Hi all,
Hope you all are doing fine.
I am working on my fellowship application and was hoping that you all could help me with my essay. In my essay, I tried to answer the questions asked by the application, as follows:
"In your own words, please enter your answer to the following essay question:
Statement of interest which includes:
- The degree/advanced degree field of study or area of concentration you will pursue if awarded a scholarship/fellowship.
- Why have you chosen to study or pursue a career in the oil & gas industry?
- The goals you aim to achieve when you earn your advanced degree.
(9,000 character limit) *"
1. Do you think it is a good idea to structure my essay in such a way? I did it this way because the questions were pretty straightforward and specific.
2. I would appreciate if you help me enrich my essay by posting your comments here.
Essay
In your own words, please enter your answer to the following essay question:
Statement of interest which includes:
- The degree/advanced degree field of study or area of concentration you will pursue if awarded a scholarship/fellowship.
Currently, I am pursuing a PhD in petroleum engineering at Texas Tech University and if awarded a fellowship, I intend to use it towards my PhD studies.
- Why have you chosen to study or pursue a career in the oil & gas industry?
IMPACT
Being born and raised in a major oil and gas producing country in the Middle East, I came to realize, at a young age, how significant oil and gas are for a nation's economy as wells as its social and political stability. Also, I have always been fascinated by the effort that the international community has made and continues to make to secure energy for economies of all sizes worldwide. In terms of career choice, these observations were the real turning points in my life, because they showed me a way to have real impact on the world in a very direct and tangible way.
STIMULATING
Oil and gas industry offers some of the most challenging work environments with very diverse problems. As a young ambitious engineer, I am thirsty for such a stimulating work environment where one needs to reach high levels of competence and also to innovate constantly. Simply put, one will not get bored working in oil and gas industry.
TRAVELING
At varying quantities, oil and gas resources exist at many countries. Extracting these resources requires frequent relocation and traveling of professionals to different parts of the world. Since I love traveling and exploring the world, a career in oil and gas industry would be well aligned with my personal interests. And even more fortunately, most of the countries with huge hydrocarbon reserves are among my favorite countries to visit (e.g. Brazil and China).
CAREER PROGRESSION OPPORTUNITIES
According to many accounts and in my personal experience, in terms of career progression opportunities, oil and gas industry is among the most rewarding. I find this in perfect agreement with my senses of (work and education philosophy) i.e. competitiveness and a strong desire to carry out tasks well.
MONETARY INCENTIVE
Oil and gas industry offers some of the most lucrative jobs with pay checks few times more than what one would get from usual office jobs.
In summary, I chose to work in oil and gas industry because it allows me to have a direct positive impact on the lives of people. Also other factors such as offering challenging work environments, lots of traveling and promotion of excellence are very alluring to a young engineer like me. On top of everything else, this industry with its appealing pay checks offers some highly rewarding and profitable careers in the world.
- The goals you aim to achieve when you earn your advanced degree.
Upon joining the PhD program at Texas Tech University, I started working there as a research assistant, an exceptional experience which really revolutionized my understanding of how the industry solved its technical and non-technical problems. In addition, attending the technical conferences around the country helped me realize how members of the professional society communicate knowledge and experience among themselves. Therefore, after graduation and joining the industry, I plan to continue doing research, publishing papers and presenting them at the national and international technical conferences.
My Short-term (1-5 years) post-graduation goal is to elevate my field experience; especially, familiarize myself with the state-of-the-art equipment and technological solutions in use in the oil and gas industry today. Extensive field experience is a must for achieving my ultimate long term goal of starting my own software/ consulting company.
PhD studies provide one with a grand opportunity to think critically, design and innovate. Yet, in my opinion, having the experience of working at the research and development centers of companies is a must if one wishes to reach a certain level of innovative limit in a particular area. Therefore along with experiencing the field jobs, I definitely plan to spend several years working at a research and development center.
As mentioned before, my ultimate goal is to start my own software/ consulting /technology company. Starting a highly specialized company requires higher levels of knowledge and technical skills. To reach these higher levels of expertise, I am considering enrolling in higher level online university programs such as geoscience and mathematics.
In summary, my post-graduation goals are to first, gain extensive field experience and second, join a research and development center. My eventual objective is to start a highly specialized company for which I will need to elevate my skills constantly.
Being born and raised in a major oil and gas producing country in the Middle East, I came to realize, at a young age, how significant oil and gas are for a nation's economy as wells as its social and political stability.
.... I feel it reads better without that part
Also, I have always been fascinated by the effort that the international community has made and continues to make to secure energy for economies of all sizes worldwide.
... what's significance of the role of international community? Why it fascinated you? That's not very clear.
On top of everything else, this industry with its appealing pay checks offers some highly rewarding and profitableprosperous careers in the world.
I am thirsty for such a stimulating work environment where one needs to reach high levels of competence and also to innovate constantly.
I have a thirst to quench in such stimulating work environments where one needs to reach high levels of competence and being constantly innovative.