I introduce myself as Patnirada Chanwattanasin or as other people called me Jeda. I am currently a student at Mahidol University International Demonstration School (MUIDS). As I grew up there is one question that I keep being asked, which is what would you want to be in the future, the question of expectation and pressure but also teenage dream at the same time.
As I grew up in the house where a business man, my dad, lives, I saw him wake up so early in the morning to control the quality of the fishball factory everyday. He dedicated himself to this factory. However, the effort that he puts in has paid off. Despite the hard work, he has plenty of time for family. He can drop me off and pick me up anywhere and whenever I want. Other than that, he also made a lot of money from the factory that he started on his own.
How my father started and managed his own business inspired me to have my own business one day. When I was 9 years old, slime, which is a children’s toy created by mixing the glue with borax, was very popular. I as a kid saw this as an opportunity to gain some profit from selling slime. Therefore, I created an instagram account and posted the pictures of slime that I made myself, hoping to sell some of it. Although I got only a few orders from my siblings, kids in the neighborhood, and kids from school, it was a good start.
When I was a teenager, there was one idol group that became very popular and made everyone excited. They released trading cards featuring each member in three different poses, with each card costing 50 THB. However, a complete set of one member with three cards could resell for as much as 900 THB. Seeing this high demand and potential profit, I realized this was a great opportunity to make some extra money. My father provided 10000 THB funding for this. I used all of the money to buy the trading cards and resell them. When all of the cards were sold, I gained 5000 THB of profits. I continued doing this business for a while until the idol had lost its popularity. I had 40000 THB in my account when I was in grade 6. Other than earning money, I discovered how much I enjoy interacting with the customers and packing the orders, revealing my strong passion for business.
From observing my father’s business journey and through my own experiences, I know by heart that I am really interested in the field of business. After researching for university, I have found that Bachelor of Business Administration of Chulalongkorn university is a perfect fit for me to further develop my skills and achieve my goals in this field; this faculty will be beneficial for me to accomplish my dream of starting my own business by not only gaining the knowledge but also experiences.