Essays Willamette

TOEFL: The TOEFL code for Willamette University is 4954

1) What experi ences and i nf l uences si gni f i cantl y shaped who you are t oday? (your response
shoul d be approxi matel y 300 to 500 words i n l engt h)
When I was about to write this essay, I recalled my living environment in my childhood which has
a great influence on shaping a me of today. Growing up in a poor family in which my father had
to retire early because of poor health and my mother was an elementary school teacher, I could
not forget how hard my mother had to work from early morning till late night to have enough
money to cover her three childrens tuition and fees. Always telling to us Nothing venture,
nothing have, my mother oriented us to become businessmen to have a more comfortable life
than we used to have. Her desire has always become a big motivation for me to study and work
hard to become a successful businesswoman to support my big family. And during my childhood,
I often assisted my aunt in her flower shop in the biggest commercial street in my town during
evenings and weekends to have some money for my personal spending. Gradually, selling and
buying activities flowed naturally out of my heart, and running a business has become my lifelong
passion. I started to read all books and magazines I could reach about business and
entrepreneurship and I was really fascinated by business activities such as sales, marketing,
negotiations, operational aspects as well as client management. Then I entered Foreign Trade
University, one of the most prestigious universities, where I immersed myself into Marketing,
International Business, Business Communication, American Culture classes more than any other
classes.
In the summer of first year, I saw the potential of running a venture by supplying cleaners for
wealthy families in my hometown, when lots of people called to my house to ask for that service
which I believe it could generate some substantial revenues. However my parents strongly
objected to that idea as they just wanted me to focus on studying. Two years later, when my
parents still received many calls to request for that service, I knew I had the right business
forecast on great demand of a new arising service. Furthermore, when starting working for Ninh
Van Bay Holiday Club, a leading timeshare company in Vietnam, I saw the potential of exploiting
the high-end Vietnamese customers who have a strong demand to enjoy luxurious resorts at a
cheaper price by our vacation cards. However, the financial crisis at the end of 2011 made the
sales activities slack, my company had to reduce cost and change the products to adapt to the
market. And my Sales manager decided to leave and asked me to go with him, but I refused
because I wanted to take the challenge of promoting to be the team leader in the Hanoi office.
With my hard work to reset the office in 2012 and staff recruitment to reform a new sales team for
Hanoi office, I have grown much professionally because everything needed to be done naturally
happened in my head. Beyond expectation, I led my team to increase our 2012s revenue to
150% compared to the revenue of 2011. Now, I believe, with the help of an MBA, in short term I
would develop my career path vertically as a Director of Sales who can explore and initiate new
ways to further expand the business and manage sales operations in my current company. And
then thanks to various experience, advanced knowledge and skills from MBA program, I could
start and drive my own business successfully in tourism industry in my hometown, a new
emerging tourist province. A MBA program is extremely important for me now because it is a
springboard for my career development. A long and bumpy road is waiting ahead before the
goals are achieved, but I hope that my work experience in the business as well as my MBA
education will together ensure my ability to achieve these objectives.
2) The Wi l l amett e !" program and empl oyers of !"s #al ue many t rai t s beyond your
resume$ test scores$ t ranscri pts$ experi ence and %nowl edge& These t rai t s i ncl ude i nt egri t y$
moti #ati on$ prof essi onal ' udgment$ wor% et hi c$ ti me management$ i ni ti at i #e$ i nterpersonal
s%i l l s$ communi cat i on s%i l l s$ l eadershi p$ deci si on ma%i ng$ teamwor%$ creat i #i t y and others&
( dent i f y 5 of these trai ts that are most i mportant to you and di scuss how you appl y each of
t hem i n your prof essi onal or educat i onal endea#ors& ()engt h shoul d be approxi mat el y 300
t o 500 words& )
*uri ng a l ong ti me of studyi ng and wor%i ng hard$ ( ha#e di sco#ered many %i nds of charact eri sti cs
i nsi de my worl d& +owe#er$ t here are f i #e t ypi cal t rai t s that are most i mport ant to me as f ol l ows,
1& +a#e a #i si on& ( bel i e#e t hat ( ha#e a st rong i nt ui ti on and a good #i si on on t he f uture of t he
busi ness whet her i t coul d de#el op wel l i n the f uture or not & "nd i t i s #ery i mport ant f or me t o
communi cat e my #i si on wi th the company #i si on& (n earl y -01-$ af t er reset ti ng t he +anoi of f i ce i n a
new l ocat i on$ ( saw a good f uture when my company conti nued to change #acat i on cards at a bett er
pri ce wi t h more benef i ci al f eat ures f or the customers& Ta%i ng ad#ant age of a comi ng summer
#acat i on of al l cust omers$ ( encouraged my team t o wor% harder t o doubl e our sol d #acati on cards
i n the second .uarter and t hen we cont i nued t o tri pl e sol d cards i n the t hi rd and f ourth .uart ers of
-01-&
-& )o#e what ( do& ( t hi n% when ( ha#e a passi on i n /al es and doi ng busi ness$ ( ha#e done i t bett er
and got a hi gh achi e#ement & oreo#er$ when ( am a l eader$ my passi on on wor% has creat ed so
much ent husi asm and i nspi red t he staf f to ' ump on the boat and together sai l t he company boat to
con.uer the sal es t arget of t he 0i nh 1an !ay company i n -01- and -013& (ndeed$ shari ng that
passi on and enthusi asm wi th empl oyees can hel p me to mot i #e my t eam to become more
product i #e$ ta%e on new chal l enges$ and %eep a commi tment t o the de#el opment of company&
3& 2eep a dogged determi nati on& ( real l y l o#e a sayi ng by +arry /& Truman, 3"meri can was not bui l t
on f ear& "meri ca was bui l t on courage$ on i magi nati on and unbeat abl e det ermi nat i on to do the ' ob
at hand& 4 That i s exactl y t he "meri ca that ( l o#e& Whene#er ( det ermi ne t o do anythi ng$ ( wi l l be
dogged and pour al l my heart i nt o i t unt i l the end& y dream on studyi ng i n the 5/ and t a%i ng !"
degree has l asted f or more than f i #e years& *uri ng t hose t i mes$ ( ha#e t hree ti mes st udyi ng group
on 6"T and al l of t hem f ai l ed because of my busy wor%i ng schedul e& There were so much
obstacl es$ i sol ati on$ pai n$ and f ati gue$ but my det ermi nat i on wi l l hel p me f i rml y centered on chosen
purpose wi th energy and f ocus& "nd t hi s t i me$ my det ermi nat i on has pushed me mo#e steadi l y
onward and %eep me on t he ri ght trac% to ma%e al l !" pl ans and 5/ dreams i nt o real i t i es&
7& !e probl em sol #i ng 8 resul t 9ori ented person& ( al ways l i %e t o become a probl em sol #er rather
t han a compl ai ner& :or exampl e$ once one of my staf f ga#e wrong i nf ormati on and caused t he
cl i ents ref used to si gn t he cont ract $ i nstead of scol di ng that empl oyee$ the f i rst t hi ng ( di d was
.ui c%l y anal y;ed t he mai n cause and f ound ways to access that cl i ent t o ma%e an apol ogy and gi #e
ade.uat e reasons con#i nce her to conti nue t he contract& "s a l eader$ ( am al ways practi cal and
concent rate on t he f i nal resul t s to achi e#e the hi ghest re#enue f or t he company&
5& 2eep a sense of humor& " sense of humor al ways hel ps %eep us to be posi t i #e and opt i mi st i c i n
any si t uati on& ( t hel ps me see the sunshi ne when ot hers see the shadow$ see opportuni ti es where
others see obstacl es& "s the of f i ce$ ( of t en encourage e#erybody t o t el l ' o%es and pl ay some musi c
af t er l ong t i ri ng wor%i ng hours t o ma%e my wor% en#i ronment become a happy and heal t hy space&
:urthermore$ crac%i ng ' o%es wi t h my team encourages e#eryone open themsel #es f urther and cl ose
t o each ot her as wel l as %eep producti #i t y l e#el s hi gh& <speci al l y$ l aught er i s cheaper t han
medi ci ne&
3) *escri be a recent choi ce you made and expl ai n how that choi ce support s your goal s and #al ues&
(your response shoul d be approxi matel y 300 words i n l engt h)&
=hoi ce, ta%i ng !" > why !" > why now?
:i #e year of wor%i ng hard i s a l ong ' ourney that has matured me greatl y as wel l as has gi #en me
good experi ences about wi nni ng and l earni ng& "nd now ( bel i e#e i t i s ri ght ti me f or me t o ta%e an
!" program i n the 5/ to prepare f or a l onger step i n my career path& 0ot onl y hel ps me grow
prof essi onal l y i n sal es and mar%et i ng management $ but al so !" program pro#i des me ef f ect i #e
ways t o dri #e my own busi ness i n l ong term > a tra#el agent speci al i ;es i n green tra#el and
connect s al l t radi ti onal handi craf t #i l l age i n excl usi #e tours across 1i etnam& ?ne of my f a#ori te
.uotes i s +enry i l l er@ s t hat one@ s desti nati on i s ne#er a pl ace$ but rather a new way of l oo%i ng at
t hi ngs& Theref ore$ t he f i rst ob' ect i #e of my !" endea#or i n Wi l l amett e i s a chance t o study wi t h
great prof essors t o approach and mast er ad#anced %nowl edge and s%i l l s$ especi al l y i n
ent repreneurshi p$ mar%eti ng$ al ong wi th f i nance and operat i ons management& "l so$ A"=< program
pro#i de me a f l exi bl e choi ce f or l earni ng course whi ch i s a combi nati on of real %nowl edge and real
experi ence to shape a gl obal mi ndset t hat hel ps bri ng my busi ness i deas t o l i f e$ wor% more
strat egi cal l y and ef f ecti #el y$ and %eep my busi ness run i n t he ri ght trac%& :urt hermore$ studyi ng at
Wil l amet te woul d bri ng me many bri l l i ant i nt ernati onal cl assmates who ( can share al l pract i cal
experi ences and i nno#ati #e i deas i n runni ng and managi ng busi ness$ e#en more t hey perhaps
woul d become my l i f el ong f ri ends& oreo#er$ school wi l l of f er many usef ul conf erences and e#ent
t hat woul d al l ow me to get #al uabl e ad#i ce f rom successf ul ent repreneurs and busi ness managers&
"s a mat ter of f act$ i t @ s #ery usef ul f or me t o connect wi t h a worl dwi de al umni net wor% t o support
my t ouri sm busi ness and hel p me to f i nd great part ners& !" program wi l l $ i ndeed$ hel p me t o
short en the gap bet ween who ( am now and who ( wi l l be i n t he f uture& ?#eral l $ ( am aware t hat my
ob' ecti #es are ambi ti ous and t hat t he !" program i s not a magi c sol uti on to enabl e my goal s&
/ome goal s wi l l be achi e#ed by t he end of the course$ but some ( wi l l pursue f or al l the rest of my
l i f e& +owe#er$ now t he !" program i s i ndi spensabl e f or me to ma%e my dreams come true&