Joe Bitter
My ambition to gain a degree in business studies is partly the product of the environment I have grown up. I was born in the US and brought up in Silicon Valley, California, one of the most enterprising areas in the world, where business practice, innovation and commercial drive were all around me. My father fostered my thoughts about business success and led me to think in terms of enterprise and commercial achievement from an early age. The other great influence in my thinking is the understanding of the world I have gained from the central interest in my life, which is competitive Irish dance. This is a pursuit that I have followed with a real passion and with considerable success. I have won over thirty national titles in North America, Spain, the UK and Ireland, and I am the current world champion in my age division, a title I have held for five years. Such success has depended on immense personal commitment, keen observation, self-discipline and mental strength, qualities which I habitually apply to anything I undertake to do. Excellence is my single goal, not only in my dance career but in all of my studies and in my ideas of a future role. It may be that I shall seek to emulate the sort of professional success won by Michael Flatley, who captured the market and commercialised Irish dance into a multi-million pound enterprise, far beyond what anybody might have predicted. And at the root of his success was a strong business sense and great skill in marrying the artistic with the reality of commercial practice.
It is clear to me that if I am to pursue this sort of career – or any career in the business world – I need to gain a body of knowledge and skills which will equip me to run a successful enterprise. The highlight of my AS course in business studies was writing a business plan, where I enjoyed the satisfaction which came from having to anchor my ideas in the reality of accounting and finance. I am eager to learn more about marketing, financial resources management, and the management of people and organisations. I am interested in the methods used in preparing financial statements and accounting information, and the techniques a businessman needs for evaluating financial risk and decision-making. Any business venture must be grounded in the total picture – the risk, practicality, competition and the viability of ideas. These are exciting and intriguing speculations for me, and this knowledge is the gateway to my future.
My life has already been very varied. I was educated at the French American School, taught by French staff, and as a result have perfect fluent French as well as my native English. We moved to the UK when I was 10 so that I could study at the world’s foremost dance school. My parents nurtured my competitive spirit and made it part of my general character, so that everything I now do is undertaken with serious purpose and dedication. My dance career has meant worldwide travel and exposure to many cultures. It has struck me how dance has thrived as the world economy has suffered, as if people’s need for art transcends their material concerns, becoming even more pressing at such times.
I keep abreast of new developments in the business world by reading and following stories in the media. I recently read Gladwell’s Tipping Point, which, with his examination of trends and social behaviour, brought together two of my A-level subjects, business studies and psychology, in the deep insights into consumer behaviour offered by his analysis.
My greatest strength is my power of perseverance and my willingness to take on challenges. I am quick, creative, serious and focused. My personal skills are highly developed and I have great mental strength. My commitment to my chosen career is total, and I hope you will consider my application.
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