History, Politics and Economics Personal Statement Example 1

It may sound exaggerated, but I genuinely love History, and it has become a part of my life for over four years.

As contemporary political events have increasingly become my main concern in recent years, Politics and Economics are also my favourite subjects. Therefore, I decided to take them as A-level subjects - 'a powerful combination' as the Director of Studies commented - along with Further Maths which could develop my logical thinking.

I learnt to read very early, and that has contributed to my early interest in History. Besides playing the piano and reading news, it is my habit to pore over every history document coming to hand and talk about them excitingly when asked. As an imaginative person, History with me is not cold remote facts as most people consider, but successive events relating closely to each other, which can be redrawn vividly in my mind.

For that reason, modern history is my favourite due to the incredibly dynamic nature of its events, with various factors to evaluate. Liveliness is what I can also find in A-level books, and my most-read is 'Weimar and Nazi Germany' which provides information on many aspects of life in the two regimes and compares them through good analysis and lots of illustrations.

My political awareness and concern about global affairs has developed since childhood through reading newspapers and watching news frequently. Studying modern history led me to frequently asked questions of our time: why there are conflicts and tensions between peoples, what their causes are and how they can be resolved.

To answer them, I have been building up my political knowledge through studying books as well as political articles and analyses from newspapers.

Discussing politics with my father is one of my habits. For me, political theories and international relations are very interesting topics that I cannot stop thinking about, and studying in the UK gives me a broad approach to different, including Western, political views and concepts.

Economics surprised me with its diversity of theories and interpretations of human economic activities. It provided me a brand new approach to political and social processes, as well as historical events, and helped me evaluate them from economists' perspectives.

Knowledge of macroeconomic concepts is important for me to assess important social events; however, the study of microeconomics has helped me understand how an economy functions every day and how human beings' complex minds affect economic factors.

I think Economics is a very important subject as my knowledge can be useful in developing our country's infant free market as well as avoiding negative impacts resulting from it.

People often assume that, with such academic concerns, I am a bookworm, but the truth is more interesting. Eight years of my education in Vietnam were spent on an experimental programme, which was different from the rigid, unimaginative rote learning in most schools.

Thanks to it, I always consider my favourite subjects 'friends' in a true sense; they have 'walked out' from lectures and libraries to follow me step by step.

Having few self-made pressures from studying, I am eager to socialise, and my friends in Vietnam still remember me as a confident speaker in the high school Student Council, the provider of ideas for the school charitable programmes, or a key member of the Dreams and Teams Club. Last year in the UK, despite a demanding timetable, I still managed to participate in the school choir where I could satisfy my music interests and met many friends, and weekly trips to the local Sports Centre helped refresh my mind to enjoy a busy school life.

Together, History, Politics and Economics have built up in my mind a comprehensive approach to human beings' processes past and present, and with a relevant degree at university I hope I can see the right way to the future and answer unsolved questions of our time.