Essay for Erasmus program specializing in environment and innovation.

These are the prompts:
What do you want to achieve in the next 10 years of professional career?
How do you plan to achieve these objectives?
How do you r previous activities contribute to this plan?
How do you think that the X program will contribute to your plan?
Why should we accept you to the X program?

The essay is limited to 700 words.

Erasmus scholarship application

An idea is what it takes to change the course of things and pushes series of events that create history. I believe the field of sustainability received that push in the mid-2010s, when the MDGs transitioned to the SDGs. Near about that time, my undergraduate study was going through an uninspiring trajectory. But as I channeled my love for the environment and specialized in sustainability, I found my academics reach an upward trend. In my final year of studies, I got into a training by X1, and another led by the Y1 and I realized that environmental sustainability is where my true calling lies.

That year, I was lucky enough to assist Dr. P, Secretary at the Ministry of B in drafting a document for COP21 from Bangladesh. Bangladesh hadn't done well on the environmental front in the MDGs, and he told me that "it is our shortcomings that provide us an opportunity to push further and do better" - words that still act as an inspiration to me on a personal and professional level by resonating to the trajectory of my career. Two years later, I believe that I am working in a field in environmental sustainability, a field that has been developed from specific shortcomings.

My professional and academic background has led me to the understanding that there is a need for a practical bridge between the ways the human society intertwines with the natural world. For this bridge to work out there is a crucial necessity to integrate real world data with academic advances, in a manner that any resources required for the human society does not leave such a giant footprint on our ecosystem that we exhaust it to the point of no return. This can be done by connect the dots between innovation and technological advances with policies. I believe this is where my experiences are unique, and my experiences can aid in connecting these dots.

Businesses cannot think without taking into account the principles of sustainability, something I believe in wholeheartedly. This led me to spearheading a company which worked with local unprivileged artisan crafters to produce jewelry. My current place of employment allows me to work with different stakeholders, namely knitwear factories, private companies, government, donor agencies and national and international organizations. My focus in environmental sustainability helps me work with resource efficiency, water and wastewater management practices, environmental policy and research and development and lets me understand the unprecedented need in coupling research with real world applications.

When I look into the vision of the next 10 years of my professional career, I see a world where I have done my part in acting as a driver towards achieving the SDGs. My aspiration range from successfully constructing a sustainability indicator by expanding my undergraduate final year thesis, to launching a startup that focuses on sustainable consumption. To accomplish this, I will always be on the pursuit of knowledge, and this has led me to the X program.

The reason behind my decision for applying to this program is not only the fact that it offers a unique blend of innovation coupled with research, but also the list of opportunities it will provide me with. The diverse range of faculty and a chance to find mentors and likeminded people is something that influences my decision even more. The research arena that this program will provide me will let me further my career as a researcher, and the opportunity to create a venture would help me in building my own venture. And lastly, I believe that I will be getting an insight on the future of environmental sustainability through this program and these prospects will aid me perfect my skills as a researcher, an entrepreneur, and an environmentalist.

The next latest groundbreaking technology and scientific story will start from the right kind of investment. When you invest in something good, you get something great. This is exactly why the X program should accept me.

I hope that you will provide me with a chance to learn from this program and consider me for the Erasmus scholarship. Thank you in advance for considering my candidacy.

Alavy, you are complicating the essay far more than you have to. Why can't you just respond to the prompt requirements in the order it is presented? That is how the reviewer expects to read the information in the essay. You don't need to tell such a lengthy backstory, you just have to directly respond to the prompt questions in a discussion form. You actually have the proper responses to the prompt within this essay, you just need to bring these up to the front and remove the unnecessary parts so that the reviewer can get through reading your essay without having to wade through information that he doesn't need. Having to sift through unwanted information will normally result in your application being immediately rejected because you have not proven that you can follow simple instructions. So, you should simply outline your responses to the prompt as follows:

What do you want to achieve in the next 10 years of professional career?
- When I look into the vision of the next 10 years of my professional career...

How do you plan to achieve these objectives?
- My professional and academic background has led me...

How do you r previous activities contribute to this plan?
- You have not properly responded to this prompt in your current version.

How do you think that the X program will contribute to your plan?
- The diverse range of faculty and a chance to find mentors and likeminded ...
Note: Develop a more appropriate response using the aforementioned portion of the paragraph.

Why should we accept you to the X program?
- No proper response in your essay. Indicate any academic accomplishments and professional recognition you have achieved thus far. These will represent the reasons why you should be accepted into the program. Proving you have the academic and professional foundation to achieve success in the program always gives the most appropriate response to this question.