My Personal Statement

Matthew Lickey - Personal Statement – 12-7-05

I have experienced an education rather different from that of most of my peers. From kindergarten until my junior year of high school, when I joined the Running Start Program, I was home schooled along with my 5 siblings. Home school was a wonderful experience for me on several levels. First, it allowed me to spend a lot more time with my family. Our rich daily interactions provided a very nourishing environment for my early scholarly pursuits. I learned to read just after turning five and my parents encouraged me to become a voracious reader. Later on, the individualized pace of my studies allowed me to advance at a quicker pace than students in traditional public schools. Every year, when I took the standardized state tests that the law required home schoolers to complete, I scored in the 99+ percentile of Washington students. Another level on which homeschooling benefited me was that of my personal and moral development. I have been steeped from an early age in a culture that values faith and family above all. I have witnessed the hours my Mom has poured into training my siblings and me, giving her all to guide us toward good lives. My Dad abandoned a high paying job as First Mate on a tug pulling barges to Alaska and the likelihood of being promoted to Captain and started his own business as a contractor so that he could spend more time with the family. Their sacrifices have not gone unnoticed or unappreciated. I believe this culture of love and loyalty holds great value and I dream of someday passing it on to another generation when I start a family of my own.

My success in school did not end when I finished homeschooling and enrolled in the Running Start program at Bellevue Community College. Despite some early difficulties transitioning from one-on-one/self learning to classroom/online teaching that resulted in two early B's, I was able to maintain high grades throughout my time at BCC. I believe that my later grades demonstrate that I adapted well to the college environment. My GPA never dipped below 3.50. I enjoyed my time exploring new subjects and learning new things. The psychology and economics courses I took were particularly enjoyable. After my first two quarters I scored nothing but A's resulting in recruitment by Phi Theta Kappa, my graduation with honors and a 3.85 GPA.

While I found my studies enjoyable the financial and scheduling aspects of my education were not easy. Ever since my dad quit working on the tugs, our family has not had much money. Consequently, my parents were unable to pay for any of my Running Start fees, books or transportation. Fortunately, I was hired in my freshman year of high school by the Renton Printery and have earned enough money to cover my college expenses so far. Spending all my money on school left me without the money to pay for driver's education, a vehicle or the many costs associated with being a driver. To this day I still do not have a driver's license, a situation that has greatly complicates my school and work schedules. Instead I rely on carpooling with coworkers and fellow students to get me where I need to go.

When I began at BCC, I intended to major in business. At the time, I was unsure what I wanted to do for a career and business seemed to have wide potential for application towards future jobs. As I took classes I realized that general business administration was not really what I wanted to study. After taking the macroeconomics course required to complete a business AA at BCC, I realized that I found economics fascinating. This started me on the path towards majoring in economics but it was later classes that really caused me to change. Two experiences particularly shaped my decision to shift the focus of my studies. The first was my microeconomics class and its instructor, Rebbecca Baldwin. Professor Baldwin designed her course so that we absorbed economics not just as a bundle of academic concepts, but rather as an orderly way to analyze, organize and understand human behavior. Later on I took another of her courses and she became my academic adviser. The other experience was, interestingly enough a managerial accounting course. As part of the class, all of the students were divided into groups to compete in a management simulation. When we planned our strategy and made our decisions, I found that my knowledge of economics, especially supply/demand dynamics, was extremely helpful. We ended up winning the competition by a very large margin. This reinforced my impression that knowledge of economics is very valuable in the business world. After discovering that economics was both fascinating and useful in the real world I decided to strive for a higher degree in economics rather than business.

The course work I completed for my AA degree at BCC flows well into my intended major at the UW. I plan on applying to the Economics Bachelor of Arts major. While at BCC I have completed all of the prerequisite courses required to enter this major. Additionally, I have finished a fair portion of the Area of Knowledge credits and two of the three foreign language courses required for graduation. If I am accepted, I will enter the UW as a junior with more than 90 credits available to be applied towards my degree. I understand that there is usually a 90 credit maximum on lower division courses that can be applied towards a UW degree.

Assuming that I am accepted and complete my degree, I plan to use it to find employment in the private sector. I am not sure, at this point, exactly what career path I will take but the job outlook for an economics major seems to be quite good. According to the National Association of Colleges and Employers' Job Outlook 2005 Survey, graduates with degrees in economics were the 5^th most demanded by employers. The survey also indicated that employers plan to increase their hiring of college graduates in the near future. If these trends continue, I will be in good stead when I graduate.

The prospect of entering the economics program at the University of Washington is exciting for me. The UW in general is highly reputed but I am especially thrilled to have an opportunity to study under the decorated professors in the economics department. Not every econ program can boast a Nobel laureate, the presidents of several Economic societies or the editors of economic journals.

The University of Washington seems to be the perfect school for me. It is located in a large vibrant city, in the beautiful surroundings of the Pacific Northwest. It has sterling academics. It is rated as the 17^th best university in the world by the Academic Ranking of World Universities. Best of all, it has a highly reputed program for my intended major. I have looked into other colleges but it seems wasteful to move to another city and pay out of state tuition when one of the best universities in the world is in my home town.