This is my UCAS personal statement that I will send in when I am applying to university, each school has something different that their looking for in a personal statement but in general here are the guidelines:
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My personal statement:
Earlier this year I attended an interview for one of the UK's premier art schools, during this interview my artwork would be assessed and I would be told whether or not I had been accepted into the program. The results were not as I had hoped. It wasn't a complete disaster, I was offered a place in the schools foundation program, but I still felt defeated. I felt that perhaps I had been mistaken to think I could ever make it in the art world. Instead of accepting their offer I decided to take a gap year. I needed to take time off to rethink and regroup. Looking back now, being denied entry into that school is perhaps the best thing to ever happen to me. I applied to the visual communication course, but since then have moved my focus towards animation, which I have always had an interest in but never had the courage to actually consider as a career possibility. Over the past few months I've studied art books such as "The Animators Survival Kit" by Richard Williams and "Bridgmans Complete Guide to Drawing the Human Figure", analysed my favourite animated films and gotten in touch with professionals in the industry. Never in my life have I ever taken art this serious, I've realized that it's not enough to just have talent, or an interest in art, to just do assignments given to you by teachers. If there is a spark within you, it is up to you to turn it into a flame.
Over the years, I've pushed myself to investigate the art industry. Some animators that have inspired me are: Jamie Hewlett, Hayao Miyazaki, and Katsuhiro Otomo. In the summer of 2014 underwent a two week work experience at creative agency, Shop Around. Then this July, a one month internship at Right Track, an advertising agency based in Dubai. Currently, I am working at a media production company called Big Cabal as a production intern. I'm extremely grateful for these opportunities as they have not only allowed me to determine what courses would be appropriate for me, but also convinced my parents that I am capable and determined to pursue a career in the creative industry. During these work experiences my responsibilities included: making holiday greeting videos and visuals for the company's website, creating humorous video content, and administrative work.
Additionally I served as the art director for a primary school musical in 2015. My duties as director were to design posters, DVD covers, programs, and labels for the show. Serving as art director was a great creative activity where I learnt how to produce work within specific constraints. Moreover, on a trip back to my home country of Nigeria in 2015, I volunteered at an orphanage where I led a number of arts and crafts workshops, ranging from origami to spin art. I found out that teaching little children is not my forte, however I found the whole experience extremely fulfilling. Furthermore, during my final two secondary school years I was awarded excellent achievement awards for visual arts.
I'm what is referred to as a third culture kid, meaning that I was raised in a culture outside of my parents own. Living in four different countries and being in such a multicultural environment has granted me a number of different skills. For instance, I speak four languages (English, Dutch, French, and Spanish), being in contact with so many diverse mind-sets have in turn made me extremely open minded. The IB program has also aided in my development as an open minded "global citizen". I feel that the program has truly prepared me for university and the world at large.
My hope for the future is to eventually be self-employed. This is a dream held by both me and my parents, who have always been an inspiration to me. I wish to have the freedom that becoming self-employed or working freelance grant, and I do think that this a possibility for me.
