Samples Of Successful Harvard Business School Essays

engineer

The Hyperactive Engineer

 

I’m a person with many skills and personal attributes that go beyond the traditional MBA application but make a powerful and valuable contribution to my profile as an MBA candidate as well as the value I can add to my future classmates’ MBA experience.

Ever since I can remember, I’ve been a very curious person. My first toys were the Lego and mechanical building sort and I believe them to be the foundation to my practical and resourceful personality. As a child, I would spend hours going through my dad’s tool closet looking for the right tools to do different tasks around the house like servicing my roller blades, fixing my toys, taking apart my Walkman and figuring out why it was not “catching a good signal.” This personality trait is something that helped me enormously during engineering school and I strongly believe will also be of great importance during my MBA studies as it gives me the ability to think in practical and “out-of-the-box” ways.

Growing up, through middle and high school, I was always among the favorite students of the science class teachers; not only because of my scientific aptitudes but also because I’ve always been a respectful and friendly person. I constantly received compliments for my clear and practical approach to solving problems and my methodical way of thinking. My clear understanding (I stress “understanding”; not “memorization”) of math and sciences is what ultimately led me to study industrial engineering and become a successful engineer in my job after graduation, where I’ve also performed managerial tasks that will be important experiences toward understanding better the science of management.

I’m also a very hard working person and that attribute was consolidated in my personality during college. I was accepted in (university)’s engineering school; a school know for its low retention rate of engineers due to the high work load and demanding curriculum. I must admit that in high school I was more of a “smart person, average student,” but as soon as I arrived in college I set my mind into being the best I possibly could and graduate with a four-or-close-to-four-point-0 GPA. Nine semesters of hard work paid off when I was graduating 1st in my class as the only industrial engineer graduating with distinction. It’s an achievement I’m very proud of because it was a combination of time management, dedication, collaboration and hard work; all skills that will make me a strong MBA candidate.

I’m also very competitive but I’m a good competitor; never a sorry loser. Growing up, I was a very hyperactive child so my parents put me through every sport and after school lesson possible. This made me a very quick learning and skillful person. Today, I play many sports at decent and competitive levels: golf, tennis, kite-surfing, mountain biking, squash, and volleyball, amongst others. But I not only practice sports for competition; I mainly do it for fun and keeping a healthy lifestyle. My MBA classmates will be happy to know that not only will I be there to work hard with them on classwork but I will also be there to have fun with them in healthy ways whenever they’re up for a quick tennis match or round of golf.

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