PERSONAL STATEMENT

My name is Anthony Odong.

I am a 3rd born of the twelve children of my father and mother and the most
progressed academically.
My mother is a primary school teacher and my father, a policeman
My father left my mother in 1994 when I was just a year old and my mother was
pregnant with my young brother.

I have lived my entire life trying to support my mother so that my siblings and I have a
decent life and proper schooling.
I never really learned how to be a kid mainly because my childhood was comprised of
helping my mother who in addition to being a primary teacher did all odd jobs to make
ends meet for me and my four siblings.
Despite the weight of the challenges my family was facing, I could not allow it to
overcome my pursuit for education which was a stereotype associated with families like
mine.

Throughout my academic progress so far, I have been among the best students in the
both local school and National Examinations.
I was among the only three first graders in the Primary Leaving Examinations in Wiggins
primary school class of 2006 with 12 Aggregates in four subjects, Teso region’s second-
best student in the Uganda Certificate of Education from Jeressar High school class of
2010 with 12 Aggregates for the best 10 subjects and among St Mary's college Lugazi's
class of 2012 best students in the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education with
20/25 points in a PCB/M subjects combination
I was admitted to Makerere University for BSc Petroleum Geoscience and Production on
private scheme.
Being one of the most expensive courses, I would later drop out of University in 2014
during my second year of studies due to lack of tuition. I bounced back through
government loan scheme in 2015, completing my studies in 2018 and graduating with a
second class with honors degree in 2020

I have obtained over 2 years of work experience from Deloitte & Touche Uganda
Limited where I am an audit associate. My professional experience cuts across various
sectors ranging from financial services, manufacturing and construction, Manufacturing
and consumer business, Technology, and telecommunications, to oil & gas.
In addition to the mandatory e-learnings for the audit practice, I have completed over
15 e-learning courses relevant to the oil and gas industry, among which include the
following
• Global Energy, Resources & Industrials Foundation Curriculum
• Upstream Oil and Gas Agreements
• Petroleum Geology and Exploration Process
• Trends in the Oil and Gas sector
• Oil Field Development
• A basic overview of Petrochemicals
• Auditing Oil and Gas Revenue (Upstream and Mid-stream)
• Crude Oil Transportation and Storage

The objectives 7 and 8 of the Uganda National oil and gas policy emphasize the need
for optimum national participation in oil and gas activities. To participate in the oil and
gas activities, one ought to be highly learned as this is a very diverse and complex
industry. In 2018, an analysis study taken by the government of Uganda on the
Petroleum sub-sector with the aim of developing a Workforce Skills Development
Strategy and Plan (WSDSP) identified that there exist skills gaps at all training levels. The
gaps identified are because of many factors including: the quality of the country’s
education system, which is not adequate to generate local supply of workers with the
necessary knowledge and skill.

With this background I believe an admission into this program from your reputable
University would be a step towards becoming a well-educated individual which will
prepare me to make a great contribution toward sustainable exploitation and
development of the oil and gas resources in my country