Business School Admissions Essay : Very Personal Questions - Continued

by EssayEdge.com - The World's Premier Application Essay Editing Service

Page 3 of 5 Back

Business School Admissions Essay Questions Categories:

SAMPLE ESSAY:

I grew up on a small cattle farm in Donegal, just ten miles from the border separating the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. My father has retired due to health problems, and my now mother runs our farm. Every year, without fail, she produces 30 cows for the local market. Although my ancestors have lived on the same piece of farmland since 1642, while I was growing up my family was very poor.

I have three younger brothers, currently aged 25, 19, and 14, each of whom has a unique character. Alan is a sensitive soul, the poet amongst us. Brian, is a natural fighter, a feisty Irishman. James, the baby of the family, is now a teenage wheeler-dealer, and the most likely to inherit the farm. As for me, I was the archetypal "big brother": bossy, no doubt, but always eager to lend advice, jump into a game of soccer, or wipe someone's tears away. Because of our scarce resources, my brothers and I shared almost everything, from toys to farm chores.

Apart from helping my brothers, I had other duties that resulted from being the eldest. When I was a teenager, my father was periodically ill with a heart ailment. Because my mother had to care for my younger siblings and monitor my father's care, I took on the responsibility of managing our farm during his absence. I often had to balance my schoolwork with such tasks as milking the cows and repairing the tractor. These experiences had an enduring impact on me. In fact, my desire to be an entrepreneur and to someday manage my own business stems from this period. I also learned some lasting, if elementary, business skills. For example, starting at age 16, I often attended cattle sales in our rural Irish community, where I would haggle with much older and extremely shrewd farmers over the price of cows. Just ten years later, I found myself using those very same negotiating skills in the conference rooms of the U.S. Senate.