In the past a lot of things have distracted me from my education. From family problems, to getting bullied in school to the deaths of close friends. Despite the fact that I am still battling with some of these things till this day. I finally decided that I no longer want to play a victim to my circumstances. To say that “it has always been a dream of mine to attend University of Birmingham” would be very cliché and a lie. This is mainly because I never thought that university was an option for someone like me. A girl who isn’t the smartest or that comes from a background like mine. I always thought that I was destined to grow up and get a normal working class job. It is fair to say that I had a lack of self-confidence.

My perspective on life changed after I decided to move schools in the summer of 2014 the day after I got my AS results. The fact that I got BDD upset me and made me feel completely dumb. That’s when I changed and decided that I no longer want go down the path of a typical working class girl I wanted to be more. I made the decision to retake my AS year at another school and get away from the bullying in my previous school and get a fresh start and I believe that, this was one of the greatest decisions I have made. In this school I have been pushed to achieve more and my confidence in my education and in myself has grown tremendously. I’m currently going down a new path where I am constantly aiming for more and where I don’t let my life situations at home deter me from working harder in fact I use it as motivation. In my retake year I have done things that I would have never thought I was capable of doing. I achieved higher grades, I gained a place on the EY smart futures programme and I plan on doing more and being greater.

I knew that Birmingham was where I needed to be, after talking to a Birmingham student and hearing about all the opportunities that she got from Birmingham, the type of help the university gives to her and how Birmingham changed her life. The fact that she was from a similar background to mine, showed me that Birmingham wouldn’t discriminate against me because of my background. To go to Birmingham has been a dream of mine, for as long as going to university was a dream of mine. When attending a social policy talk at the open day, I fell in love with the teaching style and atmosphere of Birmingham. It was definitely a place where I could see myself being for three years of my life. It has even gotten to the point where I have a picture of the Birmingham university logo stuck to my wall. So when I wake up or when I’m studying, I’m motivated to go to school and perform my best because I know I’m working toward my goal.

I’m probably not the smartest applicant, but I can reassure you that probably the most dedicated and hard working. I commit every single day to revising and better myself so I can achieve the best. Getting accepted to Birmingham would be way more than just getting into a good university, it would change my life. It would mean that I can finally get away from all the problems from home. It would mean that I am actually on the right path to better myself and my future and that my future children won't have to grow up the way I did. Going to Birmingham would finally mean that I am good enough. I believe that I could excel and reach a new level of heights if I was accepted to Birmingham and truly become the women I now believe I was destined to be. I understand that writing this letter is a little bit unorthodox but I wanted to the chance to explain how much coming to Birmingham would mean to me. My personal statement only allowed me to express how much studying social policy and sociology would mean to me, but it never gave me the chance to explain how much studying this degree at Birmingham would mean to me. A lot of influential people have attended Birmingham and I believe that if I am graced with the chance to attend Birmingham. I to will someday join the long list of influential Birmingham alumni.