|
|
 UNDERGRADSMain Page2007 RankingsAdmissions Q&AsCareer Q&AsUndergrad ForumReading ListRecruiter Q&AsSchool Report CardsSchool ToursUndergrad 24-7Undergrad VideosNews HeadlinesPREMIUM CONTENT
| |
MBA INSIDER: SAMPLE APPLICATION ESSAYS BYU (Marriott): Essay 1
I plan for the mission of the church and the goals of the MBA program to play out through me in the actions, experiences and people that I imagine in my "life vision." The concept of my "life vision" started in my adolescence. My parents and grandfather were a big part of this ongoing sculpting process. My parents always believed in me. They always encouraged, and supported me in my goals. I remember my mother regularly staying up into the night talking with me about my desires, my dreams, and stories of people in my life.
My mother used to say, most kids bring home stray dogs and cats, but I would bring home stray kids. In hindsight, it seems to be true. I guess I was always a champion of those left out. My grandfather further impacted me with the only letter he wrote me while I was serving a two-year church mission in Argentina. In his own rite, he had quite a personal "life vision". He was a hermit of sorts and spent his last years writing and philosophizing, absorbed by his pursuits of ontology, which is concerned with the nature, and existence of being. He graduated in 1967 with BYU's first ever dual PhD in Philosophy and Ancient Eastern Religion. He told me in that letter, among other things, that he had a vision of me, and that he felt I would become a great ambassador some day. I always thought it interesting that he spent his life trying to understand and express the importance of human existence and that somehow, his studies may have given him a more intimate understanding of my importance and potential.
Since that letter, I have been trying to better understand my grandfather's vision for me. I knew that some ambassadors were foreign diplomats and I also knew its basic definition to be one sent to serve and represent a great cause to others. I haven't figured everything out about this idea of ambassadorship, but it feels right and the idea of leading and bringing others along is what I would like to do with my life. For the last eight years since that letter, I think time and time again about the quest of becoming a great ambassador, the accomplishment of which will be the capstone of my "life vision." My BYU experience has been an important part of this quest to understand ambassadorship. It has been a time of much self-discovery as I have experienced the melding of spiritual and secular truths. I listened to Elder Henry B. Eyring, a church apostle, speak about this principle to a group of BYU student leaders. He reminded us of the importance of our example and that the spiritual and secular are melded together as we apply the spiritual to understand the secular. On occasion, while studying, I have felt an extra bit of comprehension because of the spirit that was in a classroom. And beyond the classroom, we have an obligation to bless others lives and affect them for good. Personally, the melding of the spiritual and secular that happens at BYU is one of the main reasons I want to continue my MBA here. Afterward, in my business career, these classroom experiences of applying the spiritual to the secular will guide my ethical and moral principles. My peers won't feel religion pushed on them, but they will recognize my leadership and know me as a man of integrity. This commitment to high ethical and moral standards is the foundation of my "life vision". Along with the great opportunity of attending BYU comes the realization that I am taking a seat that many others long and wish for. Most of the people I taught in Argentina had no access to an advanced college education but they all knew about BYU and longed to study here. I can see the faces of these people. I can hear their voices. I remember their dreams and while I can't help all of them now, I feel motivated by them and someday hope my experience at BYU touches their lives by something I do for them. I realize I have a great opportunity, and I want to seize this chance to learn and be taught by some of the world's greatest faculty. I am committed to making a difference for the people of Argentina and others like them. Serving these people make up part of my "life vision". Later, after my career has matured, I want to do many things; most of which don't deal with business or money. I want to give back to the people, communities and universities that affected me for good. I want to be remembered as a good person who rewarded others for their effort and hard work. I want to be remembered as kind and caring. Maybe someday I'll discover that I have become a great ambassador and maybe I'll realize that that just means I was a great leader and friend to others. Maybe someday all those stray kids I brought home will remember me as the person who gave them a chance, who gave them hope and who helped them write their own great "life vision." 
BW MALL
SPONSORED LINKS
Buy a link now!Get BusinessWeek directly on your desktop with our RSS feeds.  Add BusinessWeek news to your Web site with our headline feed. Click to buy an e-print or reprint of a BusinessWeek or BusinessWeek Online story or video. To subscribe online to BusinessWeek magazine, please click here. Learn more, go to the BusinessWeekOnline home page  | | AUGUST Learn about your online education options |
 Copyright 2003, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.Terms of Use | Privacy Policy |
MBA Insider
Printer-Friendly Version
