Graduate / 'The ability to learn quickly' - personal statement for masters in computer science [2]

Creativity has always motivated me to learn new things. My interest in computers and programming has sprouted from this creative desire of mine.
I was in school when I first put my hands on a computer. It was our first computer lab class and after reading and hearing so much about a computer, I was very excited to use it for the first time. My teacher gave us a simple program to draw a square, it was written in LOGO. We typed the program as it is and executed it and then suddenly there was a square on the screen. It was so amazing. This was my first computer program; I was intrigued by it and this triggered in me the interest to learn more about computers. I was fascinated by how the computer was able to do whatever I told it to do. The astounding pace and the changes that came in the dimensions and technological innovations have further enhanced my curiosity of learning more about computers.

My inquisitiveness and fascination in programming a computer has encouraged me to pursue a career in the field of computer science. Therefore, I continued my studies as a computer science engineer. In my undergraduate courses, I learned programming languages and techniques to implement my ideas into computer programs.

In my junior year, I undertook a challenging assignment of designing and developing an interactive application to better monitor the college library transactions using C language. During my undergraduate study, I participated in writing and presenting technical papers, which has helped me gain insights into Data Encryption and Cryptography, Networking and Real Time Embedded Systems. My work on paper presentations was well appreciated by my professors and I was one of the 10 students who were awarded one year's membership to IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). I had been a member of our college editorial board called Expressions and was designated as the student editor for one year. In my final year I had a great opportunity to assist my professor in the Object Oriented Programming Systems using java's lab class of the juniors.

One of my first projects during my undergraduate study was, an instant messenger implementation, built exclusively to work on LAN's and to provide essential services like file sharing and conferencing with additional features like text formatting and smiley's and data security. It was developed using Java (J2SE) programming language and MS Access for database. This project was a part of our Computer Networks Lab. Working on this project helped me gain knowledge on designing user interface, programming the back end process of data transfer, creating the databases for storing contact information and understanding the data encryption algorithms. It also helped me understand how computers connected in a LAN communicate with each other and transfer data packets amongst each other.

My final year project named Server Administration is an application, which works on server and client Local Area Network. This application provided the following features: user authentication, a utility to manage client computers, LAN security through encryption, alerts and alarms package, auto shutdown utility for the administrator, sending emails and conferencing within the LAN, databases to store server and client data. It was developed using J2EE and Oracle 8i as the DBMS. I also used UML (Unified Modelling Language) for object oriented modelling. By working on this project, I learned the steps involved in the software development life cycle. My project work was well appreciated by all the departmental heads.

After I finished my undergraduate program, I moved to United Kingdom, with my husband. In the U.K, I worked as an XXXXXX at the XXXXXX. As part of my job, I was responsible to manage and maintain all the hospital databases. Eventually, my seniors spotted my interest in programming, by observing my efficiency in the creation of functions and stored procedures. I was then assigned to some really interesting and major software development projects

I am a person with a very creative personality. Arts and craft activities such as sketching, painting, jewellery making, and cooking are a few fields in which I share my interest alongside my academics. These creative activities help me soften my stress.

Along with my passion for software development and programming, I believe I have strong organisational and management skills. During one of the annual college festivals I was in-charge of the sports and games division. I had the responsibility to prepare the venues, create and develop the schedule and supervise the volunteers and ensure the games ran smoothly. I have also volunteered to organise the induction program for junior year students. This gave me a valuable experience in effective time management and development of interpersonal skills.

The ability to learn quickly has been one of my strong qualities. I believe that my enthusiasm to improve my knowledge and skills in the field of computer science and software development can be fulfilled by studying masters in computer science program at your university. I have thoroughly read the program details and the courses covered and I strongly feel that this is the perfect program that can help me achieve my goal. The program website has revealed a very strong faculty involved in extensive research. This has strengthened my resolve to study at _____ University. I am very excited to learn under their supervision.