Personal Statement Example #1
My only goal when finishing high school was to finish college as quickly and painlessly as possible. I
took a degree path that, while enjoyable, has left me with limited career options moving forward.
Getting a political science degree was a valuable personal experience that grew many of my skills, but it
was far from the best option for a long-term career out of college. The job I got out of college was as a
database manager which hasn’t really been a job for me. Processing files and constantly dealing with
poor internal structures as well as difficult clients has left me feeling burnt out. I want to get into
Midland’s Code Academy program to move my career towards one with better long-term growth
opportunities and to acquire more in-demand skills for the workforce.
I am still a relatively recent college graduate which is why I want to look for a new career path now
instead of when I have more responsibilities under my belt. As far as my own coding experience goes, I
only have some introductory level experience. I took a couple of coding classes in high school and also
learned some basic SQL for my current position. From that light experience I’m confident in my ability
to learn programming skills. I’m a fast learner, I come from a past of playing games competitively at a
very high level. It’s a very dynamic environment that requires constantly learning new information and
adapting to new strategies. This experience led to my team being invited to play and compete at an
international tournament for a smaller game where we were crowned champions.
While I’m proud of my accomplishments between gaming and college, this path was far from perfect.
Along the way there were thousands of lost games, less than ideal grades, and two failures. One specific
instance was when I failed an important class during my college path. Constitutional law was a class
that I needed to pass to graduate in a clean four year path. However, it was far from my best subject. I
was mostly focused on international relations and not on issues within the country. To overcome this
delay, I had to buckle down. I reached out to see what I could do about it, but the mistake was made
and I had to live with the consequences. I registered for classes over the summer that would make up
for the credits I missed out on to make up for it. Instead of getting to enjoy my summer off, I had to
spend at least three hours a day in a classroom to finish my degree.
I think that I would be a good fit for the Midland Code Academy program. I have a lot of experience
working in a team, both in my current job, as well as in my history of competitive gaming. I am a very
flexible learner, and I have tackled difficult subject material over small amounts of time in the past.
During my college career, I took a year and a half of Spanish classes over three months instead. I have
some light programming experience as well, and have some understanding of how basic
programming logic works. I have no doubt that the class will challenge me, but I am up to the
challenge. I look forward to joining the upcoming class and think I would make a great addition to the
class both as a student and a teammate.
