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Sample Personal Statement for Thermal-Fluid Sciences
When I proceed to write this Personal Statement, I repeatedly ask
myself two questions. The first is, “what is the ultimate motive for
my pursuing an advanced degree program in thermal fluid sciences in a
country far away from my own?” To answer this question, it necessarily
implies that at the age of 30, I, a female engineer, have to
relinquish my present career with its stable income, give up my
comfortable way of life and bid farewell to my family members and
long-time friends. Yet, my belief is that all my efforts and
sacrifices will pay off, because making such a choice is the best way
to fulfill my ideal of becoming an accomplished scientist in the field
of Chinese mechanical engineering. My six-year-long work experience
has removed much of my rashness. Instead of wearing away my passion
for questing for self-actualization and fulfillment, it has made me
increasingly mature in thought. I am soberly aware of what I am doing,
what I want to do and what I can do and this sober self-knowledge has
all the more reinforced my courage and determination to pursue my
vision and destiny.
The second question I pose to myself is: “In the field of mechanical
engineering which is essentially male-dominated, what is my
comparative advantage as an applicant who graduated from XX University
of Commerce, a university which is not as prestigious as, say, XX
University?“ The answer to this question is an extended one, which is
to be found in the following part of my Personal Statement.
The achievement of a top academic performance in my 4-year
undergraduate program in the Department of Refrigeration Engineering
is the solid foundation and the starting-point for my present
application for a more advanced degree program in mechanical
engineering. My strong academic interest, combined with dedicated
efforts to coursework and effective learning strategies, rewarded me
with a very high GPA (3.46), ranking first in a class of 32 students.
Throughout the four years, I won almost all categories of scholarships
and honors，soliciting admiration from the male students who comprised
80% of the entire population of the class.
I believe that, as far as my application is concerned, my greatest
advantage lies in my 6-year rich experience of working at the
forefront of large-scale projects, involved in the testing,
maintenance, and spare parts planning for refrigeration and thermal
conduction machinery. When I graduated cum laude from my undergraduate
program in 1997, I was given the privilege of embarking on a Master’s
program waived of entrance examination. But considering the fact that
the second-phase project of XX Nuclear Power Plant, one of China’s key
national projects at that time, called for a large number of talents
specializing in refrigeration engineering, I decided to give up the
Master’s program and set to work on the installation and testing of
the Power Plant’s No. 1 generating unit.
For three years from 1997 to 2000，whether in cold winter or in the
scorching summer, I worked indefatigably, leaving my footprints at one
construction site after another consisting of sets of large-scale
refrigerating units. The on-the-spot installation and debugging helped
deepen my understanding of different types of machinery, especially
the configuration and the working principles of refrigerating
equipment. At the same time, by studying a large amount of technical
literature concerning advanced foreign equipment, I compiled detailed
and comprehensive standards equipment maintenance.
Since 2000, I have been engaged in the preparing and planning of the
spare parts for equipment maintenance. Even though I have no relevant
and mature experiences of spare parts management to borrow from for a
typical nuclear power plant, I have done much creative and fundamental
work by preparing a spare-parts database for all the plant’s 600
equipment systems. I launched and organized the implementation of the
coding project for more than 60000 spare parts and completed the
spare-parts plan for the first major equipment replacement for the No.
1 generating unit in the plant’s phase-II construction. Busy as I have
been, I have never ceased to make efforts to improve my professional
knowledge and expertise. I have been to XX and elsewhere to attend
seminars, workshops and training programs where I exchanged
experiences with XX experts from Britain, South Africa and Eastern
Europe concerning the problems of equipment maintenance of the power
plant. This allowed me to be exposed to the cutting-edge knowledge and
technology in my area of specialization and to constantly enhance my
professional standards.
One important product from my 6-year work experience is my development
of sound teamwork and a rigorous scientific research attitude. We know
that for a large-scale project like the XX Nuclear Power Plant’s
phase-II construction, it is absolutely impossible for any single
individual to realize the integration of the power networks and the
subsequent power generation. The job that I have been responsible for
is directly related to the issue of project safety, especially that of
nuclear safety. This requires me to be constantly on the alert, be
meticulous to the minutest detail and have a strong sense of
responsibility. I believe that such a kind of mentality as I have
developed will be very conducive to my future study and academic
research.
As I have described in the foregoing text, a solid professional
foundation, precious work experience, strong team spirit and a
rigorous scientific attitude are what makes me unique and competitive
in my present application. It is precisely based on those factors that
I am convinced that I will fruitfully complete my proposed program and
have an even more fruitful career in the future.
University of XX, which is ranked 25 in mechanical engineering, is
exactly where I would like to undertake my study. I wish to
concentrate on Thermal-Fluid Sciences, with special stress on new
refrigerating and air-conditioning technology and on modern
ecologically-friendly energy-saving technology. I believe that the
University of XX will give the best education I can expect in
mechanical engineering that may facilitate greater achievements in my
future career. |
