Starting with my journey in America, my personal statement reflects a path defined by faith and bravery during challenging times that has shaped my current position. Although this journey is ongoing, pursuing an MBA will certainly accelerate my progress. When I was sixteen years old, my family and I departed from the Philippines, where I was born, to immigrate to the United States in pursuit of the highly coveted American dream. As with any fresh start, I encountered obstacles and underwent a myriad of emotions regarding my new homeland.
Despite my reservations about fitting into a new culture and being accepted by unfamiliar friends, my excitement for the American dream motivated me to keep moving forward. I embraced the challenges that came my way with a strong determination to succeed. As a junior at Glendora High School, one of the obstacles I encountered was not speaking English fluently because of my accent, which made me sound different. To overcome these barriers in language and culture, I made the decision to join different sports teams, such as varsity swimming.
Every morning in winter, I would wake up at dawn for my swimming practices, braving the bone-chilling weather. This challenging experience helped me develop strength and shape my character. Additionally, I took part in swimming camps during the off-season, which facilitated my transition to the Varsity team in my senior year. As a result, I was honored with the “Most Improved Swimmer” award. Through swimming, I became more focused on setting and achieving goals, intensified my competitive spirit, adopted a healthier lifestyle, enhanced my social skills, and gained self-confidence. Following graduation from high school , I pursued a bachelor’s degree in marketing management at Cal Poly Pomona.
During my junior year of college, I effectively handled a busy schedule of sixteen units on a quarter system. Despite having two jobs, working at Vitamin World and American Eagle Outfitters brought me great satisfaction as they matched my passion for fitness and fashion. Additionally, I undertook a marketing internship for General Motors at Cal Poly while simultaneously serving as a sales counselor at Bally Total Fitness. Although managing work and studies presented various difficulties, I stayed committed and persevered.
However, this experience was a positive influence that helped me develop the strength I needed to succeed in my professional sales career. Despite facing challenges, I persevered and graduated with a bachelor’s degree in four years. During that time, I was also promoted to assistant manager at Bally’s within ten months. My experience in high-pressure sales at Bally’s and the marketing skills I gained from GM’s internship enabled me to secure a job at Enterprise-Rent-A-Car. At Enterprise-Rent-A-Car, I had the opportunity to engage in strong business-to-business interactions and utilize my strong people skills to achieve the best possible results. This was further reinforced through the Jungian Personality self-assessment.
Starting as a management trainee, I achieved a remarkable milestone of winning six MVP titles while undergoing job training. This outstanding accomplishment led to my promotion to account executive within just one year. My enthusiasm and fascination towards AstraZeneca, my current employer, stemmed from their focus on disease states like the cardiac and respiratory systems, which align with my interests and passion. Despite lacking a scientific background, I found the training process challenging.
Hard work and perseverance have always been an asset of mine, aiding me in overcoming limitations. I worked diligently to gain extensive clinical knowledge and effectively apply it in my sales endeavors. This effort yielded results, as I was acknowledged by the company for my exceptional performance with the “Leader Among Peers” award among fifty other employees in my training class. Currently, my job is not only fulfilling but also socially rewarding since I am contributing to offering solutions that enhance people’s quality of life.
Given the constant changes in my field, I am convinced that obtaining an MBA degree will significantly improve my abilities as a pharmaceutical sales representative through the acquisition of advanced knowledge and its practical application. Pursuing an MBA will allow me to achieve two key objectives:
- career advancement within my company with the end in view to taking on specialty sales or new leadership roles;
- Open new opportunities within the medical field sales.
With the aim of building a solid and successful career in health care management, I am fully focused on these goals.
Having gained extensive work experience and faced various challenges in life, I believe that I have acquired the maturity and stability necessary to comprehend and meet the demands of an MBA program. Moreover, given my consistent performance in my current job, I feel that now is the ideal moment to embark on an MBA journey that I am prepared for and capable of managing. Upon conducting thorough research on different graduate schools, I found that your university’s mission and program align perfectly with my aspirations. The university’s esteemed reputation, outstanding faculty, convenient location, and exceptional value are the key factors that led me to choose the University of Phoenix as my preferred institution.
With my diverse background and strong people skills, I can contribute my experience in global marketing classes and knowledge of conducting business in Asian culture. Additionally, I am willing to share my sales knowledge, hard work, and proven success with my class members. Overall, I have a successful track record, am capable of multi-tasking while maintaining work-life balance, and with an MBA, I believe my path towards achieving the American dream will be even smoother as I establish a successful career in pharmaceutical sales.
