I still remember the first time when my high school mentor asked me a ‘where do you see yourself in 20 years’ question. I failed to give a clear answer then. This question has been asked frequently throughout my life, and I should confess that, for most of it, I haven’t been able to answer it. Surely, I just did not know myself then.
Since the elementary school, my interests have always been rather broad: I have been curious about a wide spectre of diverse subjects. This lead me to take both socio-economical and technical subjects at high school, for which my grades were mostly 8 out of 10. This left me with a difficult choice when I had to decide on a bachelor study. I have chosen the Process and Food Technology program because of its international classroom, strong connections to industry and a broad education in life sciences.
During my studies, what captivated me most was projects and subjects related to innovation and new products. It wasn’t until last year, when I had my internship at Unilever, that I realized what interests me is innovation processes and change. Seeing how novel systems and technologies have the potential to alter the world positively is something that will never cease to amaze me.
The latest industry project I worked on was the development of a micronutrient rich drink for elementary schools in The Netherlands; this project has huge potential with social implications. I volunteered to be the project manager. As a matter of fact, I was responsible for the project management as well as internal and external communication from the beginning. The end result was very positively received both by the PFT academic staff and the industry partner: the test batches will be made towards 2018.
When someone asks me now where I see myself in 20 years, I answer that I see myself managing innovational projects in food and food-related industries, investigating the market potential of new products and technologies and communicating these effectively to the general public and people with advanced technical knowledge. I believe that the socio-economical skills your academic program offers would be a valuable addition to the technical competencies I have developed during my bachelor studies at HHS in The Netherlands, that they would be very helpful to achieve my professional aspirations.
Due to my background in life sciences and practical experience with industry projects and working for Unilever, I think I would be a great addition to case studies and class discussions in your program.
I have a strong desire to help others because I believe the only way for the society to move forward is by helping each other.
I would be honoured to be accepted to the University of Edinburgh, not only because of the stellar reputation of this institution but also because of the rich cultural and historical heritage of the city itself, which I would love to explore.
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My personal statement to the University of Edinburgh, for the MSc programme 'Management of Bioeconomy, Innovation & Governance'. For which I have received an offer.
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