My motivation letter for university

Dear Mountain Hiker

I have looked over this site, and well I tried to compose a motivation letter based on what you said. I know I am missing certain aspects, but I’m not sure what they are.
Could you please take a look and give me some advice

Thank you so much

Regards Artem



Motivation Letter

My name is Artem .T, I was born in Moscow, Russia in 1987. After 18 years it has finally come to the time when I must apply for university, and Erasmus is my First and only choice. My motivation letter below will give you some insight on me.

Before the Netherlands, I lived six and a half years in Moscow. In that time I grew attached to the fast moving and developing, exiting environment. Although the time I spent there was only a short part of my life, I still feel that my roots and possible future lie in Russia. During these six years I traveled the world with my parents, anywhere in Europe, to the far coast of Thailand. This was the beginning of my international life.

In 1994 I came to Holland with my mother, while my father stayed behind to continue his business. I first went to the American School of The Hague for two years. There I learned English, and got a custom to be around international students. Thereafter I went to another international school in Leiderdorp. In 1998 I arrived at the Rijnlands Lyceum in Oegstgeest, where I began my studies to achieve the International Baccalaureate Diploma.

Apart from school I was part of a Russian club in Leiden. The club included Russian school, to help me keep up my Russian, but alongside this, the older members including myself, organized public plays performed by the young and older children of the Russian community. My other activities include water polo and the gym. I go to the gym on average about 3-4 times a week. The sports complex at Erasmus looks impressive and is definitely something I would join

My parents played a big part of my development towards the business world. After the fall of communism, my parents, having just finished their Universities, found them selves in a quickly developing world of business opportunities. Through out my childhood I grew up with my parents always talking, thinking, and doing business. My parents took me with them on business trips and showed me their companies. Even at an early age I already was fascinated by the growing business world.
My Parents always told me how I would later become a businessman, and how great it would be, with all the opportunities. This has always stuck with me, and that is what I want to become.
In 2003 my mother had an idea to start up a business in the Netherlands, and along with a friend they began developing ideas. In the end they decided to start a day care center.
This was perfect timing, as my Extended Essay was due to start. I already decided to do on a business, and the day care gave me a perfect opportunity. I did an analysis on the target market, I helped my mom make a business plan, and calculated the appropriate prices. When it finally opened I also did some administration work for her. From this all and some other analysis I wrote my Extended Essay.
Being involved with a real business, and seeing it start up, and become a successful company, only reinforced my want to study business at university.

Now with my exams coming in May, I have been looking for possible universities to attend. I decided to look for a university in Holland mainly because I feel like this is my second home. The Dutch culture and the freedom, along with so many international people around, suits all my needs.
When choosing universities, Erasmus and UvA were my two final choices. When looking for information on the universities, Erasmus stood out all the way, both by reputation and by the available courses. I would be very proud to be in a University that is ranked number eight in Europe.
I also have some acquaintances from Erasmus one of which is currently following the IBA course. With all these incentives Erasmus is definitely the University of my future.

I choose the IBA course because it fits my future and my international background.
In the past two year I have been studying Business and Economics at the Rijnlands. Although both subject interest me, I find that business attracts me more. Accounting and Finance was my favorite part of the syllabus, and after looking into the 3 year Bachelors program, I found the syllabus to be exactly what I was looking for.
For my future I looked in to the possible Masters degrees, Finance and Investments is exactly where I see my future to lie.
Finance and investment with my Russian roots, would mean working for a company such as Campina or Heineken (who are currently boosting their investments in Russia), would be a solid option. Being in charge of multi-million euro project, and planning a business general finance, is a job for me

My friends have always said I have leadership qualities, and always try to be better then the rest. They say I have high goals in life. I like to have control over a situation, and I see myself to have both a critical as well as very strategic mind.
I am very confident that I will be able to complete the Bachelors program and in the future get my Masters degree.