personal statement2

Essay 1: Describe an event or episode that either gave you a chance to use a personal strength, or revealed a personal weakness. Then explain specifically how the MPP (or overall curriculum for Non-Degree applicants) at HKS would leverage your distinctive abilities and/or fill gaps in your skill set as you equip yourself for your career goals. (600 word limit)

Last year, I attended a national conference for college students. Its topic was to inspire youth talent and make use of it in public welfare field. During the three days, we attended powerful speeches, listened to brilliant ideas of non-profit organizers, and exchanged our own thoughts toward innovation in social welfare projects.

One of the tasks in this conference was to design a project that fits the reality of your own community within 45 minutes. The winning project would be funded by several foundations and CSR(company social responsibility department) in enterprises. The projects had to align with 17 Sustainable Development Goals that the UN put forward in 2015.

At that time, I was running a college public-welfare organization and I had four projects in design stage. The issues included quality education, gender equality, organic agriculture, and the care of autistic children. In order to win the prize, I evaluated these four  topics and realized that the project focused on gender equality would have the biggest chance to win, given that half of the jury was involved in the women’s empowerment program.

After deciding to focus on this topic, our group listed all the elements included in the project design: name, theme, form, target group, timeline, budget, related events and potential sponsors. We discussed these 8 parts in proper order. We decided upon “Sexual assault” as our main theme and primary school students as the target group according to gender education reports by UN. Then we searched on the internet to find successful examples used to teach primary school students. After 45-minutes of  preparation, I presented our project in front of the jury and was excited to hear our group’s name announced for the first prize.

And although, we won the prize, when we put the project into operation it became hard to control. I had to admit something we hadn’t thought about when we designed it, (like the sponsor resources, the society recognition, the less school cooperation and the less professional volunteers…. Though the project was completed,  I did not think it was finished perfectly and I had much to learn.

That’s why I want to join your program. I believe HKS can provide me with the long-term thinking element and all the experience I would need in my future career path in the NGO field. The theory and opportunities to practice should help students like me to think more profoundly and practically. For my strengths, I think HKS values students have systematic thinking also the break-the-usual bravery.  I believe sincerely that I can benefit from the HKS program and hope I am afforded the chance to be admitted in the degree program in the area of public policy (MPP) offered by your school for the Academic Year 2018-2020.

Silent Beauty

Nature doesn’t speak up. It just displays its beauty wordlessly. The universe outside our atmosphere, the other mysterious world, has so much attraction to both a little 5-year-old girl and a 20-year-old adult. Despite the fact that it was two weeks ago, I still remember my shock at seeing this splendid nature and the beauty of the night’s sky full of stars..

Chatting with my friend who came to Yale last summer, I learned of  a secret spot where once I heard about it I screamed - Leitner Family Observatory and Planetarium. The shining stars, the romantic stories behind the dark sky, the sparkling planets… All of them were twinkling their eyes and saying to me: “We shall see  you on Tuesday.”

Before we left that Tuesday night  I was waiting restlessly for the tweet to announce whether it was a pleasant day to observe or not. At approximately 3pm, a new tweet arrived:” 7/5: Partly clear skies tonight; we'll have telescopes set up around 9pm for viewing of Jupiter, Mars, and Saturn. ” I was too excited to hold my phone. At dusk, after we finished the last class of the day, Ingrid and I couldn’t wait for our  adventure to start in search of the the planetarium.

It is a long walk to the planetarium so we walked fast with only about 20 minutes before the show. Finally, after this sweaty walking, we found a green area with a tiny but elegant building and some kids’ playing. It was a quiet but vivid place ringing with kids’ laughter and I just couldn’t believe I was finally  at the planetarium I had heard about so many months before.

We pulled the door cautiously and found all the astronomy equipment inside. In a few steps we found the entrance of the observatory. Two huge telescopes were standing on the corners of the observatory stage and three smaller ones were between them. The sky was dark with a few stars in the beginning. However, as time passed, brighter stars showed their faces and smiled to me.

The staff of the planetarium was kind and gentle. They explained every question from tourists and comforted naughty kids with stories of stars. The story one professor told us really touched my heart:” Since I got my first little telescope at the age of five, I haven’t left this beautiful sky ever.”

On the way we back, the marvelous stats and the touching spirits continued to impress me. (Someone I did remember said?):” Two things fill my mind with ever-increasing wonder and awe, the more often and the more intensely the reflection dwells on them: the starry heavens above me and the moral law within me.”

After seeing this natural beauty with by own eyes, I realized a  secret of nature: it willingly shows its beauty, but it doesn’t show off.

Personal Statement

It is passion that is the most important characteristic for a person to achieve success in public administration. Only this quality can overcome the many challenges and obstacles. As a student majoring in Public Administration who has devoted much time to volunteer projects, I experienced the challenging conditions of  NGO growth. Never did I want  to give up hope in lightning the way to  non-profit programs with like-minded companions. With dreams to fulfill, I am writing to apply for the degree program in the area of public policy (MPP) offered by your school for the Academic Year 2018-2020.

Though I am not a religious person “let there be light” is a sentence that  is carved into my philosophy from the journey into the  public welfare system, both academic and practical.

This journey started with a voluntary teaching job in a poor primary school in Beijing. I always receive inspiration from the voluntary spirits in non-profit projects. As soon as I had chances to be a volunteer in my college, I did not hesitate to sign up for this opportunity. Though other volunteers quit halfway, I remained committed to finishing my work in the primary school for children of migrant workers. I taught English and painting lessons every Wednesday and Saturday. The desire for knowledge and caring in these kids’ inner heart moved me. I always remember one little boy who hugged me after I finished my last lesson in his class. I felt inner peace for I knew I had lit up a part of his world.

After the first year of basic required courses, I started my professional academic education. The main courses included: Micro and Macro Economy, Political Science, Sociology, Public Policy, Constitution, Administrative Law, Human Resources Management, SPSS, Social Research Methods. Every lecture encouraged me to reflect on my previous thinking of public welfare. With the curiosity and pursuit of knowledge, I worked dedicatedly and remained in the top 1% of the class in those specialized courses.

Du Fu, a brilliant Chinese ancient poet, wrote ,“What's learned from books is superficial after all. It's crucial to have it personally tested somehow.” With elementary frameworks of public administration knowledge and volunteer experience, I started my own students’ volunteer organization with friends who were equally dedicated. One goal for those projects was to address the real social issues and satisfy the true demands of recipients. Therefore, instead of beginning our projects immediately, my friends and I completed the marketing research first. We interviewed the students we taught, teachers, parents, volunteers, leaders of NGOs, professors, CSRs and other stakeholders. Focusing on four areas (education, environment, autism, gender equality), we designed five different projects to meet multiple social needs. 

We acknowledged it was confidence that students we taught most urgently needed. Most of the children were not willing to express their ideas (in front) of public. A girl in Grade 4 told me she was terrified to stand on the stage. To suit this need, we designed courses aimed at improving those students’ confidence using speech lessons, simple presentation, and performing arts opportunities among others. Always aware of the limitation of our courses content, we built the feedback and reflection system for all stakeholders and adjusted to their advice with caution. After running our organization for a half year, we saw a gradual improvement in those children and I then became determined to follow this path for my life.

Education is (also) life-long. I attended a competition for analyzing public welfare cases in the Guanghua School of Management in Peking University. We picked “Roots & Shoots” as the analyzing case in terms of organization vision, project operation, human resources, financial sustainability and customer relationship management. This competition awoke my ability of evaluation and investigation and made me aware of the drawbacks I still need to overcome. I emerged with the idea to master this field and since then The Goldman School of Public Policy has become my academic paradise.

With my own experience of operating a public-welfare organization and the many interviews with leaders of NGOs in China, I recognize the challenging atmosphere and imperfect public policy for NGO’s  sustainable development. Standardize NGO regulations; mature Public-Private Partnership (PPP) system and mindset of the substantial impact of society management are all part of social welfare elements. Professor Jane Mauldon impresses me with her abundant experience in the social welfare field, serving as the chair of UC Berkeley’s Committee for the Protection of Human Subjects. I have enough confidence to pursue my academic achievements under her guidance and turn the theory I know into practical actions.