draxagar
Sep 22, 2012
Undergraduate / 'My longtime love for mathematics is the main reason' - Questbridge application. [2]
Tell us about an experience you have had or a concept you have learned about that intellectually excites you. Why does it interest you, and what does this tell us about you?
It was towards the end of the school day when Mrs. Billman called me out into the hall. My first thoughts were confusion and fear: Why was she talking to me? What did I do? As it turned out she wanted to tell me that I had done very well on the standardized test and that I would be going to another teacher, Mrs. Ohmer, for math. She told me that it would be more advanced, tougher, but that it would be good for me. I was only in fifth grade and had never really thought about advanced classes so I figured why not. From then on I went to Mrs. Ohmer's class every afternoon for math. One of the first things I learned were exponents and how 1^0 = 1. Initially this concept was difficult for me to understand and she me offered extra credit if I could explain why 1^0 = 1 to the class. So I went home and with some help from my parents figured it out. The next day I presented what I had found and Mrs. Ohmer was impressed. From then on in middle school and high school I took advanced math courses constantly wanting to learn more and move on to the next level. Math was the ultimate puzzle for me due to my analytical personality and enjoyment of problem solving. The more high-level math courses I took the more puzzles there were to be solved. Math is also interwoven and a bridge to everything leading to countless fields of study. Some of those fields, such as that of computers, were founded on it. To me computers are a harmony of mathematics; signals constantly being sent and received, calculations being made all the time, all being done concurrently at amazing speed and precision. I have always thought, and still think, that I can be that person who discovers something great. I hope to one day be that person who solves a persistent problem in the world of computers or designs a new way for them to work. My longtime love for mathematics is the main reason I desire to work with computers and is what motivates me to pursue a degree in computer engineering.
I would really appreciate any suggestions and thoughts.
Tell us about an experience you have had or a concept you have learned about that intellectually excites you. Why does it interest you, and what does this tell us about you?
It was towards the end of the school day when Mrs. Billman called me out into the hall. My first thoughts were confusion and fear: Why was she talking to me? What did I do? As it turned out she wanted to tell me that I had done very well on the standardized test and that I would be going to another teacher, Mrs. Ohmer, for math. She told me that it would be more advanced, tougher, but that it would be good for me. I was only in fifth grade and had never really thought about advanced classes so I figured why not. From then on I went to Mrs. Ohmer's class every afternoon for math. One of the first things I learned were exponents and how 1^0 = 1. Initially this concept was difficult for me to understand and she me offered extra credit if I could explain why 1^0 = 1 to the class. So I went home and with some help from my parents figured it out. The next day I presented what I had found and Mrs. Ohmer was impressed. From then on in middle school and high school I took advanced math courses constantly wanting to learn more and move on to the next level. Math was the ultimate puzzle for me due to my analytical personality and enjoyment of problem solving. The more high-level math courses I took the more puzzles there were to be solved. Math is also interwoven and a bridge to everything leading to countless fields of study. Some of those fields, such as that of computers, were founded on it. To me computers are a harmony of mathematics; signals constantly being sent and received, calculations being made all the time, all being done concurrently at amazing speed and precision. I have always thought, and still think, that I can be that person who discovers something great. I hope to one day be that person who solves a persistent problem in the world of computers or designs a new way for them to work. My longtime love for mathematics is the main reason I desire to work with computers and is what motivates me to pursue a degree in computer engineering.
I would really appreciate any suggestions and thoughts.