Подумайте хорошенько о том, чего вы хотели в жизни, о чем мечтали, и что из этого уже получили. Вспомните какие-нибудь необычные, сложные ситуации, которые наверняка с вами случались, вспомните те свои достижения, которыми вы гордитесь. И даже если они не кажутся вам такими уж значительными – опишите их. В данном случае важно качество, а не количество написанного. Постарайтесь сделать так, чтобы читающему вашу работу человеку не стало скучно, и чтобы его не потянуло в сон.

The Moscow State University where I got my undergraduate degree is known as the most prestigious and toughest school in the former USSR. Students at the Philological Department are often called "lead bottoms," because being very busy with their studies, they sit all day reading and do not have time for any extracurricular activities. I studied a lot too, but I was not very exited of getting that nickname and of missing an opportunity to participate in student so­cial life, to meet many new people and to be a leader.

As I member of the Moscow State University Student Theater, I was the director, as well as one of the writers and actors, of a play per­formed at the annual department party where students and faculty meet alumni. The right to present the play at the party was awarded to the winners of the script competition. I convinced five of my friends to work with me on a script. After two weeks of intense writing we managed to assemble a script based on tales from Russian folklore. The script was judged by an elected committee. I was very excited when the dean announced that my team had won the competition.

Although we were awarded only 40% of our requested budget, we worked very hard to make our performance a quality production. We spent four weeks in rehearsal. I was extremely busy for I was not only the director and producer of the play, but also played one of the most important roles—a Mermaid. Not only did I have to learn my role, I also had to make sure that the twenty other people in the production showed up for rehearsals and learned their parts. At the same time that I was resolving these problems, I had to worry about costumes, scenery, playbills, my own role in the play and allocation of limited funds among competing yet equally important needs.

The most difficult part of the production involved a dance scene for which I needed to find a professional choreographer who was willing to work for my production without pay. In addition, recording the soundtrack also was something which needed professional involve­ment, but my friend managed to do it somehow.

Working on this production deeply affected my life. I discovered how exhilarating is to manage people. At first I worried that being re­sponsible for so many aspects of a production—the actors, the script, choreography, the soundtrack, the lights, the stage—could be over­whelming. I had never worked on such a complex project before and I discovered during the production that I enjoyed the management as­pects of my position even more than the artistic aspects. Also, having successfully directed such a project has provided me with greater con­fidence in positions I have had since that time.

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