Oxford Academic Statement Winning Formula: Ungatekeeping My Process — Transcript

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1. 0:00Hey guys, Bertha here, second year road
2. 0:02scholar. My first two videos spoke about
3. 0:06your CVs and your referees. My most
4. 0:09recent one spoke about your personal
5. 0:10statement when writing your application.
6. 0:13We're going to focus on a small little
7. 0:15thing called your academic statement.
8. 0:17I'm going to start with the main tips
9. 0:20and then I'll read an example of my own.
10. 0:23First of all, the academic statement is
11. 0:25not about you. It's not about you. I
12. 0:28know it's tempting to write about
13. 0:29yourself here for the most part because
14. 0:33you are probably so used to it at this
15. 0:35point of the application, but this is
16. 0:37about the subject area. Think about this
17. 0:39as a good opportunity to demonstrate why
18. 0:44you want to solve your problem in the
19. 0:46world using this particular academic
20. 0:49tool. Oxford is an academic institution.
21. 0:52So, at some point in the application,
22. 0:54you're going to have to demonstrate that
23. 0:57you are passionate about and interested
24. 1:00in the subject area or in the program
25. 1:02that you want to apply to. Really, when
26. 1:05you're approaching the academic
27. 1:06statement, think about this as a place
28. 1:09to honor and celebrate
29. 1:12this subject that you love so much or
30. 1:15this area that you love so much. So,
31. 1:17that's one. The second thing is why
32. 1:20Oxford? And it feels obvious. You're
33. 1:23like, of course, it's Oxford. Who
34. 1:25doesn't want to go here? But really, you
35. 1:27need to sit down and ask yourself, would
36. 1:29I be able to say this about any other
37. 1:31program at any other university? It's
38. 1:34not compelling enough that you just want
39. 1:36to go to Oxford because it's Oxford. You
40. 1:38must demonstrate that you've thought
41. 1:40about the program further than that,
42. 1:43right? that you've developed your
43. 1:44interest in the program or in the
44. 1:46subject area and that Oxford is the best
45. 1:48place in the world to offer that thing
46. 1:50to you because the truth is that there
47. 1:52are some institutions that are better at
48. 1:54offering some programs than Oxford. And
49. 1:58if you're going to make a compelling and
50. 2:00convincing case that you've really
51. 2:01thought about your place in the world
52. 2:03and how you want to solve your problem
53. 2:05or what you view as a problem, then you
54. 2:07will need to demonstrate that you
55. 2:09thought really hard about what is the
56. 2:11best place that can equip you with those
57. 2:13skills to go out and solve that problem.
58. 2:15You need to have a bigger reason than
59. 2:17Oxford just being the best university in
60. 2:18the world. So think about what are the
61. 2:20specific opportunities. Are there
62. 2:22certain lecturers? There certain
63. 2:25programs? Are there certain research
64. 2:26groups that have a resource that no
65. 2:29other university has? And because it's
66. 2:31Oxford and because it's so well
67. 2:32resourced, it'll be easy for you to, you
68. 2:34know, to point out if there's a certain
69. 2:36faculty member that you want to work
70. 2:38with or if there's a specific thing that
71. 2:39only Oxford can offer you. You will not
72. 2:42have a hard time finding characteristics
73. 2:46or opportunities that distinguish Oxford
74. 2:48from other universities, but you will
75. 2:50have to look and you'll have to
76. 2:51demonstrate that you learned. In as much
77. 2:53as this part is about the program itself
78. 2:55and it's more about the specific area,
79. 2:59we also don't want to feel like we're
80. 3:01reading an application from a robot.
81. 3:03Where does your personal interest and
82. 3:05your personal curiosity come from?
83. 3:07That's important to demonstrate because
84. 3:09if that personal connection is not
85. 3:12there, then it's difficult to be
86. 3:14convinced that you will be compelled to
87. 3:16see this through all the way through and
88. 3:18to fully apply yourself. So, I'm going
89. 3:20to read my academic statement now. Not
90. 3:21perfect, but it worked. Wait, let me
91. 3:25give you guys some context before I read
92. 3:26this. So again, I studied
93. 3:29sustainability, enterprise, and
94. 3:30environment. When you're applying to the
95. 3:32road scholarship, you also have to apply
96. 3:33to Oxford separately. So you'll need to
97. 3:36have an idea of the programs you're
98. 3:38going to apply to. You will not be held
99. 3:41to those programs, but you need to know
100. 3:43and you need to have thought about it.
101. 3:45So you need to have a sense of that. My
102. 3:47earliest interaction with environmental
103. 3:49literature dates back to a 2009 Disney
104. 3:53Channel Jingle that encouraged all its
105. 3:56young viewers to reduce, reuse, and
106. 3:58recycle. While those words resonated on
107. 4:01television, they were absent from
108. 4:03everyday life in Namibia. For this
109. 4:05reason, I concluded that environmental
110. 4:08work must be for white people in the far
111. 4:10away land of America. This perspective
112. 4:13changed during my young adult years when
113. 4:15I deliberately challenged my
114. 4:17indifference about environmental work by
115. 4:20enrolling in a university course titled
116. 4:22Africa environment and the global
117. 4:24economy. It was the genesis of my
118. 4:27academic awakening and ushered in a
119. 4:29lifelong devotion to uncovering the
120. 4:32potential of African countries through
121. 4:34progressive environmental and natural
122. 4:36resource policy.
123. 4:38Beyond the irrefutable glamour and
124. 4:41prestige associated with Oxford, I am
125. 4:44most excited about the rigorous
126. 4:45challenges offered by the school of
127. 4:47geography and the environment where I
128. 4:49have chosen the following courses. One,
129. 4:52an MSE in sustainability, enterprise and
130. 4:54the environment and secondly an MSE in
131. 4:57water science policy and management.
132. 5:00These courses bolster my ongoing
133. 5:02research in nuanced areas, including the
134. 5:05deliberation on whether coal backed
135. 5:07South Africa should postpone or hasten
136. 5:10its pivot to renewable energy
137. 5:12alternatives. Additionally, they
138. 5:14complement my undergraduate honors
139. 5:16thesis, which examines the adequacy of
140. 5:18Namibia's political economic framework
141. 5:21in negotiating oil and gas production
142. 5:23sharing agreements.
143. 5:25The Oxford Environmental Change
144. 5:27Institute's publication on crisis and
145. 5:29opportunity, transforming climate
146. 5:31governance formemes caught my attention.
147. 5:34Its call for small businesses to
148. 5:36capitalize on energy saving
149. 5:38opportunities exemplifies the kind of
150. 5:41interdisciplinary research I wish to
151. 5:43pursue at Oxford. Integrating real life
152. 5:45experiences into my research is a
153. 5:48significant academic challenge that I
154. 5:50eagerly anticipate.
155. 5:52Additionally, BBC ideas, an Oxford
156. 5:56social sciences division collaboration,
157. 5:59challenges academics to create short
158. 6:01films based on their research. This
159. 6:04excites me as it aligns with my passion
160. 6:06for both academic research and TV
161. 6:08production. I would get to be my full
162. 6:10self at Oxford. I have to conclude with
163. 6:13a shout out to Disney Channel for that
164. 6:15jingle. 16 years later and just over 10
165. 6:18published articles later,
166. 6:21my curiosity about environmental policy
167. 6:24as a tool for transformative democratic
168. 6:26practice has only just begun. You see,
169. 6:29sprinkle in a little bit of what you've
170. 6:31done so they don't forget. Make sure
171. 6:32they don't forget, right? Sprinkle in a
172. 6:35little bit of what you've done and make
173. 6:37sure that you talk about why it's
174. 6:39interesting for you. What is the work
175. 6:41that you're already doing? So it's
176. 6:43really important that when you approach
177. 6:44this, it shouldn't sound like you are
178. 6:46absolutely doing nothing at all in your
179. 6:48area of interest and now Oxford is going
180. 6:50to come around and suddenly give you
181. 6:51this new passion and this new capacity
182. 6:54to just fly. It should sound like you
183. 6:56already doing your absolute best with
184. 6:58what you had and Oxford is only going to
185. 7:00enable you to move much much faster. And
186. 7:03so when you write the statement, make
187. 7:04sure that it sounds like there's a
188. 7:06natural marriage, so to speak, between
189. 7:08your interests, between what you are
190. 7:10found doing, and the very specific and
191. 7:13very unique opportunities that Oxford
192. 7:15can offer, and that when those come
193. 7:17together, you can change the world. So
194. 7:19those are all my thoughts on the
195. 7:22academic statement. Let me know what
196. 7:24else you would like me to break down. I
197. 7:26hope this was helpful and please if this
198. 7:28was enjoyable for you like, comment,
199. 7:32subscribe and share with a friend who
200. 7:34might benefit.
201. 7:39>> Don't play with her. Don't be dishonest.
202. 7:43Still not understand