For Transferring to University of California - Personal Statement Example

My belief in accomplishing lofty goals has been developed over the years through national level basketball competitions. I grew up in Guangzhou, China. My uncle was a professional basketball player in China. He began to teach me how to play basketball at a very early age. His workouts were grueling. I would run, jump and sprint for hours before I even touched a basketball. He had a very strict methodology he followed when training me. I can remember wondering, while I ran through all sorts of weather in Guangzhou Province, why I was doing all of this training.

Was it worth it? I could see as I entered High School that I was worth it. We were a very successful team. We won the Guangzhou Province High School league championship. This was an amazing accomplishment considering the competition is fierce and we were not a very tall team. Our tallest player was only 6’5” and our average height was only 6’2”. Every team we played was taller than us. The difference was no team we played was better prepared than we were. We practiced for three hours every school day and for five hours every weekend and holiday break.

We were better conditioned and had developed better skills than our opponents. After winning the High School championship, I also participated in two three-on-three basketball tournaments featuring international players. Kentucky Fried Chicken sponsored one and Gatorade sponsored the other. We came in first in the tournament sponsored by Kentucky Fried Chicken and second in the one sponsored by Gatorade. As I grew older, I realized that lessons my uncle and coaches were teaching me were great for my basketball skills, but were even more important for my life.

If I had not seen that hard work and superior skills bring success, I would never have developed the confidence to apply for an institution like the University of California. I am sure that I will experience challenges after I transfer colleges, but I am confident that I can rise to meet these challenges. I am equally dedicated to realizing my academic goals as I am to by educational goals. In addition to learning from my uncle and coaches, my family has been a great inspiration to me. My parents are very wonderful role models.

My father works for the China Council for the Promotion of International Trade. He is very hard working and intelligent. He has the ability to look at any situation and analyze it deeply and succinctly. He is well regarded by his colleagues. He has taught me many things about life and about working with other people over the years. He is probably the smartest man I know and I have a great desire to make him proud of me. My mother is the manager of a cabin crew for South Chins Airlines. She loves me very much and has always treated me well.

She has taken me on trips every summer and winter break since middle school. As a result, we have been able to see many places in China and several European countries as well. Transferring to the University of California to become an Economics major will require me to use all of these good habits I have developed over the years so I could be a successful basketball player and a good son. Economics is a challenging course of study that will require me to think about things in a way that is new.

Understanding global economic systems will require the same dedication that is required in learning to sink a three-point