Graduate / SOP FOR MS HCI PROGRAM AT IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY- ANY SUGGESTIONS WILL BE INVALUABLE [5]

Growing up in a small part of India where the word "computer" was an element of enigma, has worked both as a blessing and as a misfortune. Growing up in an environment where there was very little knowledge about computers and computing did reinforce my curiosity, but also served to be a hindrance in my pursuit of knowledge in the field of computing. However this did not deter me in my journey with computer science. My relationship with computers started at a very early age when I was a second grade student. My school had a single computer and during computer classes, my classmates and I would cringe inside a particular classroom trying to get a glimpse or feel of what they called a "computer". A couple of years later, a friend of mine urged me to accompany him to an Internet café that had recently opened. And that was how I was introduced to the world of computers. On that fateful day, I set up my first email account, and, as insignificant as it may seem, I was awestruck by the experience. From that moment on, I have developed an untamable curiosity for computers, which has led me to continuously raise questions about computers.

Being at MVJ College of Engineering has given me the opportunity to come forth and evolve intellectually as well as develop my technical skills. Apart from academics, my college education has help me to develop a self-sufficient persona and grow as an individual. The cultural and social diversity in the college has given me the opportunity to mingle with peers who came from all walks of life.

I had an initial plan of studying fresh with my undergraduate studies abroad after my 1st year of college at MVJ college of engineering but unfortunately I had to drop my plans as my family had some financial constraints at the time and since I didn't give the semester exams with much preparations I had to go through a year gap. Unfortunately, during my third year of college, following my doctor's advice I had to undergo a surgery as soon as possible and it was performed during my semester exams because of which I couldn't give my potential best during the third year final exams and resulted in poor grades.

As part of my final year project completion, I have done internship at Servelots Infotech at Bangalore for a duration of 6 months. During the internship we developed an android application whose primary purpose was to facilitate localized WI-FI peer to peer content sharing based on the android platform. Working on the project gave me the opportunity to learn many aspects of android programming and networking. The experience also helped me to refine my ability to be an efficient team player and contribute to the overall completion of the project. In the course of this intern I came upon the field of human computer Interaction. After a lot of research and independent work on HCI, I realized that this is a possible field of computer science for me to specialize in. I have been fascinated by the fact that perceptive and human centered design could attribute to the overall usability of a product or service . A particular example that stuck with me was a video made by a bunch of students demonstrating how a natural user interface can serve as a salvation for disabled people by creating an interface between the brain signals and the instruments that they wanted to manipulate.

I want to continue my further exploration of HCI and how it impacts the user experience regarding a product or service. My particular interests are in HCI applications related to education and health because I feel these domains are very much consequential to the Human-Technical relationship.

Iowa State University's MS in HCI program will help my pursuit for gaining more knowledge in the area of HCI and become a user experience researcher. I am looking forward to working with the world renowned faculties of your university and share a great learning experience. I will be privileged, if given the opportunity to pursue my Master's degree in HCI, and I am confident of evolving as a great user experience researcher and bring pride to your prestigious university.