Personal Statement

to follow my inner voice

When it comes to the critical moment for me to attempt at a major decision-making --- for me, the decision in this instance is to pursue a Mater‘s Degree leading to a Ph.D. Program in the field of organizational communication --- whose impact on my future life and future career will be unmistakably enduring, a voice deep inside me keeps reminding me that it is of paramount importance to ferret out where my gifts and talents genuinely inhabit, what genuinely constitutes my line of interest, and how I can genuinely indulge in the joy of doing what I really like.

the rewarding academic efforts i made as an undergraduate

As the second top student at the fiercely competitive National Entrance Examination in the Wuxi City where 10000 students sat for the examination that year, I entered Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFLU) for which I had cherished a long-standing yearning. In this most prestigious institution of foreign language education and cultural exchange in China, I developed a strong feeling that the liberal academic environment and exposure to western values characteristic of this university could provide me with an ideal milieu for study, an optimum arena to bring into full play my latent talents, and a mechanism to cultivate my international perspective and pluralistic value concept.

The advantage of the small-sized class at BFSU was to provide a large dimension for my personal development while the close communications and contacts with my teachers and classmates enabled me to present my distinctive perspectives within the shortest possible time concerning each topic assigned by the teacher and to participate in heated debates with them. In order to develop in-depth command of each topic, I paid weekly visits to the China National Library nearby to consult a large amount of relevant literature and reference materials for the purpose of substantiating or modifying my viewpoints. Over the past three years, my assiduous efforts at knowledge accumulation and my persistence in daily practice of communicating and exchanging ideas (sometimes in the form of fierce arguments and debates) with my partners who excel in oral English have helped me evolve a profound and perceptive understanding of the history, culture, political system, education, journalism, and religions of major English-speaking countries in the world, particularly the United States.

Having developed significant proficiency in English language, I opted for Spanish as my second foreign language as a major course. The general knowledge acquired through the learning of these two languages enabled a relatively systematic academic framework to take shape within my mind. The intensive reading sharpened my insight while extensive reading broadened my horizon. Apart from this "input" strategy of learning, I practiced the "output" strategy by doing many in-class presentations to arrive at flexible and comprehensive command of the complicated knowledge in humanities. Furthermore, I developed the habit of recording my mental orientations in detailed notes, examining my existing knowledge, conducting serious reflections and determining the course of action for the future. In this way, I kept consolidating my academic groundwork while effectively assimilating knowledge in new spheres.

With well-grounded personal qualities and highly competent language expressiveness, plus a multi-cultural awareness, I was assigned to act as English and Spanish interpreter and volunteer workers for many international expositions convened in Beijing. My exposure on those occasions to a wide diversity of knowledge outside my proper domain further spurred my eagerness to learn. As a result, each time I returned from my task, I would search for relevant courses to attend. Over the years, the optional courses directly or indirectly related to my major that I have attended include Economics, International Trade, International Relations, International Law, History of Western Philosophy and Culture, and Higher Mathematics (for which I achieved the examination score of 97 points). The successful completion of those coursework has tremendously enriched my knowledge structure, which also enabled me to secure my GPA as high as 3.5, ranking 34th among 160 students in my grade. I ranked among the top 10 in the National English Proficiency Test for Students of English Major (Band IV). My scholastic achievements brought me a succession of accolades and scholarships for the past three consecutive years, among which can be cited the most important honor Top Ten Outstanding Youth of BFSU in 2001.

my extracurricular achievements & tentative experiences in communication

Another way to enrich myself is to pursue a wide variety of interests that can keep me physically strong and intellectually sharp. I have been practicing ballet for 4 years and Chinese traditional dances for 6 years, an experience that has perfected my dancing performance and my skills of stage decor. Immediately after entering BFSU (which is reputed among major universities in Beijing for its quasi-professional quality of student art events), I was appointed minister of Art Association of the Students Union. As such, I have been responsible for planning and organizing a large-scale concert by leading singers from the Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan under the auspices of Sony Music Company. To publicize this event, I invited Beijing‘s mainstream media including Beijing TV Station and Beijing Youth Daily to give extensive coverage. As a correspondent for BFSU‘s campus newspaper, I also contributed a number of articles to University Students Magazine issued around Beijing.

Among all the important campus events that I have organized, the most sensational one was the First BFSU English Cultural Festival participated by more than 30 other universities in the capital city, with sponsorship from Warner Music China Entertainment Co. Ltd. It was under my canvassing that Warner Music China and Beijing Golden Insight Company agreed to sponsor this BFSU-based cultural event designed to popularize Euro-American culture and to promote the application of the English language. In return for their sponsorship, I brainstormed an Invitation Contest of English Songs by all-Beijing campus singers as the climatic closing ceremony of this cultural festival. At this contest, I incorporated all the latest Euro-American songs that Warner was trying to promote into the on-the-spot video, with special emphasis on the pluralism and the innovativeness of Warner music production. During this festival, I invited VIPs from American, Canadian and British embassies in Beijing to deliver serial lectures in BFSU on the cultures of their respective countries. The lectures constituted the highlights of this major event.

how i understand communication

The science of communication is a highly specialized subject, which poses stringent requirements of the practitioner of the profession. On the theoretical level, the practitioner must be able to present vivid verbal expressions, coherent logical reasoning, and erudite knowledge of background information. On the pragmatic level, communication calls for the integral fusion between the comprehensive information and the technical expertise in order to convey knowledge into all walks of life by means of communication technology. When applied to an enterprise, communication means high-level organization and coordination, interpersonal interaction and unified leadership. It is precisely this interplay between the individual and the group that plays a constructive role in facilitating the operation of the society as a whole. Meanwhile, it enables the society, which necessarily encompasses sophisticated relationships, to develop into a state of common understanding, unity, and dynamic equilibrium. Moreover, communication engenders multi-cultural integration and exchanges and leads to the optimum allocation of resources of human intelligence.

to follow the example of my role model

Five years ago, a young girl named Yan Lan who graduated from BFSU went to pursue advanced studies in mass communication in the Columbia University of the United States. Now she is a heavyweight in the East-Asian communication world, acting as the ambassador of cultural program for China‘s bidding of the 2008 Olympics and president of the Board of Directors of Sun TV. In the Yan Lan Studio, a serial TV program that she anchors, she has interviewed hundreds of world VIPs including former U.S. President George Bush, former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, and the just retired GE president Welch. All her achievements are closely connected with her experience of studying communication in the United States. In her, I can perceive the importance of first-rate professional trainings provided by an American university in shaping the success of an individual, especially that of a female professional. Ms Yan Lan has become an idol for all BFSU students, including myself.

In my prospective degree program, I would like to concentrate on the following aspects: interpersonal communication, organizational communication and mass communication. I am confident that my quality education in your university will endow me with the most advanced theoretical knowledge and professional qualifications to enable me scale new heights in my future career in China. I may not be able to start a TV station as Ms Yan Lan does, but I can establish my own consultation company whereby to provide professional guidance to relevant organizations operating in the communication field. It is my conviction that my career plan and my professional counseling will be very meaningful, especially so when China has to be internationalized with its WTO accession.