College for Waseda University in Japan - Admission/Application Essay Example

Introduction I am a 20 year old budding youth with dreams in my eyes, lots of hope and determination to do something constructive for the society in general, for my parents & family and for myself in particular. I pursued my grade 9 and 10 studies in the states. Inspired from the likes of Sir William Jones, Pope John Paul II, Pope Benedict XVI etc. I developed the inane desire of learning languages other than my native language Thai. But the desire got converted into a full fledged hobby when I studied Japanese in Japan for one and half year. But now the desire has taken the form of determination to learn more languages, so that I can become a polyglot as well. I sincerely feel that to knowing a new culture becomes lot easier if we can understand the native language and analyze the literature written in their own language. Pursuing higher studies and carrying out research will become easier for me if I get to more languages besides my native language and the lingua franca called ‘English’. My father is in the business of trading flours and starches. He has to deal with lot of Japanese companies and people during the business deals. I observed some such deal negotiations and came to the conclusion that the deal would’ve been less time consuming and more productive had there been similarity of languages on both sides. This triggered my desire to learn Japanese. It is worthwhile here to mention that, a language proficiency test, called Nikkyu, is held once a year to test the Japanese language skills. I have already passed the test. I firmly believe that I’ll be able to understand the richness of Japanese culture and traditions well once I polish my Japanese language skills further. Waseda-A Dream Destination for me Waseda University is Japan’s most prestigious private university, with more than 46,000 international students enrolled for different courses. The graduate school too has more than 8,000 students on its rolls. Therefore it’s indeed an attractive choice for a student like me. With a history of more than 125 years, the university aspires to ‘promote the practical utilization of knowledge and foster ways and means of utilizing knowledge side by side with the carrying on of academic research and learning, thereby contributing to the progress of civilization’. The university also underlines in its mission statement that, “To promote good citizenship, the University shall stress the building up of character which enables one to respect individuality, to enlighten oneself and ones family, to promote the welfare of state and society, and to extend ones influence and activity to the world at large.” English happens to be one of the languages encouraged in the campus. This will also help me in keeping in touch with English while learning Japanese. I plan to make my stay at Waseda University, a very lively experience. These are the formative years in one’s life and leave an indelible mark for the rest of the life. Therefore, it’ll be my Endeavour to make the stay at Waseda a unique learning experience. I’ve been planning for this stay for the last more than a year now. I learned the language from International School of Business for a year and half and also passed the ‘nikkyu’ proficiency test. I plan to pursue 4 years of study at Waseda. Japanese people are known to be very disciplined and workaholics. Concepts like Kaizen and Just in Time (JIT) are given to the world by the Japanese people. Japan is one of the most prosperous countries of the world, outdoing the growth rates shown by other countries in the Asia-Pacific region. Despite being devastated by the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in World War II, Japan has shown to the world its resilience to bounce back. I am therefore quite curious to know the ways and means of Japanese industrialists and business community. My four year study at Waseda will surely help me in understanding the nuances of business and industry from a Japanese perspective. During the study, I will get the opportunity to interact with many other students from different countries and regions. This will provide me a chance to know about their countries and cultures. Interaction with students from different language background will also help me in my resolve to learn more and more foreign languages. I plan to study business management, marketing techniques, economics and accounting at Waseda. Today we are living in a global village, with the policies of liberalization and globalization ruling the roost. In order to take on the competition, today price is not the only consideration, but value addition, quality and product differentiation have become the main weapons for taking on the competition. Expectations from an individual too are becoming more and more, as the human resource too is being considered a tool for value addition. During my study at Waseda, I therefore plan to make fullest use of the opportunity by learning the art of management to remain relevant for the industry. This will also help in providing me a better launch pad when I pass out from the university and start making use of my business skills. To start with, once I graduate from Waseda, I’ll be assisting my father in his business, and try to use the modern management techniques in taking the business to newer heights. During my 4 year stay at Waseda I’ll definitely try to further polish my Japanese skills and pass out the level-1 examination. English is of course the lingua franca of the world community, spoken and understood in almost all parts of the world. In fact, Japanese people too have started learning the language now. Interacting with large number of international students will provide me an opportunity to know more about the business scenario in their countries. Though my main purpose to be at Waseda is to learn and study, yet being from a business family I am already into business with my father. Therefore, I look forward to tap more international markets with the help of my new friends at Waseda campus. It might just be an exaggeration to say that I’ll be able to make a big mark to my business by such ventures, but surely this will provide me a first hand opportunity to implement the learning’s from Waseda and in understanding the intricacies of business negotiations. It will also give me immense pleasure to share my Thai culture with the students from international community and help me making more overseas friends. In a nutshell I can say that I am very much excited with the thought of joining Waseda in the company of many students from different parts of the world. Conclusion I am keenly looking forward for my tenure at Waseda, which is bound to provide a lift to all my spirits and plans for future. I feel quite excited with the thought of studying in the company of many international students and teachers with different cultural backgrounds. I am reasonably confident that I’ll be able to make friends with many of them, which will make my studies more interactive and help me in learning the art of management and business much more comfortably. Read More