¶ … pursuing an MBA degree at this time in your life? What characteristic about Pepperdine's program made you decide to apply to Pepperdine specifically? What expectations do you have of Pepperdine's MBA program?
In this ever shifting world where the only constant thing is change, with the gradual rise and fall of business and economy and the stiff competition among professionals, one must be able to value what quantity of knowledge he has attained and acquired. It is at this point in time wherein individuals must consider all necessary aspects and phases in his life and career. It is at that instance to broaden the horizon in terms of wisdom and education. I maintain that timing is everything in all of my endeavors.
"Take time to deliberate, but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in." --Andrew Jackson, U.S. President
After long deliberation in pressing through with these plans and notions, sorting out all reason and logic, I have decided to enter into this sincere attempt to pursue an MBA degree at Pepperdine University. I believe that this is the best time! The decision to enter such a program is based far more on my personal needs than larger economic or social trends. Stimulated by my motivation to enhance and augment my skills and emerge as a better equipped and a well-developed manager at the end of the course.
Pepperdine University is one of the most committed institutions of learning in the country today. Pepperdine as a Christian University embraces its dedication to impart the highest standards of academic excellence and Christian values as part of its mission. It is where "students are strengthened for lives of purpose, service, and leadership"(Pepperdine University Mission
Statement)
Pepperdine is a learning institution anchored on its faith to God affirmed through its statement that,
God is revealed uniquely in Christ and that freedom, whether spiritual, intellectual, or economic, is indivisible. That knowledge calls, ultimately, for a life of service.
Such assertions have influenced my belief that Pepperdine is committed to academic excellence in the framework of Christian values. The institution is value centered concentrating on the core principles, morals, ethics and ideals of its acumen. With the kind of direction that Pepperdine is trying to uphold among its faculty, staffs and student, deeply encouraged me to pursue an MBA degree at Pepperdine. My expectations on the MBA program at Pepperdine cross the margins of all boundaries of learning, experience and accumulated norms. The program is premeditated to help build on the foundation obtained in the BSM program by sharpening the core business skills and develop an extensive level of proficiency and capability at the MBA level.
My faith towards the institution and all of its program relies primarily on the perception of George Pepperdine, who Established the University in 1937, on his original statement of purpose which still reverberate the mission of the university:
"Therefore, as my contribution to the well-being and happiness of this generation and those that follow, I am endowing this institution to help young men and women prepare themselves for a life of usefulness in this competitive world and to help them build a foundation of Christian character and faith which will survive the storms of life."
And so I will.
2. How will your work and extracurricular background contribute to your own learning in the program and to the learning experience of your classmate? What would you contribute to the small interactive learning environment of this program? What characteristics differentiate you from other applicants to this program?
In a garment factory wherein everybody, from the director of operations, the manager, its subordinates and staff, down to the last employee tasked in doing major and minor work loads plays an important role in the whole company operations. Each one contributes his or her skills and know-how in developing, processing and eventually distributing the company's product portfolio. Individuals recognized by all the needed skills and talent to push through with the company's goal to produce high quality products are handling every minute detail in the progression of operations. It is thus, fitting and proper to state that each of these workers are significantly connected, linking all the essential knowledge and skills as a team, that without them the company would not be of existence.
Experience is the greatest teacher, as I recall. It is through this that all of the abilities and the proficiency...
Such attained ability could be employed and be fused in all aspect of life. Learning through experience is gaining an edge over those who are not yet exposed to it.
All of this experiences that I gained from my company, all the skills, both technical and practical proficiency in my duty as a Quality Control Assistant Manger, shall constitute a vital factor in my learning experience in the program. The familiarity in interacting with individuals may be of much significant use, since, within the said program, interaction is part of the basic fundamentals of management. Networking with the peers of the program brings harmony to the small environment. Such that it is quite essential that communication be always present amongst the members. It is by principle that in this condition that team spirit and harmonious relationship must be always present. Part of my responsibilities in my work is that all of the mentioned conditions above must be always put into practice so that the required outcome of the whole process of operations would be met accordingly by the standards of my company. It is these qualities of being a leader I can impart to all of my classmates and members of the program.
As mentioned, the vast experience I gained from my work, in my perspective, gives me an edge over other applicants. The sense of responsibility and well being for my work and for my team is a characteristic that is a "must" for aspiring managers of a company. The perseverance to achieve the required quality of work and the motivation to succeed is essential to my character. Thus I make it a point to adhere to this distinctiveness. I implore strict guidelines in myself to follow all the prescribed norms that are much expected to the position I am tasked and future positions that I aspire. The ability to grasp the attention of my co-workers, subordinates and managers is part of the good interpersonal relationship that I am enjoying and plan to utilize in my entry to Pepperdine's MBA program.
In summary, my work has been my training ground, the place where I honed all my abilities and talent through all my experience, the environment where I learned how to interact with people to impart amongst my future classmate and peers in the program and the stimuli that motivated me to persevere in aspiring for an MBA degree at Pepperdine University. That I will.
3. Describe a situation of learning experience that significantly changed your current goals or outlook in life. When describing the situation, include the actions you took and the results of those actions and describe how they led to changing your goals or outlook on your career.
It is the common perspective of everyone, especially to those individuals working in a company, to progress up the "corporate ladder," so to speak. With the same notion in mind, I went to work for different companies looking for the best position where I would gain more through the different types of tasks that I would be assigned. These experiences led me through different obstacles.
The kind of relationship I would be building with my co-workers. Initially, I had some difficulty to adopt in the new environment I was in. Much so, with the different personalities surrounding the work environment, I was unable to relate with my co-workers due to clashes of character, ideals and principles towards different issues in the company. With such predicament at hand, I started motivating myself to learn to interact with individuals in order to harmoniously operate the entire task assigned for, as a team. The actions that I took was to explore the different personalities of each of my members, may it be my manager or my subordinate. This directed me to learn to understand different situation, opened my mind for different ideas and respect each ones thoughts and opinion. This then led me to learn the basic fundamentals in managing personnel and individuals with utmost control not compromising the respect and trust we implore with each other. With such learning experience I developed the confidence and build my leadership qualities in the company. These characteristics that I build were then recognized by my superiors thus assigning me for bigger responsibilities in different positions in the company.
Experiences in multi-tasking enabled me to learn how to manage time properly. At first, with the higher position that I handled, with all of the needed work to be done following all of the companies expectations and standards, I had certain difficulty in managing my time and priorities. I asked my manager the question "how will I be able to finish…
