Grad's guide to graduate admissions essays - Colleen Reding 2015
University of Michigan - Gerald R. Ford school of public policy
General graduate studies
A few months ago I was consulting with a small business owner named Mary who owned a handmade stationery shop in Ohio. She was struggling because her clients were increasingly migrating to more convenient, online options for similar products, and she was only just beginning to establish an online presence. In our conversations, I gave her a number of recommendations on how to compete by making her website more visible to people searching for her products. I spent considerably more time with her than I usually did, and while I tried to maintain professional distance, I could not help but truly empathize with her plight. She had spent her whole life building a business, perfecting her craft, only to have the market shift right before her eyes. What made her competitive before—quality products and a local consumer base—is no longer sufficient in the face of online consumerism, and she felt completely displaced. I have found too many small business owners who feel the same way.
In my last 2 years at Google, I have worked on a close-knit team dedicated to engaging with small businesses. Our goal has been to educate as many businesses as possible about how Google’s online tools can help them. Over the phone, over video chat, or by traveling directly to them, I have spent thousands of hours with hundreds of businesses, each with unique goals, needs, and struggles. Every time I work with someone and a lightbulb goes off, or I get a thank-you note specifying how much his or her business has improved, I know I’ve made a difference. I didn’t know that I could have that kind of impact, especially because before starting at Google, I knew very little about online advertising and the small business landscape in this country. I approached my new role like a sponge: I absorbed every piece of knowledge I could about Google’s advertising products, the company’s mission, and the unique constraints that small businesses face. The more I learned, the more passionate I became about my work.
That raised an interesting question as I started thinking about what to do next. If I am so passionate about my job, why should I do anything else? Why not stay at Google forever? It was in my conversation with Mary this summer that I found my answer. The reason I felt so strongly about my job, and the reason I worked so hard, was because I sensed an injustice. Mary had worked hard her whole life, and at a point when she should have been preparing for retirement, she was worrying about staying in business. So many of the advertisers I worked with were new to using a computer, let alone complicated technical programs like Google’s advertising products. Each day they faced an uphill battle to stay current, to stay competitive in their once familiar corner of the market.
CONVEYING PASSION
Yet it was not only in small business advertising where I sensed deep and disturbing unfairness. What about seniors without adequate medical coverage? Or students who receive abysmal education, teachers who are paid far less than they deserve, or individuals who were barred from equal rights because of who they happen to love? As the daughter of a lifelong teacher and a fiery labor lawyer, it is passion that drives me, and I am happy to say that it always will. Too many fixable inequalities exist in this country; too many serious injustices at every level. I could say in this essay that there is one cause that I plan to champion upon graduating from the University of Michigan, but truthfully, that would be a bold lie. There are a variety of issues I am eager to explore, and the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy will challenge me to analyze, discuss, and dissect each of them. Professors and even students will encourage me to refine my positions, support my arguments, and temper my passion with healthy, multifaceted debate. I will work every day to rise to the occasion.
In his inaugural speech, John F. Kennedy made his historic call to action that has energized two generations of citizens to embrace public service, myself included. However, months earlier in a speech accepting the Democratic nomination, he also said, “I believe in a government which acts, which exercises its full powers and its full responsibilities. Government is an art and a precious obligation; and when it has a job to do, I believe it should do it.” I feel called to public service because I believe there is more that our country can do for its citizens. We can do better to support the disadvantaged, to fund our school systems, to embrace individuality and diversity, and to plan for a future untarnished by partisan bickering, and the divisiveness to which we are all now accustomed. It may be through more conversations with wonderful people like Mary, but in whatever shape my future unfolds, I will be a part of the dialogue and I will make a difference. I hope that an education at the University of Michigan is my next step on that journey.
