This is my personal statement. I would love to receive your comments on the idea, the delivery, what sounds unnecessary (I know it is long), and anything else. Any comment is welcomed. Thank you so much!
Fyi: I am in 2nd year of a university and I want to apply for universities in HK for the next years of uni.
The main idea is my thoughts on self-development from building a Gundam.
"Mom, I want this for my birthday!" - I told my mom with tremendous excitement while pointing at a robot-like toy when my mom brought me to a toy shop to choose a gift for my 11th birthday. As I stepped into the store earlier, my eyes immediately caught that toy on the shelf. My mom did not know what the toy was, nor did even I. She wondered if I was sure that was the gift I wanted. Witnessing it, the shopper approached and told us that it was called Gunpla - Gundam Plastic Model. She said it was not a conventional toy, and the player had to build it on their own. I heard what the shopper said, and I insisted on buying it even more because I loved to try building something of my own, and I wanted to challenge myself with something I had never done.
As I got home, I instantly unboxed the package, which contained hundreds of plastic pieces of different colours, shapes, and sizes. It was amazing how all those random pieces would form a complete Gundam model. Inside the box was also a detailed guide, which portrayed every step to build the model. It seemed long and confusing at first glance, but it wouldn't stop my enthusiasm.
I started building the Gunpla. Step by step, I carefully followed the guidebook's instructions, cutting and assembling separate pieces to form different shapes. For each step I finished, I felt excited and even more motivated towards achieving the final results. With the Gunpla's height only 20 centimetres, each part is small, requiring me to be meticulous. I first finished its body, then its fists, then its arms without any mistakes.
I thought making my first Gunpla would be smooth and easy, but I was wrong. The first major mistake came while I was making its head, where I misplaced a small piece of plastic, which attached so firmly. After about half an hour of struggling, I finally managed to remove it. Surprisingly, after taking a long time to fix the problem, I was not discouraged from continuing; instead, I was even more excited and more thorough with the next steps. Looking back, this taught me a life lesson that nothing coming with good results is free of obstacles in its way, which has been helping me mentally prepare for hurdles and changes in work and life. Moreover, overcoming such hurdles is a sign of development.
Reminiscing about my first Gunpla assembly reminds me of the journey of my recent but one of the biggest self-development. In high school, I was a relatively closed person who rarely socialized and rarely participated in extracurricular activities, which left me regretful when I left high school. Thus, when I joined my current university, I applied for {Name of the org.} and eventually became a member. As a member, I learned and gained a lot through organizing several events, the two most prominent of which were Prom and Sports Day. In my sophomore year, I got promoted to Deputy Head of the Organizing Department; and under the new position, I took a significant role in developing the brand new Talent show. For only two years, I have developed a lot by trying things I haven't done; hence, I believe that exposure to a different environment would help me develop even further. Such thoughts have encouraged me to apply to study for the following years of university in Hong Kong.
After three days of work, I finally finished building my first Gunpla. I was so in love with every detail of the figure, with its colors blue and white, and its oversized mecha-wings. With an exquisite design, my Gunpla has the look of a warrior, yet does not look bulky. I reserved a spot on the bookshelf to conspicuously display my Gunpla. And in the days that followed, I often proudly and excitedly told everyone I met about my new gift.
But soon, I realized that with each day that came by, my excitement about the Gunpla gradually faded away, and I slowly neglected the new gift that I was once so excited about. This led me to a realization that the best part about owning a Gunpla was not the model itself, but rather the time I spent building it. As I grew older, this experience made me recognize that overcoming obstacles to achieve one goal is the most rewarding, not the achievement itself, as the joy of attainment is just temporary, and we would aim for higher achievement afterwards. For me, this means achievements are what drive us forward, which I see as a basis for my personal psychological hack, where I set attainable goals after goals throughout the year to keep myself always motivated and constantly move forward.
In those three days, I dedicated almost all my free time to making the Gunpla and eventually got the desired outcome, which showed me that efforts truly lead to desirable outcomes. This is personally true to me in my studies. In high school, after being chosen as a member of the school's Russian language team to compete in the Hanoi Olympiad for excellent students, I got assigned an enormous workload. I always finished the homework and obtained much knowledge of the subject. And eventually, with my efforts, not only did I get Second prize in the Competition, but I also got used to studying under pressure. In my first year at my current university, specifically in Macroeconomics class, I got a 10 out of 10 average grade, the sole highest in the class. I got this result by spending my efforts solving problems, reading the whole textbook, and doing extra reading on the topics I found interesting.
I never thought such a small toy I bought as a child would ever bring me such value in life. Not only did it bring me pure joy, but it also gave me valuable lessons that I bring along the journey of self-discovery and development. The oversized wings of my Gunpla have inspired me to "fly" higher than I ever was, to set foot in Hong Kong and take on new challenges. Although I might face many hurdles if I get there, I am certain that I will overcome each of those and become an even better version of myself, as one of the lessons I learned when I built my very first Gunpla.
