Steve Jobs said "That's how I see business: great things in business are never done by one person, they're done by a team of people." In fact, every company relies on essential principles such as initiative, creativity and teamwork to enhance its ability to confront constant competition. I believe that by studying business and management, I will acquire the necessary skills to apply these key elements in an effective manner, thus preparing me for wide range of leadership opportunities. As a matter of fact, by reading In Search of Excellence, written by Tom Peters and Robert Waterman, I realized that the performance of leading organizations is far from being merely coincidental and can be explained by a number of factors. In my opinion the main driving force is the interaction between people, companies and their clients.

As part of my curriculum of the French baccalaureate, I took part in a yearlong team project, where it became clear to me that efficient teamwork is central to the success of any group endeavor. My group and I investigated the impact of swimmers' movements on their performance and subsequently presented our results in the form of an oral presentation and a written report. This experience showed me that it was the combined result that mattered, rather than the individual contributions. Moreover, it taught me how to work collaboratively by dividing large workloads in order to deliver the best outcome.

I also took part in a work experience with AtoS, the company that was in charge of IT during the London Olympics. At the time, the whole corporation was in the middle of a major merger, which gave me an invaluable insight into the complexity and the scale of financing such large projects. As a marketing intern, I had to profile prospective clients of the new combined entity and to benchmark the website against competition, where every detail was important. The idea of being part of a working assignment and impacting directly a company success also contributed to my aspiration to pursue a business career.

My ten years commitment as a Scout has been a great training in terms of team collaboration and organization. In particular, my two years as treasurer taught me how to build a project, raise funds and manage cash flows for a group. It also gave me the opportunity to be in touch with social activities, to strengthen my organizational skills, and to tackle financial issues. For instance I organized a trip in an orphanage in East Greece, for several weeks. I also set-up and provided local support to a farm that needed attention in North Spain. Other extracurricular activities such as sports have also contributed to my selection of subject. In fact, I have been a keen swimmer, following a weekly training schedule, for several years. I thoroughly enjoy working on a specific stroke and improving my performance through perseverance and intensive training. In this sense, swimming is similar to business: it is the accumulation of small changes that leads to the desired result.

I have spent most of my life outside my home country. Based in the United States and the United Kingdom, I have travelled across four continents. I have developed a great interest in cultural diversity and in the range of solutions chosen by different societies to address the same problems such as the organization of medical services or education systems.

The difference between successful and average companies very often revolves around issues related to organization, marketing and finance. My objective is to acquire the knowledge in Business and Management to make that difference. It will be an important milestone towards my goal of leveraging my international experience in global projects.