I do not know if my personal statement is ok. Please give me some suggestions. Many thanks~~~~
PERSONAL STATEMENT
Rhonda Byrne, the Australian television writer and producer, stated in her New Thought book The Secret that there is a mysterious and powerful attraction in the universe which can convert the passionate desire into an impassioned life-changing reality. Wealth, health, happiness and success, are no exception. You want it and you get it.
I have a hunger for being a better self. Over the years, something has pushed me forward constantly without any breaths. What I have been looking for is a platform where I can see farther and higher or a springboard that can make my Secret possible. The highest academic prestige and the excellent occupation prospect, there is nowhere but your school - The London School of Economics and Political Science - so I AM COMING！
I AM A CHALLENGER
I have never been a favoured one. The setback was quite influential in my growing process, which made me become a person who never says die.
I was a top 5% student when I was in high school so all my teachers regretted over my failure in the College Entrance Examination. In that fate-defining competition, I was admitted to an unknown university in China. Depressed as I am, I once wanted to quit. At the point, one of my high school mentors stopped me and she reminded me: "There's a thin line between opportunity and suffering."
Since then, I started my new life plan and implemented it strictly. I spent most of my after-class time in the school library, reading anything I thought I needed now and later. I was obsessed with politics and strategies for a time as well as I accepted any additional information too. I had no intention to be a versatile person, but the "library adventure" made me keep being curious and exploring.
In fact, at that time, I did not know exactly who I wanted to be so I tried some types of professions. I got my accountant qualifications when I was just in my late teens and soon I passed all the written examinations (psychology and pedagogy) which can be used to apply for the teacher qualifications. However, I seemed not to be keen on those occupations. I just enjoyed the great pleasure from challenges.
As a sophomore, I got a hard-won chance to take the entrance examination of Savonia University of Applied Sciences due to my high academic performance and good English language proficiency. I did it and I became one of five new Chinese international business degree students in 2012. I knew that something had changed, but new challenges were coming as well.
This was the first time that I was far away from home and undertook my study in another language. Even if I tried my best to be a top student in most of the professional courses, nothing could be problem-free. I felt very disheartened when I conducted a course named Intercultural Communication because I did not know how to explain to my foreign friends if the Chinese are faithless or why I do not have any brothers or sisters. At that time, I began to realize the importance of media, which is not merely a carrier of information, but also the expressive tool of eliminating barriers and prejudices. For the most part, we breathe in the effective media atmosphere which surrounds us without being consciously aware of their importance to us. It is only when the faculty is impaired for some reason that we begin to realize the essential role the media plays in our life. But what is the "some reason" hidden behind sensitive issues?
Moreover, from January to May 2014, I was involved in a business research group to assist a Finnish company in conducting a global project. I was in charge of the quantitative and qualitative analysis in China, and introducing the products to Chinese potential customers. It was very difficult to collect data because some commonly-used tools, such as Google Search, Twitter and Facebook, cannot be used in China due to some policy reasons. Why does the Chinese government ban the use of those international websites? Since then, I started thinking about the impact of national policies on the media business and information dissemination.
I AM A WRITER
My own personal experience of "media" started young since one of my articles was issued in a local newspaper. I was paid 15 yuan for that and you can image how vast sums for an only seven-year-old kid. Since then, I have been fascinated with writing and always dreamed to be a writer. When I was 12, I was lucky enough to gain a lot of prizes in the national writing competitions as well as to become the Student Reporter of the local newspaper I mentioned before.
But it is not the reason I want to be a media person. In 2012, I published my first novellas called Marry a GFS (National Defence Student) in Jinjiang Literature which was a military-romantic story described the life and the love of some young reserve officers from their girlfriends'view. The novel was praised as the first military book which reflected the patriarchal emotion from the female perspective in China. I was later signed up by the literature net and became a real writer in the same year.
Becoming a genuine writer had realized my initial fantasy. However, I was not excited at all because I found that my novels, my proses and my poems which only can reflect the world rather than change the world. That made me frustrated. I always thought I should be a knight and my pen was my loyal sword which can save those people who were still living in vagueness. To adduce a quotation from Romain Rolland in his Vie de Michel-Ange (Life of Michelangelo). "Il n'y a qu'un héroïsme au monde: c'est de voir le monde tel qu'il est et de l'aimer." ("There is only one heroism in the world: to see the world as it is and to love it.")
So I applied for an intern reporter job in the Rural Version of Anhui Daily which is a party newspaper designed and published for people living in rural areas. In the three months, I concentrated on a series report - "Focus on Undergraduate Migrant Workers" - to interview those people who got bachelor degrees but were doing underlying jobs. They always came from rural areas and had no families as well as "friend-sourcing" in large cities. They spent their parents' life savings to finish school so they had no face to go back but no chance to stay in. They were, actually, the products of social development, but their survival status deserved attention. In fact, it was not a successful in-depth report because it did not attract attention from the government. So how to use the media and journalism to influence government decision-marking and then change the society?
In order to solve the problem, I won to work on the news magazine Blog Weekly and began to touch breaking news. During my work, Bo Xilai scandal once shocked the entire Chinese politics and the loss of MH370 made all people regret. However, whether sensitive political news, or dreary disaster news, journalists had to wander between the press freedom and national policies, looking forward to finding a balance and the best report direction. Besides, after the rise of new media, the domestic policy also has an important influence on the traditional media industry. In my bachelor graduation dissertation, I cast the Anhui Daily Group as a case, analysing how did the traditional media corporation make use of the policy guidance and market strategies to solve problems that the newspaper marketing is facing and out of the red.
I am a business student, but tired of ruthless figures. I am a writer, but boycotting of worthless words. I am a challenger, but do not want to waste my life in the mediocre glitz. I am a reporter, but do not think the authenticity is everything about news. In fact, through all my practices in the field, I deeply realized the connection between media and governance. Media and communication may be able to change the world, but the premise is to work together with the national regulation and government policies. I know my lack of specialized knowledge to fulfil my heroism. Therefore, I intend to further my study in the area. After graduation, I would like to serve as a middle manager in media corporations or to do the media policy-making job in the government. After following the Weibo @LSE-MediaPolicyProject and @LSE_Polis, I find that the postgraduate taught programme of Media and Communication (Media and Communication Governance) is the best choice for me, and is the key to pursuit my Secret. Therefore, I sincerely hope that you can make full consideration of my application - because I AM READY！
