Dear Ms Mary Rose @Holt I would love to hear your opinion regarding my Personal Statement, Thanks a lot :)
Personal Statement
My name is Sherly, a 31-year-old Statistician and Civil Servant working at Statistics of Indonesia (BPS). I graduated from Indonesian College of Statistics (Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Statistik), majoring in Statistics with GPA of 3.36 with a full scholarship from the The Government of Indonesia.
I consider myself as a self-challenger. I love to prove myself to do something beyond my limit. In 2011, when I was doing my undergraduate thesis, I chose a statistical methodology that had never been used by the students at the university and was mostly used by Postgraduate Statistics Students. The methodology was "ARIMA Intervention". I was the only person using this methodology among my peers in my year. I was struggling with the chosen methodology but I did my best and managed to get the best result with a perfect score.
In my Junior High School times, I joined the Junior of The Red Cross Club which then I was chosen as the Chief, introducing me about how leadership skills were. Now, in these current years, I realized how I love being a leader, being supportive and motivational to give positive impacts for my team and to reach our goal. I experienced many activities that put me as the project leader. Last leadership and networking activity I had when I was chosen as the Chief of Coordination Team for Padang City Population Census in 2020. This experience taught me how to coordinate, lead and communicate well with people in many ranges and how to be a good problem solver
I have started working at BPS in West Sumatra Province in 2013. Having been exposed to various statistical activities related to Development & Poverty in the field allow me to interact, communicate and witness directly the living conditions of the respondents, which are mostly poor households. This personally makes me interested in poverty and motivated me to get involved in solving development issues related to poverty, integrated with my role as a statistician.
I have carried out a series of surveys related to poverty & poverty indicators. In 2014-2016, I was a project leader with a team from the Regional Public Health Agency, Development Agency and Public Works and Spatial Planning Agency for Pariaman City, West Sumatra in the Drinking Water and Environmental Sanitation Survey (WSES), which was a project of the WASPOLA Facility, a collaboration between National Development Planning Agency and WSP-EAP (Water and Sanitation Program - East Asia and Pacific Region), World Bank. This activity produced poverty indicators data related to drinking water access and proper sanitation for poor people of Pariaman City. It was then used as a database for the Regional Government to decide the target of the poor households who got free water closet and other social assistances.
In 2015 I was also the Statistical Coordinator for the South Pariaman District in Kota Pariaman for the Integrated Database Data Collection (PBDT). It was a survey of poor households that produces a database of the poor for social assistance targets of the Regional Government and the Central Government. In addition, every year I am also routinely involved as a trainer, surveyor, or supervisor in surveys producing Macro Poverty Rates in Indonesia, known as the National Socio-Economic Survey (SUSENAS). Currently, I am also a Coordinator for Agricultural Statistics that collects data related to the farmers - most of whom live under the poverty threshold.
I chose Master of Poverty, Inequality, and Development at the University of Birmingham because it provides the details and specific core modules related to poverty that is linked to social analysis which I need for my job and related to the targets I want to achieve at work. I am very interested in the additional modules of Urban Poverty & Policy and Development Projects and Programmes. I plan to collaborate on poverty projects with other Office/Agencies, and this module can be very helpful. Because in this module, I will learn how to make projects related to development. I am also excited to learn from Poverty Experts at the University of Birmingham such as Professor Phillip Amis and Professor Robert Leurs. Another reason, The University of Birmingham is an International Center for Government which is closely related to my work as a Civil Servant. I hope to learn many things related to government, as well as development policies which I could also apply in Indonesia later.
The Modules in Master of Poverty, Inequality and Development course and reliable Professors at the University of Birmingham will help me achieve my target of developing data strategies related to poverty alleviation and solving development issues which I integrate with my role as a statistician in Statistics of Indonesia. This course will provide me with the knowledge that will complement my previous education in Statistics. I will absorb the theories, practices, discussions, and strategies from other countries that I get in lectures to develop ideas and strategies for poverty alleviation which of course I will associate with the data.
After finishing my study at the University of Birmingham, I will resume my work at Statistics of Padang Municipality. I have some plans on my list. I plan to justify and evaluate the stages of the BPS poverty rate-producing survey, the National Socio-Economic Survey (SUSENAS). From the knowledge that I gain at the University, I can improve the quality of poverty data with the justification that I do so it would give the best result of macro poverty rate produced by BPS for Indonesia every year. I would also like to develop a project related to the Statistics of Poverty Indicators. The aim is to produce a database of poor households for targeting social assistance from the Regional Government and the Central Government. This activity is training for the sub-district level official which will later be linked to the development of a data strategy for poverty statistics. My plans are also to develop many collaborations with other agencies or institutions regarding poverty projects, for example, some projects with The Agricultural Regional Department and Public Health Regional Department.
I strongly believe that the Master of Poverty, Inequality, and Development will surely equip me with the necessary skills, experiences, and knowledge needed to achieve my career goal. Thus, I do hope that I will be offered a place to study at the University of Birmingham. Thank you for your time in considering my application. Should you have any inquiries, please do not hesitate to contact me.