Scholarship Deadline: May 1st, 2024 ($500)

There are hundreds upon thousands of great cities in this marvelous world. There exists many options that may be of great interest to others; however, I am only interested in one particular city, New York City. I believe that my future as a healthcare administrator stands to benefit greatly from living in New York City. The big apple would be my ideal location to further myself in regards to my vocation and there are numerous reasons behind this belief. First of all, New York City is a dynamic city that is constantly evolving and attracting the brightest minds from around the world. This magnet for genius would provide me with infinite sources of wisdom, this crucial because the truly learned man is never done learning. I would be living around the corner from the authors and sources behind many of the published articles and other academic resources I currently utilize. The ability to find the source of these academic materials allows for any issues or idea I incur to be addressed immediately. This city has an ability to attract people from everywhere imaginable. Additionally, New York City not only contains bright minds but it is composed of a beautifully heterogeneous mixture of all imaginable cultures and races from around the world. This exposure to various cultures also serves to greatly enhance my understanding of healthcare. Upon learning and comparing about the various strategies and techniques used in other areas, I will be better equipped to handle issues. This insight allows me to approach issues in a novel manner that would perhaps never have arisen on American soil. When you are able to freely communicate strategies with individuals from all over the world, you can easily learn from their mistakes and experiences. Living in a city that not only refuses to conform, but rather embraces differences, will allow me to freely make suggestions and propose ideas that may be a completely novel approach. Inevitably, these shared stories will nurture my growth and allow me to think outside the box. In conclusion, living in New York City will drastically improve my abilities as a health care administrator. Living at the forefront of breaking edge technology and information puts me miles ahead of competitors. Likewise, the ability to interact with people from all over the world will be able to expand on my book knowledge. Upon sharing stories and experiences, we will be able to gain from the mistakes and triumphs of others while growing as a whole. Therefore, I believe New York City is the ideal location in this world for me to become a meaningful healthcare administrator.

There are thousands of cities in the world, each offering their own opportunities for those who travel there. Each shows a different culture and different things to explore. I wish to study fashion design in college, ironically your example for this question. However, I would not go to Paris, I would go to Amsterdam for its diversity, strength in my desired field, and promise of a new culture. Amsterdam shows a wide variety of people. There are of course the natives, Dutch speaking tall individuals. The young women in the red light district desperate for money. The tourists running around taking photos of the city structures, and the poor sitting in the streets. For the purpose of fashion design I see this to be a sort of playground. So many different sides of one city, from the rich to the poor in simple steps. All sorts of fashions hanging on these people that walk through the city streets. Even the women in the windows have their own style that can be appropriately turned into a new collection. I would have an endless array of choices. It is also known for its strength in the fashion world. Amsterdam is one of the fashion capitals of the world, making it one of the obvious choices. There are people there that could teach me all kinds of things in the world of fashion. Potentially even getting a job at a store that would offer me a glimpse into the true world i wanted to get into. I want to see the business side as well as the creative side. I might as well enjoy a new culture while I'm learning. I have always loved to see the world from different perspectives. Getting to see what people think in a different part of the world. A new language may be difficult to learn, but I think that it would be beneficial in the long run. Being able to discuss things with other people in a new tongue. The more languages I can learn the better. The more cultures I can understand and respect, the better my career may turn out. The dutch culture facinates me and I would like to experience it first hand. I would go to Amsterdam within a moment of being offered a trip. It could open a new door to my desired career and that is something I could not refuse. With its diversity, strength in fashion design, and promise of a new culture, Amsterdam would be the place for me. A new life waiting for me in a new city. What more could a girl ask for?

If I could travel to any city in the world to better myself in the education field, I would go to China. China is very fortunate, having many intelligent students. Students in China are taught advanced education at a very young age; all children in China know how to speak English as a language, as a secondary language, but very fluently. Students in schools in the United States are not usually taught a foreign or secondary language, until at least the ninth grade. Even being taught a foreign language at this age, most students only study it for a minimum of two years, and after that they do not continue to study or speak the language. This leads to the language being forgotten and then it was a waste of class time to take the language. Students in China, are taught the language at a young age, and use it frequently to help them remember the usage of the language. Also, students in China are taking things in technology to new levels, coming up with new inventions and creating new things. Here in America, we produce extremely small amounts of products and all of our other merchandise is shipped in from China and other countries. We have learned to depend on China for our wants and needs and also to be able to trade goods that we make here, keeping our economies thriving. I feel that if I would go to China, experiencing their way of life and their broad education and learning abilities of their children, it would give me an example of how to try to shape the classrooms of the future for the United States. This change in our country would create many new jobs for people, and also give America the advantage of producing things here. This giving the United States an advantage in the world of importing and exporting goods. If we were to change the ways of education, based on the advancements in technology and trying to teach students at a young age how to speak multiple languages or to even do complex math this would help our country to thrive, leaving other countries to want to set their education based on our curriculum. I feel that in a perfect world we would not have to compete with other countries to make ourselves better, but we would each have our own way of life and education and it would not be judged or compared to, but it would be ours. But, this is not a perfect world and we are not a perfect country, we all make mistakes and are entitled to make them, these are the things that make the world continue.

Chicago - The Windy City. Chicago would be, in my opinion, the best city in the world for me to go to that would be a colossal eye opener. Since business is, in fact, what I want my career to be in, then distinguishing what kind of business I really want to work for is crucial. The diversity of Chicago's businesses go from night clubs, to bakeries, to paper suppliers and back. How else are you supposed to know what you want if you've never seen or experiences these businesses first hand? My career of choice happens to be human resources development. Being a people person, I want to know what kinds of people I'm going to be dealing with. Chicago's population is ranked third in the country, with a whopping 9.6 million inhabitants ("Chicago-Area Population Grows: New Census Data" 1). Now that's a lot of people, and with that many people, you would almost automatically assume that they have a substantial amount of diversity. When you work with people of different nationalities, you learn that they all have different work ethics. When you're from a city like mine, with a population of only about 5,000, going to a city like Chicago can be life changing. I knew everyone by name back home. It wasn't a town were you just walked up to someone and introduced yourself; everyone was a family friend. In Chicago, if you're not confident enough with yourself to stand up and meet someone new, then what's the point in managing a group of employees that you're afraid to talk to? Some people might come up to me and say, "What's wrong with New York or Miami?" Your answer is that every city has something unique about them. When you say "Chicago", most people's brains might automatically jump to deep dish pizzas and the Chicago Bears. It's true that those things are entirely unique to Chicago. But most people don't stop to think that the Chicago area is one of the fastest expanding areas in the United States. Where there's expansion, there's new businesses forming. I don't know if I want to work in a department store, or a company that sells printers and fax machines. Since Chicago is such a huge city, they have all of these amenities for the people that live there. The main idea of my career is to help people, and what's a better way to help people than having first hand experiences with others? There will always be people with different personalities, and everyone handles situations different than the other. I can't think of a better place other than Chicago to come face to face with these people.

"The city that never sleeps." New York. Virtually known as the commerce capital of the world, New York provides the necessary fast-paced, dynamic environment captivated by eager shoppers thriving to become the generation's next trendsetters. As a business student, one can only benefit from being in a city where the shopping experience not only prevails within a shopping mall, but runs as a lifestyle. After spending a considerable time in the city where bright lights contribute to the runway perception of its densely packed yet fashionably-delightful human traffic, I would only gain live experience of what it truly means to market oneself. After all, marketing is the number one measure for the success or failure of brand companies in the future. Finding myself between Wall street and 5th avenue combines the two aspects of business in which I'm currently concentrating, finance and marketing. To begin with, marketing is a business process that deals with diffusion of innovation and products. It is not fussing about better strategies concerning increasing sales, but it focus on customer-centered ideals that will maximize customer satisfaction. W. Edwards Deming, teacher and consultant, shaped his reputation as a great management thinker by advising accountants to view work as a process and become process thinkers controlling processes, not people and costs. He also directed management accountants to develop process systems controls that are customer focused and that increase the learning capabilities of the firm1. What better way to learn than by being in a metropolis of commercial-minded individuals. By clearly identifying the marketing objectives and goals, developing a marketing strategy, and then implementing it, a business student such as myself could break down even the most delicate factors that could end up being the last call for a customer purchase. In other words, an expertise in research approaches, observational as well as experimental research, can lead to better standards in satisfaction as the primary demand metric. One of the best examples out there is the reconstruction of the corporate mindset of Hyundai executives who were only able to outdo their competition after twenty something years, when they finally realized that customer-oriented processes were the key to success. In order to measure customer profitability, marketing professionals need to pay special care to the sheer quantity of customer purchases made per year, the low costs of delivering and after-sales services to these customers, and customer purchases of high margin products. It is all a matter on keeping the organization

There is no better city than Washington DC to gain the authority, perseverance and compassion one needs to become a teacher. Reaching kids who live in poverty and providing them with the tools they need to become successful adults takes a teacher who believes in children. It also takes resolve. It would be easy to teach in a school with plenty of resources where students who, along with their parents, value education. But insisting on the same outcomes in schools with no computers, textbooks, art supplies and even paper and where students come from unsupported home-lives takes resolve. A sense of authority is important for a teacher in a city like DC. The children learn that authority is something to rebel against and need to relearn that persons of authority are there to help them and that they can be trusted. To teach children who have not had education made a priority in their lives since birth takes perseverance. Teaching in DC would be more like a marathon than a sprint. A teacher really has to believe in themselves and their students in order to stay the course and commit to the process. Its hard to imagine all of the hurdles children in impoverished cities face. Academics is only one area of learning that a teacher in DC would be responsible for. Being compassionate and teaching the "whole" child is a must. A teacher has to provide for needs beyond the classroom while pressing forward in all study areas. Certainly, a successful Washington DC teacher could apply their talents to any classroom or career. It would be difficult having the patience and resourcefulness you would need but nothing would be more rewarding than seeing progress in kids where others thought there couldn't be any.

I am currently a junior in college, pursuing Occupational Therapy, and I understand that you must go where the jobs are needed. I believe that the best area in the world for an Occupational Therapist is in the United States. More specifically, in the Southwestern states. I believe that this is true because Occupational Therapists are highly needed in states such as California, New Mexico, and most prominently, Arizona. I have seen multiple newspaper ads, Craigslist ads, and other sources offering jobs in these states previously stated. I can't be sure of why these states are so limited in their Occupational Therapists. The one thing I can be sure of, is that if Occupational Therapists are at such a high demand in the Southwest, then there is more compensation to be awarded there. Average annual salaries of Occupational Therapists in states such as Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico, are nearly double that of what an average Occupational Therapist makes in the East. As a New Yorker, I will have to look into moving to the Southwest, in order to be able to better financially support myself, and my future family. I believe that if I spent some time in these states, I could better understand why the therapists are at such a high demand in this area. I could also decide whether it would be financially beneficial for my career to move there. I also understand that because the demand for Occupational Therapists are so highly needed in the Southwest, facilities such as schools and hospitals may be hiring average or below average therapists, simply to provide one to the patients. I believe that visiting this area of the United States will grant me more understanding of the field, and making me more aware of the growing demand for Occupational Therapists. It would also open my eyes to the various facilities that are in dire need of Occupational Therapists. By visiting the Southwest, I believe that I could see the need for therapists, and possibly consider moving there to benefit my career as an Occupational Therapist.

Being a future writer, the place that would best benefit my career has to be Prypiat in modern day Ukraine. This may be ringing a bell if you play Call of Duty 4 due to there being a whole level that takes place there. The silent, abandoned radioactive city isn't just you're typical video game apocalyptic fantasy, its an actual place. It's a city that had to be abandoned in the 70's because of a malfunction at the Chernobyl reactor. Living in a place so eerie where few have gone would make me more marketable to potential employers because it would make me experience few things others have, thus making me the only one who could accurately portray it. There are countless books written about living in places like New York and London, but, while they are great places, there are places all over the world being ignored. Like Prypiat. It would be a fresh breath to hear about other places but with writers flocking to the same cities we one rarely get to read about them. Going to Prypiat would make me stand out. Different cities have different messages, in New York the message seems to be "You should be richer", in Cambridge its "You could be smarter". These messages are known by many because the message is put out there. If one were to write about it then you wouldn't be telling anyone anything new. The message of Prypiat could very well be "Don't live by reactors" but unless someone lives there, we may never know. Living there would also make me experience things few have ever experienced, making me one of the few who could accurately write about them. Imagine how it would be like to live in such a creepy, radioactive place; the fear or paranoia one could experience there. It would certainly add to my arsenal of writing topics and it would enable me to write things about fear because I would've experienced it first hand, just like when actors call upon their past emotions to act them out in front of an audience. If an actor has never been mad then the actor could not act mad. Writers in the same way can't write about what they don't know. Living in Prypiat I would be able to offer my potential employers unique experiences and fresh ideas that no one else would, and you never know what might happen in a radioactive place like that. I could be bitten by a radioactive slug and become the lamest superhero ever. A place like that would make me very marketable.

I believe a major, highly populated city such as New York or Los Angeles would be a beneficial destination to promote a career path. I believe this because in a highly populated area there is a greater likelihood that a broad range of fields may be available in which to work. Not only would there probably be a significantly large range of fields of study but also a foreseeable means by which to discover many opportunities in each area. In a largely populated area; my thought process is that with more people there is more opportunity to serve with many different professions because the more people could translate to the more serviced needed. As compared to a smaller city, there may not be as many people therefore supply of serviced needed may be equivalent or even exceed the demand. I have already stated my belief and the reasoning behind it. However; to go a little more in depth I would say that success rates of productivity and career growth can be increased or decreased not only depending on the area, but the field. A race car driver living in a small, farm town may not see much action. As good as they may be, the opportunity just may not be there. A mechanic, or surgeon in, or even close to a large city will have a greater chance to not only exploit their ability on a large general public, but they can also earn themselves a prestigious well-known name that a larger group of people will become familiar with building that persons' respect and reputation over time. After all, that's what a career is supposed to be made up of. Sure, we all need a career to make a good living and to have a sense of productivity in our everyday lives; but everything can be looked to as a service to others in one way or another and when all parts come together as one with the opportunity there the rates of success are likely to show increase. If I am an attorney in a small town, as good as I may be, I may not be able to show it and may even struggle to find work or to keep any work that I do have. A farmer wouldn't have to worry about this because they will be okay as long as the weather plays cooperative and they are able to get their product where it needs to go. An attorney, would much more likely to be successful in a larger setting where there are more people. Every profession can be seen as a service in many ways. A farmer served people indirectly; while the work of an attorney is a direct relationship of representation that required direct contact and even face to face office work. A big city provides more room to find a suitable area; more people to serve to which increases the chances that there is also a suitable demographic with a population of demand for all the supply being provided. A farmer in a big city would not have room to grow crops. An attorney in a small town would have a lot of room to grow crops that wouldn't grow.

As a person who is highly interested in both psychology and foreign languages, it would be highly beneficial to future employers if I were to spend a deal of time in a place such as Mogadishu, Somalia. I would be able to put learning Arabic- a language I plan to study in college-to practical use as well as be able to help some of the individuals who have been affected by the violence in Somalia. Psychology is a broad field, however, I would like to specialize in crisis counseling. Mogadishu, unfortunately, is home to many people who have experienced terrible violence at the hands of rebels and of their own government. Women, particularly, are subjected to horrible acts of violence such as rape, and then are shunned from their own communities and families. I feel that it would be to my advantage, as well as to theirs, to provide psychological help and counseling for victims. While I also feel it is terrible that their situation could advance my own career, the life of being a crisis counselor is based in the concept of helping others, while helping yourself. My other main interest is the field of foreign language. In a city like Mogadishu, I could completely immerse myself in another language, and by doing so, immerse myself in the culture. Beneath all of the current strife and violence is a rich history and culture, which I feel would not only allow me to understand the language better, but it would also give me a personal connection to the language, the history, and the natives. Arabic is an especially difficult language to learn, and immersion is a highly effective method of becoming fluent. In this city, my two interests would aid one another. I would be able to use my understanding of the language and culture to help the victims of crime and war, and my appreciation for their culture to be empathize, while hopefully giving people the help they need. In Mogadishu, I could get hands on experience with both of my passions, which would make me more appealing to future employers, both in the psychological and foreign affair arenas.