College Admission Personal Statement

Total words: 773
As a requirement of my engineering studies, it was necessary to undertake three professional internships at different stages of my six-year degree. In order to complete the first section of the course, general science, I was required to work as a labourer on a factory so as to familiarise myself with their motivations, concerns and efficiency levels, all of which I had to record in a report.

This internship was undertaken during my summer holidays. I was very keen to put into practice the knowledge that I had acquired during the preceding three years and to demonstrate my competency as an engineering student. Fortunately, a multinational company in Iquique, Chile was seeking candidates to fill temporary positions during that summer. After thinking it over for a few days, I applied to the company and two weeks later they hired me.

This company's main activity was the canning of fish and seafood. The continuous operation of the machines was crucial. I was to be part of a team that maintained and repaired the machines' motors. I had to ensure that the machinery was functioning properly throughout the entire canning process and to inform my supervisor as soon as possible if any machine had stopped. A failure of this kind could result in the loss of a full day's work.

On my first day I was introduced to my new co-workers, all of whom came from working-class backgrounds. In general, it took many years for these workers to move up the ranks and the arrival of an outsider would surely have aroused distrust amongst them. Many of them were unaware that I would only be working there for a short period, and therefore may have perceived my presence as a threat to their job security. Thus, our initial relationship was somewhat lukewarm.

After a week, things had not changed much and my internship was far from living up to my expectations. I needed to do something soon, but I did not know what. Fortunately, a single event would trigger a changed. That morning, the radio stopped working. The batteries had run out. The owner of the radio located the manual and began to search through it but to no avail. After a few minutes I offered to help him. I read the manual, asked for a new battery, opened the cover of the radio, changed the battery and the radio started to work. I then asked him what the problem had been as the manual clearly explained how to fix the radio. He told me that could not find a diagram in the manual that explained how to fix it. It was then that I realised that he did not know how to read and I thought that this may have been the case with many of my colleagues there.

That night, I was still stunned by my discovery. I could not understand how technicians carrying out such complex tasks did not know how to read and that the company's owners were completely apathetic towards their predicament. This was very disappointing.

The following day, the radio's owner, thanked me for my help. The barrier between us had begun to disappear. He asked me why I was working there and I told him that this was part of my studies. He offered to teach me how to detect failures in and repair motors and I suggest that I teach him to read in exchanged. It was a deal.

During the rest of my time there my new mate showed me various kinds of machines, explained the reasons as to why they may have been damaged and showed me how to fix them. These skills later proved very useful during my time as an Assistant Lecturer in electric motors and generators. At the same time, I began to teach him the vowels, consonants and the way in which they are connected to form words. He was very keen, courageous and good at memorising words. However, time was growing scare and I had to leave the company without fully accomplishing my goal of teaching my friend to read and write. I could not be more grateful to him for everything he taught me. I told him that he had a lot of potential and he assured me that he intended to build on what I had taught him.

On both a personal and professional level, this experienced taught me to appreciate that every person has the potential to teach us something, be they formally educated or not. Furthermore, I learned the value of good interpersonal relationships and the rewards to be reaped from working as part of a multidisciplinary team.

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