Application Letter AUC

In the gospel according to Matthew, Jesus tells us of a master who leaves his home to go
abroad. Before leaving he divides his property of 8 talents, a large unit of money,
between his servants and asks them to look after it. Two of them invest the money and
double the amount. The third one however buries his share out of the fear of losing it.
Returning after a long time, he gathers the servants and asks them what they did with
the money. The master praises the two after hearing that they have doubled the money.
He punishes the third servant for not doing anything with the talent.
What the story tries to convey is that one must make use of what is given to him,
including talents in nowadays’ meaning, and one must take responsibility over it. I see it
in the same way with education. One must make the most out of his talents and take the
highest responsibility to evolve it. That is why I think that AUC suits me very well as I
can develop all my interests, ambitions and talents and not have to ‘bury’ one.

For a long time I have had strongly varying interests. From economics, to politics, to
philosophy. AUC gives me the opportunity, thanks to it’s system, to study on all the
subjects of my interest in depth. Because of my interest I see that many social and
economic questions can not be answered correctly out of one discipline. Many
economists for example think that economics is an exact science. Economics can be
much more meaningful to society when it is combined with sociological and historical
components because people are not always rational or act according to certain patterns.
The problems of the present and the future are solvable by transcending the disciplinary
boundaries. This is exactly, I hope to find at AUC and with the knowledge I hope to
acquire, be at aide to the society. Instead of narrowing down your thoughts and creating
a tunnel vision, which happens at a lot of studies in the Netherlands, I want to develop a
broader and more comprehensive way of thinking.