The background that has shaped my identity today plays a key role in the reasons behind my application to university.  As a Ukrainian, I grew up in an ideologically backward society, in which the inferior status of women is embedded in social beliefs. However, from an early age I refused to conform to this idea. I challenged the belief in female subservience when I first expressed my desire to attend a British secondary school. Wanting to follow in my older...

Speaking multiple languages helps me communicate with people in foreign countries and understand their culture, making it easier for me to cope and act respectfully in challenging environments. Moving to London at age 11 has given me copious experience in adapting to these situations: I adjusted successfully to a foreign education system and flourished as a person in a new country; I am proud to say that my hidebound Ukrainian views and values evolved into an analytical and accepting outlook on...

Choosing my university was not easy. I went to school in the UK and initially intended on going to college in England as well. However, I applied and was to my big surprise accepted to the World Bachelor in Business and USC, HKUST and Bocconi. When it...