Dear members of the Financial Aid Office,
With this letter I wish to apply for the “Excellence Scholarship and Opportunity Programme” (ESOP) for my MSc degree in “Management, Technology and Economics” which I shall start in Autumn 2020. I am Lev Son, a final year student of Bachelor’s degree in “Aeronautical Engineering” from Vilnius Gediminas Technical University, Lithuania. It is not a secret that ETHZ is one of the world’s leading universities with an excellence in Science and Technology. To add more, Switzerland is a multicultural country that is world-known for high educational standards and it is innovations. Therefore, as an ambitious and self-motivated student I decided to be different to other peers and dared to apply for the chance to study Master’s degree abroad, gain international experience and interact with professionals and students from other nations and cultures.
Since the beginning of my programme in VGTU my hard-work and dedication to studies were rewarded with high results in academic subjects during all semesters as well as in sports. Therefore, from the second semester I has been awarded with the incentive scholarship and high athletic excellence scholarship. However, during my last year of studies I realized that in modern age it is extremely vital to be personally developed in different fields of science. That is why I would like to make a step forward and gain a new knowledge in a field of Management. To add more, I always felt that I have an entrepreneurial mindset and I strongly believe that combination of engineering background with skills in management and entrepreneurship could increase my knowledge and give me an opportunity to reach my full potential. In addition, during my exchange semester at Polytechnic University of Catalunya, Barcelona, Spain university, I requested to study one subject of the Master’s degree programme (Aerospace Seminars) instead of possible Bachelor subjects. And without any doubt this opportunity influenced me crucially. During the seminars we were networking with speakers from the leading space agencies, industries and other universities. Moreover, introduction to R&D&i has driven me to broaden my knowledge and interests in areas besides aerospace. Hence, now I am confident that I want to continue my education in the near future.
According to the facts mentioned above, I found that my personal values perfectly align with the excellence standards at MTEC. Nevertheless, MTEC is suitable for students with a Bachelor’s degree in Engineering, it allows you to become a member of one of the 23 chairs of the D-MTEC and collaborate with outstanding fellows. In my case, I would like to become a colleague of the Chair of Entrepreneurship. Consequently, I would like to delve into subjects like: “Technology Entrepreneurship” or “Lean Startup Academy – From Idea to Startup”. Especially for me it is exciting how new aviation technologies like UAVs or Drones and other technologies such as AL, Blockchain influences current market and economics. Thus, the assistance of the scholarship would allow to focus on the studies and research aimed to investigate the Significance of concept creation in the development of innovation. Whereas I am ardent in this area of research is my firm belief that one must tenaciously and conscientiously pursue true passions and interests in life in order to enhance one’s determination to ultimately achieve their final goal.
Throughout my three years of studies I had to face and overcome many difficulties. It was challenging to combine studies, full-time position as a Technical Records Engineer in one of the Lithuania’s largest aviation company Avion Express and to represent VGTU football team. Nevertheless, it significantly boosted my multi-tasking, time management and analytical skills. Not to mention, that during the difficult time I demonstrated high results in all subjects and always have been among the top 3 students of the course. Also, university granted the opportunity to participate in selection for an internship in NASA. However, in the final round I was not very lucky and had not succeed. Winston Churchill once said, “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” What is more, because of both my work experience in a multinational company and football background I gained some crucial abilities, such as flexibility, responsibility and communication skills. During my first year of studies I was selected as a captain of the university’s football team because of my ability to motivate and support every member of the team.
To sum up, I believe that with my extensive both bachelor and work backgrounds, I am ready for my graduate studies and to maintain the excellence required at ETH, Zurich. At the very least, when presented with a life changing opportunity, I believe it is important to strive to achieve all that one can do to ensure fruition of an exciting and fulfilling future.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
