Undergraduate / biology has become an integral part of my life; Stydy plan: plant genetics [3]

To: ... University

Re: STUDY PLAN

For as long as I can remember, biology has become an integral part of my life. I was born in a Vietnamese family where my grandfather, who was a doctor, gave me an inspiration for self-study spirit, curiosity and love for biology from my early years. I was captivated by the diversity of nature. I also like to learn about the complicated mechanism of living processes, which was full of mysteries.

Following my family tradition, I attended Hanoi University of Pharmacy and I had many chances to acquire more and more knowledge about my favorite subject there. The more I studied biology, the more interesting I find its application in daily life. Evolution in biotechnology brings huge benefits for human kind including agriculture, health, environment and so on. Especially, with their high productivity and characters against tough conditions, genetically modified plants are expected to meet the huge demand for food supply for the world's booming population. My country Vietnam has planned to crop genetically modified (GM) maize widely but strong protest has been aroused concerning environmental hazards, health risks and economic problems. In my opinion, GM plants are the inevitable wave of the future but unless GM plants' effects are fully researched, those worries will still exist. That's why I suppose plant genetics is such promising field and I hope that what I'm learning today will benefit the country in the future.

In preparation for my research career, I had two years experience of doing research on Streptomyces and antibiotics at Department of Biology and Microbiology. My research included screening, isolating, growing and mutating the strain producing antibiotics, extracting and purifying active ingredients as well as classifying the strain. At that time, I got used to laboratory facilities, practiced conscientiousness and developed analytical research skill. In addition, my skills in accessing, finding and reviewing information have also been improved. I used my finding in this research for my graduation thesis and received the maximum grade from my committee.

In graduate school, I hope to study under ... with the research on global identification of proteins and construction of their functional networks, regulating auxin signaling and the resulting plant root growth and development. This study should connect missing links among auxin-producing molecular events and give a clearer picture of how auxin signals are produced and transduced into auxin-regulated cell cycle progression and root growth/development. I expect that this will not only reveal functional roles of the small G protein and dissect regulation mechanisms of protein nuclear transports but also molecularly reshape auxin-regulatory mechanisms. In addition, its discovery and intellectual properties obtained at the end of this project would provide a milestone understanding for agricultural technologies producing highly stress-resistant and quality-improved economic products.

Biology problems always attract me and further knowledge is always my ambition that drives me to study relentlessly. In the future, in order to develop the great potential of Asian in general and Vietnam in particular for traditional medicine, I plan to apply genetic technology to pharmacognosy, which may result in high productivity, easier extraction and purified active ingredients. I believe that achieving ... program in Biological Science and Technology Department at ... University will be indispensable to me for carrying on further research and it empowers me to fulfill my aspirations.

Writing Feedback / Multicultural society is much more beneficial? [2]

A society with various types of culture is much more beneficial. I totally agree with that point.

To begin with, like the magnificent rainbow with seven colors, the variety itself is a priceless gift, and when it comes to a society, it's also true. In case of Vietnam, our homeland has 54 ethnic groups and we all live together like a whole family. Differences in life style, culture, clothes, language, custom,...and many more bring us multifarious culture with many featured festival, food, songs,...that we are so proud of.

Secondly, as a multicultural society, it contains many features to be a tourists' destination. Foreigners, even people in the nation are interested in exploring and experiencing new land, new culture and such a colorful land is certainly their perfect choice! For that reason, diversity in culture society is a big advantage of the tourism industry and this can contribute much to the development of the whole society in general.

Adversely, it is said that a society with many religion, life style to be hard to control. Conflict and contradiction are inevitable. Especially, contradiction on religion and nationality are really serious and tough someway. I admit that to bring people from various culture together and to harmonize different culture is very tough, but it is worth the effort.

In conclusion, pros of a multicultural society far exceed the cons. As the world comes close together, and the whole world is becoming a big multicultural society.

Writing Feedback / More and more people claim that modern work patterns are a source of stress. [3]

More and more people claim that modern work patterns are a source of stress. What do you think are the causes of this? Can you suggest some possible solutions?

Stress is pervasive in our modern society. Such physical and mental problems are inexorable results of temporary work patterns which have formed stressful lifestyle of modern generation.

Resolution can be made by the corporation of individual awareness and management in changing work patterns.

Employees are always put under pressure of efficiency and productivity. Even the ability to work under high pressure becomes a criterion employers require for a job. Modern work environment is highly competitive and it calls for relentless effort of every individual. To achieve goals, workers have to devote almost all of their time and capacity without rest. As a result, they are to busy to care about their beloved, even about themselves and time for relaxing or for their own interest sounds luxurious. High-demanding jobs like chief executive, directors, managers are typical of stressful jobs.

On the other hand, work is not totally responsible for such prevalent stress. Appropriate work schedule can help employees to finish work without sacrifice precious time for their private lives. Time management skill is the top important prerequisite for that reason. Human resource management plays essential role in coping with stress. Short break is proved to be effective tactic to improve productivity and work efficiency. Companies should encourage their employees by vacations, rewards and the managers' role in forming amiable work environment is not less significant.

Scholarship / Failure is a proof that desire was not strong enough [5]

It is undeniable that desire is essential for success, but I believe that the components of success consists of not only wish. "Failure is a proof that desire was not strong enough", it sounds obvious but there are many factors need to be considered.

I totally admit that goals can not be achieved without desire. It is said that if you really want to do something, you'll get it. Success is not coming on roses, there are many obstacles on the way, desire and determination are the best leader help you to overcome. Desire is the perfect motivation, it makes you focus all your energy, your time and your strength on the aim. For example, athletes must train for years with painstaking effort to win the medals. with Smokers who want to quit smoking, the only thing they need is strong desire to do it. Nothing else. I believe social environment and physical addiction are secondary.

However, if pure desire can be the solution to all, life is not that complex. Not everyone can be another Eistein, Leonardo Da Vinci,...For example, when I was at the high school, I wanted to be a math genius and attended the national math exam. It was possible that with enormous effort dying for learning, doing a huge amount of excises, I could get good results, but it simply did not happen. Talent, capacity, skill and sometimes a bit luck are important parts of success, too. Coincidental factors and time also need considering.

To sum up, the statement is quite limited in its application. Sometimes your best is just not good enough. Lack of desire is not always responsible for failures. It depends on what the goal is that how much important desire contributes to your success.

Writing Feedback / What are the causes and solutions of Anti-social actions? [8]

Some people claims that an individual person behaves in an anti-social way because society in general is to blame. What are the causes and solutions of these anti-social actions and who is responsible for this?

In some aspects, modern society has distorted some moral as well as human value, border between right and wrong has never been so vague before. Anti-social actions issue reminds me of a principle of the Buddha: " Human's nature is good". I strongly believe that almost all anti-social actions have legitimate reasons and people do those are victims of serial complicated and harsh circumstances that they have subjected to suffer and it is a long process that good-natured human turns into criminals.

God is unfair in someways. From the moment we were born, luck has not smiled with all of us, at all time, and that's the way we call it destiny. Children are brought up under various conditions and people live in very different environment as well. Modern society contains many problems. To live, people have to compete harshly and suffer from stressful life. There are tough times when someone has to face unemployment, divorce, when effort brings nothing,... Experiencing continual bad lucks, it is normal for some people to have negative attitude towards life and society on the whole. Their protests are not irrational according to psychology.