I am not an english speaking person (as you can read) so I need help to correct my motivation letter for a Excellence scholarship. I'm in a hurry ! So please help me ! If some one needs French expertises, I will be pleased to return the favor !
Dear Members of the Admission Committee of the Earth Sciences Department,
With this letter, I would like to apply for the "Excellence Scholarship & Opportunity Programme (ESOP)" for my Master's degree, which I will begin during Autumn Semester 2011 at ETH Zurich. I studied Geology and Earth Sciences at the University of Fribourg for the first two years of my bachelor's degree and then, my good results allow me to make my third year at The University of Québec in Montréal (UQAM) thanks to the CREPUQ exchange programme. There, in Canada, during a field trip, it suddenly occurred to me that I wanted to an engineering geologist. I am currently doing an internship in a private company working in the field of engineering geology and environmental geology in order to specify my future work field and to take advantage of the time, my military service gives me.
As far as I can remember, I always want to be a scientist, but the problem was that I really did not know which scientific field I would have loved the most. At the end of my High School, some of my professors, going by my results in these subjects, tried to convince me, that I was made for a mathematician or a physicist career. I indeed liked studying these subjects and was pretty good at it (I received the Mathematics and Physics award along with the "strengthened" level of Mathematics award). But I was not attracted at all by the abstraction and the disjuncture with the every day's problems of the further studies in these fields. In addition, it was not at all the only subjects that I liked and in which I was good at, since I also received the Social studies award and the award for the best matriculation certificate of my High school (Cessnov, Yverdon-les-bains) with an average rating of 5.78 out of 6. And above all, I have always been fascinated by Nature and interested in trying to understand all the process and mechanisms that govern the Earth system. This is why, after some discussions with my professors, I chose to study the Earth Sciences at the university.
I went at the University of Fribourg, because, after having gone round several universities that offer Earth Sciences program, I found that all the undergraduate program were practically equal and that Fribourg offers the best all around overviews and field experiences. I was not disappointed at all, as I spent two amazing years studying a subject I love along with other courses that provide me strong basis in numbers of fundamental fields as Physics, Mathematics, Chemistry, ...
During my second Bachelor's year and as my results allowed me to do so, I decided to leave for Montreal and to make my last Bachelor year at UQAM as part of the CREPUQ (Conference of Rectors and Principals of Quebec Universities) exchange program. UQAM has offered me the possibility to do a very large range of field activities and also to follow very good theoretical classes in Geophysics and Geotechnics. In addition, I have discovered some new geological activity fields such as Resource Geology and discovered another work ethic by being a member of UQAM's basketball team together with my full-time studies. I have learned there a much more practical way of studying Earth Sciences along with a very strong collaboration between students and their professors, which, I think, can only be a bonus for my future career.
That year, I also carried out my Bachelor Thesis with professor Daniele Pinti from UQAM and professor Bernard Grobéty from the University of Fribourg about the analysis of the Paricutin volcano's (Mexico) gas and smoke by using the noble gas isotope in order to determine whether or not the Paricutin is really only a monogenetic volcano. During this thesis, I have learned the benefits of teamwork and research work.
The most memorable moment of my Canadian experience was the visit of the Manicouagan-Outardes project's dams and especially the Daniel-Johnson Dam. There, we were explained all the geological aspect of the dam's construction and its monitoring. I was really exited about this visit, because I have always had a passion for dams that I have often met in my multiple excursions in the Alps. This field trip has really shown me that this is the subject I want to work on and my recent internship in the engineering geology field really confirm me these career goals. Since then I had plenty of discussions with one of Fribourg's lecturers, M. Jean-Marc Fasel, who works at NORBERT Ltd and knows dams and dams issues for long. I am really intersted in this subject as well as exited about having the possibility to write a Master thesis about geological dams issues.
Being an enthusiastic student who likes to take up challenges, the Engineering Geology major of Master of Earth Sciences program, ETH Zurich offers is the optimum course choice for me as it will equip me with the right skill sets for my future career and provide me the perfect opportunity to convert my passion into a profession.
