What distinct impact do you hope to have on the world in the future? Please be as clear as possible about your future goals, the policy/public service issues(s) you are passionate about, and your personal motivation(s). Be sure to include details regarding the features of SIPA that you believe are integral to helping you in your pursuits and what skills you need to develop to achieve a lasting impact. (500 word)
(Right now there are 600 word, and I'd like to have some advice how to make it more concise)
In elementary school we have studied part of the "How the Steel Was Tempered", and I always remembered the last paragraph: Man's dearest possession is life. It is given to him but once, and he must live it so as to feel no torturing regrets for wasted years, never know the burning shame of a mean and petty past." Since then I developed the habit to vision my dying moment and imagine what I'd say about my life, so as to be sure that I am living a meaningful and productive life.
I decided to change my career and devote myself into development work in early 2009, and with over half a year project experience with UNDP, I am clear about my career objective which is to be able to lead comprehensive development projects. Since early 2009, with distant advices from a retired UN staff, I started preparing myself for the switch by reading online resources of UN agencies and other organizations to gain a general idea about development work, cross-cutting issues, and keep updated on current issues.
In 2010 May, I applied to a national UNV post for UNDP Post-Wenchuan Earthquake Early Recovery and Disaster Risk Management Programme. Against other candidates who were previously considered more promising, I excelled in the joint interview with a good understanding of the local community, disaster nature, UNDP ER Policy and Practices, and a sound analytical thinking. With a good performance in the team, I was granted the opportunity to attend the 1st Regional Training on Monitoring and Evaluation in Disaster Risk Management and Unstable Environment in Bangkok, and later relocated to the country office with an extended contract.
Working on the UNDP ER&DRM project is a very valuable experience. On one hand, I am working within UN system which gives me an opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge about UN, the mission, role, practices, and they way they work. On the other hand, this programme is comprehensive and addresses various areas of development including disaster reduction, livelihood, gender, community level democracy, environment, culture, infrastructure, etc. Managed by UNDP, this programme was implemented by government partners so that we can realize positive impact on policy level. It was during this experience that I realized the importance of a broad and general knowledge of the key development issues. Although there are different ways to gain that knowledge, I consider a good full-time master's programme the most efficient and effective way.
Once I made the decision in August, I quickly started preparation and took all TOEFL, GRE and GMAT exams in 2 months. I have reviewed the Master in International Development programmes offered by various universities, and I come to the conclusion that SIPA has the best for me. With the intention to be an excellent development practitioner rather than a researcher, I weight very much how the programme combines academic and practical experiences, and addresses the key issues in real projects. The MPA-DP programme offered by SIPA shows clear emphasis on practical outcomes, and mandated a summer field internship which I highly appreciate. I am also very glad to see that SIPA encourages students to seek opportunities to utilize the knowledge acquired even if the programme will be extended, because that was my plan to make the most out of academic study. SIPA's prominent faculty, Earth Institute and its close collaboration with UN are of great interest to me as well.
I have confidence that with this programme I will acquire the knowledge and skills to step forward to a senior project manager, and it would be a big regret if I miss this opportunity.
I've made some modifications and included the other parts of the personal statement:
What distinct impact do you hope to have on the world in the future? Please be as clear as possible about your future goals, the policy/public service issues(s) you are passionate about, and your personal motivation(s). Be sure to include details regarding the features of SIPA that you believe are integral to helping you in your pursuits and what skills you need to develop to achieve a lasting impact. (500 word)
I always remembered the last paragraph of "How the Steel Was Tempered" studied in middle school: "Man's dearest possession is life. It is given to him but once, and he must live it so as to feel no torturing regrets for wasted years, never know the burning shame of a mean and petty past." Since then I developed the habit to vision my dying moment and imagine what I'd say about my life so as to be sure that I am living a meaningful and productive life.
I decided to change my career and devote myself into development work in early 2009 and started preparing myself by reading online resources of UN agencies and other development organizations to gain a general idea about development work. With the project experience with UNDP, I am clear than ever about my career objective, which is to be able to lead comprehensive development projects.
In 2010 May, I applied to a national UNV position for UNDP Post-Wenchuan Earthquake Early Recovery and Disaster Risk Management Programme. Competing against other candidates who had relative experience and academic background, I excelled in the joint interview with a good understanding of the local community, disaster nature, UNDP ER Policy and Practices, and a sound analytical thinking. With a good performance in the team, I was granted the opportunity to attend the 1st Regional Training on Monitoring and Evaluation in Disaster Risk Management and Unstable Environment in Bangkok, and later relocated to the country office with an extended contract.
Working on the UNDP ER&DRM project is a very valuable experience. On one hand, it gives me an opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge about UN, its mission, role, practices, and the way it works. On the other hand, this comprehensive programme provided me insights into various areas of development including disaster reduction, livelihood, gender, community level democracy, environment, culture, infrastructure, etc. As this programme is managed by UNDP, but implemented by government partners, I gained the experience of coordinating with government partners and understood the importance of impact on policy-making. It was during this experience that I realized the importance of a general knowledge of the development covering different aspects of human society and environment in large, and I consider a good full-time master's programme the most efficient and effective way against other possible ways.
Once I made the decision in August, I quickly started preparation and took the required exams. I have reviewed the Master in International Development programmes offered by various universities, and I come to the conclusion that SIPA has the best for me. With the intention to be an excellent development practitioner rather than a researcher, I weight very much how the programme combines academic and practical experiences, and addresses the key issues in real projects. The MPA-DP programme offered by SIPA shows clear emphasis on practical outcomes, and mandated a summer field internship which I highly appreciate. SIPA encourages students to seek opportunities to utilize the knowledge acquired even if the programme will be extended best fits my plan to have one year full-time working during my study. SIPA's prominent faculty, Earth Institute and its close collaboration with UN are a peerless advantage in MDP programmes and provide students with the comprehensive resource. It is also an opportunity to have intellectual collision with people from all walks of life, and contribute my experience in China.
I have no doubt that SIPA MPA-DP programme will meet the criteria of intellectual rigor that I have set for myself, for my education, and for those I intend to serve.
Describe a conversation or experience that challenged your beliefs or caused you to reevaluate your perspective on life. (300 word)
Many people asked me why I changed my course of life at age of 29 devoting to a completely different field, it is a long story.
Since childhood I have made the decision to live a life valuable to others. When I naively made the plan that get rich first and then contribute to the charity, the sudden death of a young colleague and good friend changed my perspective. It was an unexpected tragedy which manifested how fragile life can be. I then started to ask myself, what if I die someday much earlier than I expected? Would I say that I have contributed to the society? Would I say that I have left some positive impact on the earth? Would I say that my life is valuable for the world? Would I be shameless when I face Christ? I had all "No" answers, and I realized that I was on the different way than I wanted to be on. To make contribution and bring positive impact doesn't necessarily take a wealth, but it does take a heart, dedication, and the courage to conquer the challenges on the way, and sustain hope in desperate situations.
With this changed perspective about how to live a meaningful life, I gave up the promising future in business world and entered the development world with full-hearted courage and enthusiasm. I know I want to DO it, and I want to do it WELL.
Please share any additional information about yourself that you believe would be of interest to the Admissions Committee. Please focus on information that is not already reflected in the other parts of your application or might not be clear in the information submitted. (200 word)
I considered my undergraduate transcript my weakest point in the application. I didn't perform well for the first 3 semesters due to the big frustration caused by the poorly designed curriculum. When I graduated from high school, I had clear expectations for college, such as a vibrant pedagogy, up-to-date theories, international perspective, etc., but the curriculum turned out to be engineering centered and memorization exams oriented. My motivation to excel at the assigned courses was largely dampened. So I started auditing courses which I considered more useful. To develop international perspective, I kept reading newspapers on international relationships and business and frequently discuss with foreign teachers and students. I decided to study harder when more management courses were offered; however, it is not represented in the transcript because 85 could be the highest score in class and many of the grades were just Pass or Fail as our program didn't consider them that important.
Despite all the reasons I mentioned above, I regretted that I also didn't do well in the economics and mathematics courses which are really important. I then reviewed economics on my own and kept doing math exercise because my job didn't involve enough quantitative tasks.
To be fully prepared for the rigor programme at SIPA, I plan to follow online courses on economics and mathematics before enrollment or register for the summer session if necessary.
