Personal Statement:Middle Eastern Studies

Why do you want to study this course or subject?

My interest in the Middle East began at a young age as I attended a Jewish primary school with a Zionist ethos. It never did seem to measure up that a tiny "innocent" country should be picked on by all its big "bullying" neighbours; as I grew up I realised that there had to be more than one side to the story. Israeli-Palestinian relations and Israeli-Arab relations in general fascinate me. The entanglement of religion and politics in the Middle East seems to fuel the fire more than anything else, with borders and settlements appearing to me as little more than a background distraction from the real issue: Islamic-Jewish relations. The religious and cultural similarities between Jews and Muslims seem forgotten, which I feel is a pity because there are far more similarities than differences, especially culturally. These could, and should, be embraced to ultimately bring peace to the oldest civilisations in the world.

How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare for this course or subject?

My A-level studies in politics, religious studies and philosophy have furthered my interest, particularly my AS philosophy unit on tolerance. The idea of different religions, nations, cultures being tolerant of each other seemed to make perfect sense to me, and developed my curiosity as to why something which would appear to be common sense is nearly impossible to enforce in reality. My study of politics has developed my debating ability; with many of the classes being discussion based I have often had to argue in favour of a statement I strongly disagree with. This has taught me to fully consider more than one point of view, a skill that is surely necessary when studying the political minefield of the Middle East.

What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?

My love of a good debate was furthered in some of my extra-curricular activities: in year twelve I participated in the Manchester School's Debating Competition and, this year, I will be chairing the sixth form debating society. To coincide with the general election I also led the school's Liberal Democrat campaign. When I undertook the task I underestimated the sheer volume of work that was required, but I was satisfied to take a healthy proportion of the credit for the fact that the Liberal Democrats won two out of the three seats at Wilmslow High (especially considering that our local MP is George Osborne!) Taking on this responsibility was, and continues to be, challenging, especially combined with my A-level work and my other extra-curricular activities.

Outside of school, my main hobbies are performance related. To develop my confidence I joined the school choir in year 10, and have been a member ever since. I also sing in the sixth form choir and my synagogue choir where I have been given the opportunity to sing solo on numerous occasions. Over the past four years my confidence has increased through acting on the stage in pantomimes. I am also fund raising for a charitable expedition to Kenya. However, the activities I find most rewarding are those where I interact with young(er) children. As a trained peer counsellor I work closely with a year seven form to ensure that they are settled and happy. If the students have any problems we (the peer counsellors) are able to talk to them in a more informal way than they may talk to staff. My work with primary age children began last September when I was given a job at the local Kumon center. As well as routine administration, I am often responsible for working with one or two of the younger children (aged three and four) to ensure they fully understand the tasks they have been given. I also work at a local primary school. Working with children has made me more articulate and has developed my conflict resolution skills as well as my communication skills.

I believe that these activities demonstrate my ability to juggle my time so that I am able to achieve a reasonable work/life balance in preparation for the demands of university.

How personal statements have changed?

The current personal statement format, with three 'scaffolding' questions, was introduced by Ucas in September 2025. This personal statement was submitted before then, using the old essay-style format. It has been carefully edited into the three-question format, with all of the original wording kept.

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