[推荐]Sample Essay 5: Duke

Question: Describe your professional work experience since earning your bachelor's degree and discuss how you chose your career path. (Limit response to 500 words, double spaced)

Question: What are your short and long term career goals once you earn your MBA? Why are you interested in the Fuqua School of Business and how will The Duke MBA help you reach your goals?

My career aspiration is to be a Senior Vice President of Marketing for a large enterprise, or a medium enterprise with significant growth potential. Ideally, I will manage marketing, including demand generation, communications, analyst interactions and press relations, and integrate the marketing function into a cohesive strategy for the entire organization. However, management is only part of my aspiration; I also want to build a team of professionals with great potential and help develop each person to the best of his or her abilities. Success will be assessed in two parts ?the first element will be dependent on the success of the organization overall. The second element will occur after I am Senior VP, as the team of individuals each go on to achieve his or her goals.
Before becoming a Senior VP of Marketing, I look forward to continuing my career path as Marketing Manager in gradually more challenging roles, moving towards Senior Manager and Director. Hopefully, these roles will combine supervising more people and directing larger marketing campaigns and efforts. Important short-term goals for me are to seek out opportunities to learn more about management and to build relationships with successful marketing leaders.
To realize my aspirations, I will need core skills in marketing that I do not possess today. Much of my experience is practical, and gained through "trial-by-fire". Missing from my education are the foundational marketing concepts and theories upon which practical experience is built, as well as the basics of business essential to performing as an executive. I strongly believe that an MBA is the right way for me to gain this knowledge. Just as there is no substitute for experience, there is no substitute for the classroom environment. In this atmosphere, I'll have the opportunity to gain an unparalleled competency in marketing and business. However, theoretical knowledge is only one requirement. To realize my goals I'll also need to develop my potential as a leader ?which is why I'm applying to Fuqua School of Business. The school employs the techniques necessary to teach students how to observe and act on the world ?positively impacting those around them. The reason why I am pursuing an MBA now is because I am nearing a plateau in my personal development. I've had the chance to learn much about leadership through experience, such as the necessity of commitment, prioritization and coming together as a cohesive group. Continuing in this vein, my new position is providing me the chance to learn how to be a great manager of tasks and people, but I'll need more to achieve my ambitions. I look to an MBA to help move me from marketing manager to organization leader.

Question: Outside of your professional persona, who are you? Please note this essay is intended to get a sense of your personality and potential contribution to the Fuqua culture.

When I leave work, I go home to what I consider my greatest accomplishment ?my family. Every day, I learn more about balance and prioritization not from some project management class or cross-functional meeting, but from my husband and my daughter. As important as this application is to me and my goals, I started tonight by having dinner with the family and giving my daughter a bottle and a bath. Admittedly, I didn't cook dinner and we ordered from a local Chinese restaurant with wonderful Sesame Chicken. I believe that it's OK to be unconventional. I may never be the perfect mother, but as long as I ensure that we provide the best environment for raising our daughter and that we spend quality time with her and each other, it doesn't matter.
When I'm not filling out business school applications, I also hang out with friends. Sometimes we go to the gym, sometimes we gather the kids and have play dinners and sometimes, after the children and husbands have gone to bed, we go out for a beer. However, a typical night is more likely to revolve around my husband, and the two of us spending time together. We'll go for a walk with the stroller, or read a book together, or just lounge on the couch talking about our day. Prior to [deleted]'s birth I spent quite a bit of time with Junior League, but I've taken a leave of absence this year so as to spend more time with her, because family is my first priority.
It's extremely difficult to be a young mother, a wife and a friend, and still work effectively in a fast-paced and demanding industry. However, assuming these identities allows me to bring more to each role ?because I am unique in the way I perceive, approach, and solve problems.
For example, when study groups approach organizational behavior dilemmas such as work-life balance, I understand the issue. A group of single males can provide input on the potential impacts of a decision to organization members, whereas I appreciate different facets of the situation. To ensure organization success, one must vet recommendations with a diverse group mixing individuals of different races, genders and marital statuses, where all groups are important stakeholders. Analogous to organizations, a good business school will have a diverse group of students, to which I can add substantial value.
Another reason why I can add to value to the school is that I personally value working in groups. I think it is extremely important to put the team above the individual ?I cannot think of a single leader who succeeded in a vacuum. Because I value groups, I work hard to make sure that my personality facilitates cohesiveness in a team.
Cohesiveness can be hard to achieve: most people have good intentions, but divergent methods of how to tackle an issue. People are different ?we have different backgrounds, different experiences and different perceptions which lead us to different and conflicting methods of acting. I think that this is the most challenging aspect of working in a group, but most rewarding when recognized and leveraged.
Many times I've seen first-hand how disparate perceptions cause struggles and infighting, especially diverse teams. On one occasion, we found ourselves in a precarious situation and a team began disintegrating. The ultimate disconnect was between myself the other group leader; we had to build our relationship first to set the stage for the group. She was an open lesbian, which made it difficult to identify a common bond between the two of us. It took quite some time to recognize mutual interests, but we did through children ?I had my daughter and she and her partner had adopted two children from Eastern Europe. After several lunches of relating funny anecdotes of parenthood, we began to have a common framework, and our relationship became much stronger. This laid the foundation for appreciating each other's unique talents. On many points, I found her knowledge, insight and approach to be so dissimilar and complementary to my own that our combined efforts produced incomparable results. In this case, when our relationship improved, the group dynamics improved, and we were able to leverage the diversity of the team.
This personal value I place on teamwork and my unique life perspective among business students make me a rare candidate, and I feel strongly that I can contribute significantly to the learning environment at Fuqua School of Business.

Question: Outside of your professional persona, who are you? Please note this essay is intended to get a sense of your personality and potential contribution to the Fuqua culture. (Limit response to 750 words)

Often, people make judgments about others based upon perceptions and assumptions rather than taking the time to get to know them. When some people think of me, I imagine that they see my color, education, and outward appearance, but those factors say little to nothing about who I am. I am more than just a Black man. I am more than just a [school 1] and [school 2] alumnus. I am more than just a [detailed physical description]. I am a man characterized by his grounded nature, desire to be a role model, openness, and focus and I plan to use these traits to contribute to the experiences of my future classmates at the Fuqua School of Business.

"I'm from the [country] where everybody is broke, 'ya dig But that don't mean I'mma turn my back on my folks, 'ya dig" - Juvenile (of The Hot Boys), "'Ya dig"

I grew up in a rural area in Virginia. When I was young, I always felt like the underdog because of my small size, shyness, and humble financial status. Since leaving my hometown, this mindset has allowed me to remain grounded and has motivated me to become involved in a variety of activities that many of my peers would not consider. For example, one of my organizations, [deleted], solicits its members on a weekly basis to work at a soup kitchen for homeless women at a church in Washington DC. Many members decline this opportunity because of the menial nature of the work or because they consider the task to be beneath them, but my background gives me a different view of things. While I was growing up, my family struggled financially and there were times when I feared we would lose our home. Remembering those fears makes me identify with the women who frequent the soup kitchen and motivates me to volunteer my time with the program as regularly as I can.

While growing up, the majority of my family and friends were either in strictly blue-collar or non-business/technical careers, so I did not have many role models in my pursuit of higher education and success in business and technology. Now, I feel that it is my duty to be a role model and positive influence in the lives of others to share the benefits of the blessings that have been bestowed upon me.

"My peoples all shapes and colors?My peoples will always remain, Remain with a story to tell" - DJ Jazzy Jeff featuring Raheem, "My People"

I really enjoy interacting with people from different backgrounds. Before entering [school 1], I had primarily interacted with only Caucasian- and African-Americans, so I held many misconceptions about people who came from different backgrounds. I made assumptions based on stereotypes and stories that I had heard and believed those assumptions to be factual. [school1] provided my first experience with diverse groups of people and I was amazed at how much and how quickly I learned from my classmates. Since then, I focused on meeting a variety of people and finding out what they have to offer. I believe that everyone has an interesting story to tell, so I do not discriminate when it comes to meeting others. I look at people in terms of their strength of character and personality rather than their color, education, occupation, or intellect. I am as likely to have a meaningful conversation with a janitor as I am to have one with a Nobel laureate. To me, every new friend represents a chance for a new learning experience, so I try to associate with as diverse a group of people as possible.

"I'm focused, man" - Jay-Z, "Best of Me (remix)"

Once I set a goal for myself, I become completely driven to achieve that aim. Whether pursuing a graduate degree while working full-time, volunteering at a soup kitchen, or improving my play on the basketball court, I devote as much attention as possible to the cause before me. At times, it can be challenging to remain focused on a variety of activities. However, especially after attending graduate school and working simultaneously, I have learned to maintain a balance amongst achieving all of my goals and spending time with my family and friends.

Question: Describe your professional work experience since earning your bachelor's degree and discuss how you chose your career path. (Limit response to 500 words)

In 1992, I saw a movie called "The Lawnmower Man" and, while the movie's plot line was less than impressive, its special effects captivated me. The colors, animation, and computer graphics were unlike anything I'd ever seen before. At that point, my love for technology was born. Over the next three years, I took each Computer Science class offered by my high school. Before I even began college, I knew my career interests lay in technology. When I sat down to watch that movie, I had no idea that it would have any lasting effects on my life, but it indirectly has led to my career choice.

Both my educational and professional experiences have not only increased my technical competency, but also prepared me to meet my long-term career goal of being a senior executive in a technology-oriented company. My undergraduate studies in Computer Science at [deleted] University provided the theoretical basis for embarking upon a career in software development. Working as a Software Developer at [Company 1], a technology consultancy that developed eBusinesses for companies in industries, ranging from telecommunication to major league sports, cultivated my Java programming skills. My final assignment at [Company 1] was as a member of the team that created MLB.com, which proved to be very rewarding. I started that assignment by designing and implementing a back-end messaging system that drove online ticket sales for MLB.com. Then, I transitioned into the Quality Assurance Testing lead for instances of my team's components at four major league baseball teams. In this role, I was able to work directly with our client's senior management in addition to employing my technical abilities.

Since joining [Company 2] as a Software Engineer on its Department of Defense (DoD) Metadata Registry project team, I have been able to gain intimate knowledge of each stage of the software development lifecycle, including requirement analysis, design, implementation, testing, and deployment. Initially, my work focused strictly on Java development, but, three months later, I began designing back-end software components of the system. After a year on the project, I accepted the role of Release Manager, which exposed me to post-implementation testing and deployment activities. Four months ago, I accepted an additional role as Requirements Manager and have been involved with the in-depth analysis of system requirements that had previously been handled by the team's technical lead. This practical experience in academic and professional software development has given me an understanding of the processes that are necessary to build a technology product from start to finish. This understanding will be of critical strategic importance as I continue to develop the skills necessary to lead a major technology organization.

As I look toward the future, I am confident that my studies and work experience have combined to create the strong foundation of domain knowledge that I can build upon to reach my goal of leading a technology-focused company.

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