Culture Shock I think a cultural shock occurs when a person feels an emotion in a good or bad way because of culture differences. One example of cultural shock I felt was in Japan, where I did my very first work experience. I can speak fluently Japanese, because my mother is Japanese and the culture of this country has always been part of life. However, I met some language barriers the first few days at work. Indeed in Japan, we have several way to speak to people. I learned from my mother the casual way while obviously at work, you need to use the formal way of speaking. I had to learn many new vocabularies and change my style of talking. It was very stressful as I made a lot mistakes. However, I asked for help to my family and coworkers, and I could improve a lot my knowledge about Japanese. I was really surprised that even with my own culture, I could have a culture shock. It taught me that I still have a lot to learn about my own country. Another cultural shock happened in Singapore. I am very used to be admired for being French in Japan. People often says that I am really fortunate to be able to speak French and live in France. I was expected that people in Singapore will say the same thing as it is an Asian country too. However, people tended to be more surprised and envious that I was Japanese. I felt the same thing when I was in Vietnam (but historically speaking it makes more sense). I have been taught that people don’t see a same culture in a same way, and I thought that the relations between countries might also interfere between individuals relationship.

Application to a Master I am very interested in retail because of my previous experiences and the module “Retail management” that I attended in [School's Name]. Furthermore, I have been selected and I participated at the XXX Immersion Program and I could listen to the seniors of different brands of the group [Group's Name]. The company which cut my eye is XXX, because I felt the company has a great sense of human value and the workers seemed to me very passionate. Because of all this, I would like to work in retail development for this maison. I think the [Program's Name] is a real opportunity to me. I know that I still have a lot to learn about this very complex industry where the business is totally different from other industries (e.g. consumer behavior). The study trip is also a great event to develop a network and approach concretely this world. I am also aware that XXX is recruiting from XXX and I think it will increase my chance to go toward my dream. Moreover, I know that the Campus has very active student life and there are many associations and clubs. I am willing to join the fashion club “XXX” to be part of the dynamic student life, and certainly enrich my CV. The last three years showed me that XXX is a good international school with great facilities and services. I think it is a great environment for educational and professional success.

Application to a Master Before coming into XXX, I did not know what I wanted to do. I only knew that I was willing to work in an international environment. That is why I applied for the XXX. It is an international program that covers every sector of the business. I wanted to "touch" as many sector that I could before specializing myself in a sector. And I get interested in Finance and Accounting because I had some comfort with it, which is why I specialized in Accounting & Finance. For long time, I was interested in Fashion and many artistic domain (i.e. dance and theater). That is the reason why I choose to do internships and student jobs in this sector. They helped me to understand the system of apparel business from producing clothes to the consumer motivations to buy shoes and clothes. It was – and it is still today – a real priority in my life to understand the fashion industry from many point of view of the business. I have a real interest in Fashion and Luxury. I love reading articles and check the news of brands and people. I think it is a beautiful and fascinating world with a lot of history and symbols. My sense of fashion, challenge and perfection gave me the wish to work in the luxury industry. The current program I am attending, developed my sense of team work through the different group assignment we had to do. Its international background, my travels and the numerous meetings with people from around the globe taught me how to adapt myself in an international environment. I also improved my skills to do speech and presentations.