My reasons to study philosophy, politics and economics

I want to work for Non-Government Organizations, so I wish to further my studies in PPE and apply long-term policies to promote development in economics, education, and health in disadvantaged areas in China in the future.

Economics is one of my passions. I found the study of government macroeconomic intervention and Pareto maximum fascinating since these concepts focus on the choices that shape society in the era of rapid expansion into the global market. It seems that this fast development while being successful, has created gaps for many less advanced parts in China. I did field research in distant villages in Gansu Province, one impoverish province in China, and found many conflicts of policy implementation. When attempting to eliminate absolute poverty before 2020, the government gives considerable amounts of funding to disadvantaged places. Under the data of their lower GDP per head in counties, the local governments provide funding directly to each low-income family to increase the family’s average annual income. People’s productivity hence increases, but a closed-economic structure results in competition in the local market and increases waste of agriculture products. Problems will arise when the government withdraws its funding, leaving impoverished families dependent on government transfer payments, returning to poverty. After talking with local government officials, I think there need to be policies to support the regional economy to develop sustainably instead of focusing on short-term solutions. I read to enrich my understanding of the conflicts I observed. Political power is pyramidal, so it includes voluntary compliance and people are underrepresented. The disparities are unavoidable. Though it is always a belief that political power can lead the common-good, legitimacy might be another reason for the government to enact macroeconomic policies because legitimacy enables the government to be identified as “ the substantial expression of ethics”(Hegel) and to function.

Academically, I have excelled in every A-level subject I undertook, resulting in being awarded in international mathematics competitions of Canada and Australia. I also self-studied courses in the American curriculum where I have achieved solid SAT&SAT2 scores as well as passed 4 Advanced Placement courses. In school, I have acted as vice president of the Leadership Club and organised “ One Book, One Dream” for the past two years. This project gave books to rural children to raise the literacy rate. In 2017, the project won the Outstanding Award at the 8th National High School Student Leadership Convention, and I was nominated as the Annual National High School Student Leader by the Chinese Society of Education. I also joined the GPSA-China program to collect rural students’ health data.

In summer of 2018, I went to Kenya to research the influence of anti-female genital mutilation laws in Maasai society. I observed dilemmas of implementation of anti-FGM laws in the face of long-held tradition, and the work done by international institutions and NGOs helping local people to better adapt to new government laws applied to social ethics.