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.
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