άκυρο.net :: the blog Το άκυρο ιστολόγιο του Διαδικτύου

My Exchange Application: Destination China!

Recently, I have been for 10 days in China. It was an amazing experience (I consider it as the 2nd best of my life after my exchange in Belgium some years ago), where I met great people from Europe and China (and South Korea if she is considered a person and not a Panda!). I want to describe briefly this experience in my next post…

For now, I want to share with you my motivation letter for exchange, as I am planning to go to China again, as a student this time for 5-6 months! Imagine the simple maths:

Exchange (best experience of my life) + China (2nd best) = EVEN BETTER experience

I want to live this experience for a number of reasons:

First of all, I think it would be amazing to visit a country with such a different culture from mine. Secondly, I will have the opportunity to have MBA courses and to meet with experienced managers, who will hopefully help me for my future career. Thirdly, I am too young to start working, I can delate it for one more year, poor father!

Well, too many words are poverty (greek saying, haha : τα πολλά λόγια είναι φτώχια), so here is my motivation letter:

My name is Anastasios-Tasos Arampatzis. I am 22 years old. I come from Greece and I was born in Orestiada, a small town in the north of the country. I studied Management Science and Technology at Athens University of Economics and Business. I also attended a six months course at University of Hasselt, Belgium as an exchange student during the fifth semester of my studies. Currently, I am a Master’s student at Rotterdam School of Management.

My first exchange destination is Fudan School of Management in Shanghai, China. I have made this choice, since China is a country with different civilization and culture from Western Europe and I am looking forward to experiencing the Eastern philosophy and way of living. It is also a country with a rising economy, with the potential to affect tomorrow’s business world. I believe that it will be an interesting experience for me, as I will have the chance to live in the country not as a tourist, but as a university student and get to know to an educational system, which differs from the ones I am familiar with. Moreover, I should acknowledge to you that I have been studying Chinese for the last 3 years, and at the moment I am studying Chinese through the Chinese Students’ Association at Erasmus University. In addition to the language, I am also taught about the Chinese history and culture. My staying to China would give me the opportunity to practice and improve my Chinese. Furthermore, Fudan School of Management is one of the best business schools in China and Shanghai is very beautiful and a representative city of modern China.

My second choice is Georgia State University in the USA. It is common knowledge that the USA is the center of the global economy and it has affected the European way of living extensively. I personally know a lot about the American culture, especially through cinema and music, but I am really interested in getting accustomed to real American life. Additionally, Georgia State University is a famous school and attending it would be really helpful for my educational future in the USA, as I am planning to apply for an MBA degree there.

I believe that I am a suitable candidate to be chosen as an exchange student. First of all, I am an independent person, who does not give up when difficult situations occur and I am always eager to meet new challenges. I have been living on my own since I was 18 years old when I left my hometown, Orestiada, to study at the University of Economics and Business, in Athens. As I have already mentioned above, I was given the opportunity to participate in an international students’ exchange programme during the third year of my studies. I lived in Belgium for 6 months and this enabled me to get familiar with a multicultural environment and cooperate with people from various countries. In addition, I was an active member of AIESEC for three years, the world’s largest student organization, and I have taken part in two international conferences, which were held in Turkey and Malta.

 I think that I will be a good representative of RSM Erasmus University, as I am determined to be a responsible student, in order to fulfill the expectations of the exchange programme. From my point of view, Rotterdam School of Management offers a high-level of studies and is worth being considered as an educational destination not only for European, but for international students as well. Apart from the courses, I am interested in participating in extracurricular activities, which will be another way for me to represent RSM at the partner school. I also come from a country that is worldwide known for its contribution to the global civilization and I hope I will be able to represent what the Greek spirit stands for.

Thank you for taking my application into consideration. 

Notice that my second choice i Wharton Business School, but I don’t know if I still want to go there! My third choice is in Beijing, China again! Tsinghua University…

Anyways, wish me good luck, next week I have my interview for the 2nd round of the selection process, and on 13th March I will know the results…

PS: Sorry Piotr, I will try to find time to describe my trip in China.

PS 2: Notice that my last phrase is «represent what the Greek spirit stands for». It’s not only about democracy, philosophy and bullsh*t, it’s also Ouzo, Souvlakia and Zorbas dancing

PS 3: This is the first post in this blog written in English. Τα υπόλοιπα θα είναι ξανά ελληνικά!