International Relations & History Personal Statement Example

Internationals relations and politics are around us in our everyday lives, even if we are aware of it or not. They can influence our society through newspapers; the broadcasted news and general day to day activities and we have all been affected by politics and international relations or influenced by it.

The war in Georgia, the Iraqi invasion and even the United States election all influence our lives in some shape or form, consciously or sub-consciously. It is this influence and the events world wide that make me want to study this course and carry on into the wider profession.

History itself, interests me greatly. History itself, even though in our past has influenced today's society from the European wars of the 17th century to Italian unification, German unification to the great wars of the 21st century. Historians, such Robert service and perhaps more influential Orlando Figes, have increased my interest in the subject area in their vastly interesting historical accounts.

Understanding our past is vital to understanding the future and this is what increases my interest in history.

Studying this course into higher education would advance my knowledge and understanding of the world, in which people and countries co-operate together both politically and within an organised structure. Working with people in both one to one and on much larger scales is essential to the course and is also a feature which interests me in the course itself.

International relations and politics would deepen my knowledge of the world around me and would hopefully lead to exciting and continuous career prospects.

During my sixth year both modern studies and history have given me an insight into how our own political system operates and how political systems of other countries such as South Africa and USA differ to our own, and studying how different countries cooperate with each other such as the Soviet Union and Germany, both which greatly interest me.

Overall this year I am studying three highers and an advanced Higher. These fields of knowledge are those I want to learn more about and take a future career in.

Travelling in Zambia, Botswana and Belarus has given me both experience and maturity along with giving me experience of different countries, their cultures, political systems and generally how there country stands on the world stage.

I participated in the World Challenge 2008 trip to Zambia and Botswana which gave me experience in money management, organising a team, working within a team and making vital and important decisions.

Whilst there the team of which I was involved did a weeks community project in a local village and did a total of two weeks trekking which shows a degree of commitment. Two years was spent before the actual trip, raising finance, and planning the itinerary, so when the trip was completed there was a great deal of satisfaction and achievement.

At school I am both prefect and house captain which gives me both responsibility and trust within the school and provides me with essential skills for later life and also proves my reliability. Work in the future for me, would hopefully involve government work, teaching academically; further study in the course would also be of great interest to me.

I have also achieved at Scouts and Explorers my Chief Scout gold and platinum awards, which allowed me to mature as a person and develop essential life skills such as communication and working within a team.

Travelling to Eastern Europe with scout young leaders, visiting schools, orphanages and universities, also allowed me to experience different lifestyles and cultures whilst also allowing me to deal with stressful situations. My commitment as a young scout leader involves helping the local scout movement in running their weekly meetings and camps.

A lot of trust from both other leaders and the scouts themselves is needed within this task and this has meant that a great deal of responsibility is placed on me, but there is satisfaction when meetings and camps go according to plan.

Working within a team and co-operating with others is essential, and my job at a local hotel proves that I have this quality as the job requires me to work within a team and be trusted with the duties that that team has been given, to the best of our abilities.

This also gives me experience in communication both at a team level and to members of the general public. The job requires me to be organised and punctual.

I am a member of Aberdeen City tennis squads and have been for seven years. This involves a coaching session every Friday night. I also play socially and competitively at my local tennis club which allows me to increase my self-confidence and my communication skills with other people. I have also received my driver's license which shows that I am committed on a long term basis to a task and completing it.

Travelling and general day to day activities have shown me what a vital part of life international relations and politics is to everyone and further education in this field of study would allow me understand this fully.