Politics Personal Statement Example 35

My great grandfather, Alfred Richard Allen - an educational officer turned nationalist - played a big role in helping Nigeria gain independence from Britain and even though I never had the courtesy of meeting him, he ensured that I was brought up in a strongly political family.

He has been a very inspiring figure for me because he was able to make a difference in the world we live in today, simply by fighting for what he believed in. As a result of this politics, particularly international relations, has played an increasingly significant role in my life.

Politics has taught me to make clear and concise decisions in a way that allows me to analyse and process certain situations thus encouraging me to be a well informed decision-maker. My eagerness to expand my knowledgebase has directed me to reading various periodicals and books in order to help me gain a wider range of opinions on both current and previous global affairs.

A personal favourite has to be 'Half of a Yellow Sun' by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: This is because it focused on the issues that were caused by the unification of Nigeria during the colonial era.

An example of this is when Nigeria was split into two countries; oil rich Biafra and the internationally influential Republic of Nigeria. In addition to this, it also gave me an insight into the way political decisions affect members of the masses. Therefore I feel that gaining a politics degree would put me on a platform to make a difference in these peoples' lives in future.

My love for Politics extends outside of Africa. I thoroughly enjoy following British politics, particularly the recent referendum on Scottish independence.

I have been involved in many debates through the social networking site convinceme.net and in my economics lessons on the aforementioned topic and this has aided me in developing my ability to form arguments and improving my formal speaking skills.

In relation to this I have done my own personal research into the matter in order to improve the diversity of my arguments. I have also been able to create economic hypotheses based on the possible outcomes of the referendum and then linked them to various political theories such as the theory of regionalism. The clash of beliefs between anti-regionalist Scotland and the remaining pro-regionalist countries of the UK has been an extremely fascinating topic of study for myself as of late.

During the summer of 2014, I completed an internship at Operation Black Vote, and I've been registered for volunteering work aimed at helping labour candidate Christian Mole in his campaign for the council elections in Chislehurst, Bromley. During my time at Operation Black Vote I learnt what politics is like in practice and it assured my desire to study it at further education.

I plan on adding quite a few more experiences at events such as think tanks as I feel they would give me a headstart for when I begin my time at university. I'm an elected member of the student council and chief speaker meaning I make many public appearances.

I have learnt things such as time-management and even socialising skills, I have been able to transfer these abilities into different scenarios such as the Institute of Economic Affairs Conference held last year held at Bromley High School for Girls.

The main topic of this conference was the HS2 development and we were tasked with weighing the pros and cons of this and I thoroughly enjoyed it as it allowed me to work in a group including people I had never met before. This conference aided in evolving my teamwork skills.

Having had all of these experiences and responsibilities I have most certainly learnt the value of planning, hard work and rest. I feel that my enthusiasm for politics and my educational background have given me a solid foundation for taking on undergraduate study. I look forward to reading politics as a degree