Personal Statement

My heart has always held a deep longing to explore faraway lands and a desire to experience other cultures. I grew up in a city called Krasnoyarsk, in the center of Siberia. Ever since I was a young girl, I dreamed of traveling to other countries, but because I was born in a communist country, I was unable to pursue that dream. I quickly learned, however, that if one works hard and studies, there is little that is out of reach. As I have grown, that little girl with dreams of foreign lands has become an aspiring student of economics and business, but I still carry with me that same dream. I still wish for the opportunity to go abroad to complete my studies, and eventually, to work in an international business setting and play a productive role in the global community.

For much of my life, I have immersed myself in the study of English. As a small child, I entered a special elementary school which had a strong emphasis on English language studies, and I quickly became enamored with English media. In fact, I spent all of my free time reading English books, newspapers, and magazines, as well as watching English films. Soon I was accepted to an English school for extracurricular studies; it was the only English school in my city. We met twice a week and studied grammar, phonetics, and vocabulary, and I even had the opportunity to receive instruction from teachers from England and America. As my English improved, my teacher suggested that I participate in various competitions. I competed on the school, city, and region levels and took several first place awards. Because of my performance in one of the competitions, I received a scholarship to study in Australia for a semester when I was in the seventh grade. My parents decided that I was too young to go abroad for such a long period of time, but they agreed to send me to the United States for summer school. I spent two summers in at the University of Riverside staying with a local family and constantly practicing my English. While still enrolled in my school in Russia, I also took advantage of a valuable learning opportunity to attend Oxford summer school. I also broadened my horizons and learned about other histories and culture by going on educational trips to Italy and Greece. When it was time for me to begin my university studies, I had already developed a passion for economics. After gaining acceptance to the Moscow State University Higher School of Economics, I spent my subsequent university years engaged in an intense study of the economic field. During this time, I have learned much, but I have also realized that a vast sea of knowledge remains for me to explore. Economics is a rigorous discipline and I find myself fascinated by its intricacies and intellectual challenges. While in university, I gained practical experience by interning in a large company called "Norilskiy Nickel," whose stock is considered a blue chip on the international market. I also had another opportunity last year to apply my theoretical knowledge to business practice when I received an internship in KPMG, the Russian member firm of KPMG International. KPMG is the coordinating entity for a global network of professional services and firms, providing audit, tax, and advisory services, with a focus on industry. During my internship, I worked in an audit department. This experience introduced me to the in-depth study of the process of auditing financial institutions such as banks and large insurance companies and allowed me to take part in different audit procedures.

Having successfully completed my bachelor's degree, two paths lay before me. I could continue my studies, or I could pursue practical work experience in the economic field. After much contemplation, I decided that I needed to continue my studies if I wished to fully achieve my career goal to work productively in an international business setting. I decided to earn my master's degree first, but the idea of going abroad for my studies never left my mind. After consulting with my professors and doing some research on my own, I realized that the London School of Economics and Political Science is the ideal place for me to continue my studies. It would give me a chance to combine my passion for the study of economics as well as afford me many more opportunities for international work in the future.

I took a summer course at LSE and this course further convinced me that LSE would be a perfect place for me to study. The course I took