Graduate / "Adversity and loss make a man wise" - Personal Statment for Univ [5]

MS COMPUTER SCIENCE
PERSONAL STATEMENT
"Adversity and loss make a man wise." These golden words most succinctly explain my life this far. When I was '13 years old, my parents separated. It was an emotionally draining incident that changed my whole perspective toward life. I could no longer lead the life of a carefree kid, as I had to take care of my mother, who was experiencing depression, as well as my younger sister, who was only eight years old at the time. My sister was too young to understand what was happening, and whenever she asked me about our father, I made up a story to shield her from the unnecessary distress. Such hard times called for composure and a pragmatic view about the situation.

As a result, I became more determined and focused on achieving my goals: to provide my family the life they deserve, which was only possible through my studies. I balanced my personal and student life, by devoting equal times to both. Instead of succumbing to the agony and mental anguish that I felt during those days of hardship, I focused more and more on my studies, developing an intense passion to excel in everything I did. Having learned the importance of commitment from my familial situation, I would commit to a relationship only when I was 100% sure that I would be fully loyal to it.

I am 100% certain that I want to pursue a graduate degree in computer science.
Gaining admission into XXCollege of Engineering was a stepping stone as more challenges were to follow. Moving far from my rustic home town was one of a kind experience. Getting acquainted with the hustle and bustle of a big city like XX was baffling at first, but I was determined to achieve my goal. However, life had a way of intruding when it was least convenient. While preparing for my final exams this one semester, I got a call that my mother had been admitted to the hospital and her life was in danger. I rushed home, not caring about my exams, to take care of my mother. When I was finally able to return to school, I completed my final exams and scored a distinction (66%+) in that semester that was only because of my sincere and regular behavior during the usual college days. This incident taught me the importance of time and how life is so ephemeral. Hence, I do not want to devote any time to worthless ventures in life. A graduate degree is vital for me as it will enable me to become a professional computer engineer who can provide a proper life to his family.

The pain of growing up without having my father by my side still haunts me till this day. However, instead of locking it away into the past, I have brought it along with me to the present and will continue to do so for the future. Although I certainly have a shortfall when it comes to the amount of guidance and life lessons I have been able to get out of life, what genuinely matters is my desire to give back to the world ten times more than I will ever be able to receive in a lifetime. When it comes down to it all, I thank my father for taking me this far in life-without being by my side for even a single day, yet amazingly still motivating me to achieve my goals, and my current goal is to pursue a graduate degree in a subject that I love the most: Computer Science.

Graduate / Interest in Network Security and Programming [2]

My interest in Network Security and Programming started when I attended an Ethical Hacking Training Programme conducted by Ankit Fadia a renowned Cyber Security Expert from India. With that training I came to know about various terms like Honeypots, Dos Attacks, IP Spoofing etc. With the knowledge gained, I decided to take up 'XX' as the topic for 'Seminar & Technical Communication' of my coursework. I was awarded a term work of 43/50 and an award for The Best Technical paper in the Network Security Domain by the Department of Computer Engineering. Hence, this incident developed an innate penchant towards Network Security and hence I decided to work on a research project for the same.

1)I am currently involved in a research on "XX". This paper focuses on securing the Mobile Ad-hoc networks using the ZZ System. We introduce two techniques that use collaborative efforts of Nodes in neighborhood to detect the malicious node in that neighborhood. The first technique is of the scenario where all the nodes are in the radio range of each other. The second technique is of the scenario where the nodes may not be in the radio range of each other but there is the node which has all the other nodes in its one-hop vicinity both the technique use message passing and all the activities are initiated by special kind of node that we define as monitor node.

Thus, my undergraduate experiences, while equipping me with a broad understanding of Computer Science, have also opened my eyes to the necessity of advanced learning in the area of my specialization. A graduate program in computer science is a conscious step in this direction. The graduate program at 'UNIV' is esteemed for its outstanding curriculum and research in Computer Science. I would be forever grateful for an opportunity to attend the lab sessions in the world class 'XX Lab' under the expert guidance of 'Professor XX' who is a leading light in the field of XX. [b]He has written infinite papers on XX Systems for IEEE journals, which I have also used as core references in my research work. I am a great admirer of his work which also matches my current research interests and, under his expertise, I will want to continue my work in this direction.

Hence, I yearn to become an active and contributing member of the student community in your University and begin my professional life with the advantage of an MS from XX, which will finally allow me to achieve my dreams, and set an example for prospective students, by demonstrating that nothing is impossible if you have the tenacity to persevere.