Hi I wrote the bellow essay for the UW-MAdison essays, and I would like to ask for some help if this essay is too wordy or do I need to improve any parts.
The University values an educational environment that provides all members of the campus community with opportunities to grow and develop intellectually, personally, culturally and socially. In order to give us a more complete picture of you as an individual, please tell us about the particular life experiences, perspectives, talents, commitments and/or interests you will bring to our campus. In other words, how will your presence enrich our community?
I know that life is action. Therefore, if I have a problem, I usually try to avoid unnecessary thoughts, which usually result in doubts, and I just solve the problem. Moreover, I believe that there are different approaches to any problem, and that any ideas, even the most impossible, are valuable. Thus, I usually apply this mindset to everything, especially to my daily life.
Two years ago, every day of my life was focused on the search for myself. I studied in high school, and I had to choose an occupation. The problem was that I was interested in everything, from science to russian literature. I participated in mathematics, physics and boxing tournaments, but those didn't help me to solidify my interests nor clarify my professional goals. I hoped to find myself in math, and so I did a project about mathematic modeling. Even though the project was absorbing, I had ambiguous feelings about math and economics. Then, I started looking for myself in physics; I participated in a group physics tournament called Quantum.The group tasks taught me to cooperate and to compromise with those with whom I don't concur. The tournament motivated me to study physics; however, I wondered how many professions are related to physics and which one should I choose?
In January 2010, my best friend proposed that I to construct a robot which could move and detect metals of any kind. I thought that it would be a good experience and agreed. Even though the structure of the robot was simple, for us, especially for me, who had never done anything in that field, it was quite a difficult task. My friend was an amateur in electronics, so I admit, I was basically his assistant. I had always wondered how robots move and do particular actions, and when I read articles about electronics, the general concept of robotics seemed very simple and ingenious to me. When I totally immersed myself into the world of science, I started to see physics all around me. I wanted to open all devices in my house, from the TV to my mobile phone, to see and study the components of electrical devices. While in the past, components had been placed in a chaotic order for me, after the robotic project, they were appropriately placed and even had a little meaning to me. It's one of the strongest feelings when you understand the system.
My country, Kazakhstan, is not developed in electronics, especially, in my hometown, where it's really noticeable. Because of such conditions, we had to work with what we had and sometimes we took, for example, resistors with necessary nominal value from broken devices. In the case of a printed circuit board, we experimented with it several times, and in the end we chose the most alternative way to make it; we used vinyl wall covering paper and a laser printer to make our board. At that time, I saw myself as arduous and meticulous because drawing a circuit and constructing a board requires patience and great attention to details.
During that project, I realized that people don't get ideas out of nowhere, and that people, like wires, which conduct current, conduct knowledge and create an idea by just properly connecting those pieces of information which we acquire through our lives. By and large, all new inventions are assembled from old ones, or rather copied from nature. For example, in the three laws of motion, Sir Isaac Newton wrote down his observations of nature and clearly expressed them in his formulas. Alexander Stepanovich Popov, the inventor of radio in the countries of the former Soviet Union, just gathered the basic elements of a radio receiver, which had already existed at that time. When I realized that, I also understood that, just as in electronics, I'm capable of connecting knowledge, which I receive in my daily life, and expressing myself.
I and my friend participated in the Science Conference in Astana and won the competition. After that I won the Bolashak international scholarship. I hope that my experience in math and physics tournaments, in the project and my life philosophy will help to enrich the university community. Furthermore,I plan to continue my journey in the world of science at Wisconsin, Madison and gain knowledge,which, I believe, will help me to be a professional in engineering.
