Letter of Motivation for Hydrology and Geological Risk Engineering

Letter of Motivation

More than a thousand people lost their lives in recent flooding in Pakistan, with almost 8 million getting displaced. And it wasn't the first time Pakistan had to go through such circumstances as a result of floods, in fact, Pakistan has seen many destructive floods over the years. Hence, due to the increased vulnerability to flooding of Pakistan in this period, there has been an excessive need of predicting and preventing these natural disasters that are a serious threat to human lives and also to the economy of the country. That's what induced in me the interest of getting equipped with the knowledge of hydrological and geological science so that I would be able to help my country cope with such catastrophic events.

I recently graduated from NED University as a Civil Engineer. I chose this major following my fascination with the construction of buildings and my curiosity about the process gigantic buildings undergo during construction. During my bachelor's, I worked as an internee on two different sites with "Abaseen Construction Company". Besides, I conducted a survey with "ATLAS" on the "demand for Green Line BRT in Karachi". Furthermore, I attended a seminar/workshop on "Fly Ash in Civil Infrastructure Applications" organized by CAHSBE at NED University.

Meanwhile, during my bachelor's, I got enrolled in several online courses related to Python and completed some projects like "Vehicle Detection and Classification using Python" and "Employee Monitoring System in Python". In addition, I learned Primavera P6 and GIS (Geographical Information System). Additionally, I learned digital skills like "Big-Data Handling" and "Data Science". I believe these skills are necessary for the field of Water and Geology as well.

Furthermore, for our final year project, I and my group members worked on one of the biggest issues of our country i.e. water crisis. As a lot of water is lost annually in unlined canals as a result of seepage which is one of the contributing factors to the water crisis, we did some study to find out a cheap and economical alternative of concrete as the lining material i.e. "fly-ash". We conducted several tests on the soil samples collected from a canal. Additionally, we modeled the behavior of water using "Geostudio". Consequently, we found fly-ash to be the best substitute for concrete because of its cost-effectiveness and low permeability.

Alongside my education, I have continued volunteering for a non-profit organization by teaching needy and deserving college students all the science subjects besides supervising the "English Language Program" for several years. Our organization has helped such students in making their dream of getting into a prestigious university come true. Being in the organization for several years, I have developed communication and management skills and it has also helped me explore my humanitarian side.

I am highly motivated to do research in this field so that I would be able to help my country in mitigating water shortage issues and water losses due to the poor management of water resources. Prior to applying here, I had been searching for a university offering a master's in any of the programs that interest me; Water Resources, Transportation Engineering, or Environmental Engineering, but I couldn't find any. Then one of my colleagues studying at the same university in the same program recommended me University of Padua. I can assure you that I would be a worthy candidate for this master's program at the University of Padua because of my knowledge in the area of water and hydraulics/hydrology and my hands-on experience with the software/tools like GIS, Geostudio, and Primavera. I strongly believe that this program will help me to get a good grip on the area of Hydrology and Geology, pertaining to my pursuit of backing my people to cope with water-induced hazards and starting my career in the very same field.

Since this is a motivation letter, the information it provides should have a backward flow. Present the information in reverse; from present to past. The letter opened properly enough with the reason the applicant is pursuing this career path. The problem is that it turned into an academic biography right after. The motivational letter should not make such representations.

A motivational letter should underline the cause of interest and the career exposure that has been experienced which further led to the higher academic study needs. It must show a progression indicating professional movements towards achieving a higher career goal.

The interest is there. Next, indicate your professional achievements till now that have prepared you for these studies. What is the next motivational step you have to complete to help you achieve your ultimate career goal? Will this course help you do that? How? What does the university contribute to this plan aside from the course offering? What is it about the country that you wish to study in that lends itself to your course and career interests ? These are the information a properly developed motivational letter should contain.

There are only 2 paragraphs that can be revised for inclusion in the next version. The first and last paragraphs contain relevant information that can be expanded to respond to the motivational guide questions I provided.