hello all! this is my first SOP, i would love if you'll could suggest any corrections, improvements etc. your suggestions are most valuable. thank you.
STATEMENT OF PURPOSE
My earliest childhood was in a remote village from where my mother hailed and whose name I never could pronounce. Vaidyanathapura had a one-room school; only because the law needed schools in all the villages. Education never figured as a priority here and my family, to this day tease me that I only went there to eat the breakfast that was served to students. A few months after my "nursery" in my village, we moved to Bangalore. As a three-year-old child, I thought our house was a palace, being at least thrice as large as our house in the village, never before seen chocolates adorned my life.
My first hurdle came in the form of my getting admitted into school. A stern looking woman asked me several questions of which could understand only a few such as color, alphabet, and numbers. My knowledge of English was limited to these words. The only language I knew was my native language, Kannada that too with a heavy folk accent. Well the woman, who was the principal, denied me admission to the school. I did not understand the true significance of this, but understood enough to know it was not good. On the verge of crying, I remember my father telling me "one day you will show these people how good you are". On persistent requests from my parents, the principal hesitantly admitted me. I have been into sports from as long I can remember. I was part of my state's junior team by the time I was in my fourth grade. It made me a kind of a celebrity in school. It was quite a sight for people to see a second grader on the podium along with tenth graders and that too in the first place. I liked all the attention; it never failed to motivate me. A sport teaches one to be a good winner and to take loss well; one of the best things I have been taught. I liked being involved in most of my school teams. I liked performing on stage, debating my views against another, playing with words and playing more sports. I believe there are just too many things one can to in life, to excel at just one.
During my middle school, our principal was to retire. On her last day, she called on me and told me," accepting you into our school was one of my best decisions. You looked very determined and angry at not understanding what I was saying in your interview. I knew you would turn out fine. And I was right." I was touched. I enjoy working on experiments, working up a prose or poetry with words. I love to apply knowledge to create something, more than a good grade sheet. Nevertheless, a subject's understanding has made me do well in my academics. I was the head girl of my school. I enjoyed the responsibility that it brought. I was awarded, the most Outstanding Student honor in my valedictory ceremony for excelling in both extracurricular and academics.
Two days prior to my high school final exams, my mother met with an accident and within a few hours passed away. My world would never be the same. Tears wouldn't roll at first, and when it did, it couldn't stop. I somehow felt responsible for her death. All those complaints and requests I had not heeded to, all those times I chose to do something else over her; I was filled with regret and an unbearable sorrow. I took my board exam; she had been looking forward to that for almost a year. I just could not come to terms with my loss; I hated people showing me pity. I decided to get away for a while and travel. A week's stay at prashanti nilayam, the abode of the Sai Baba, stretched to almost a year. I found great satisfaction in volunteering at the free hospital for the poor and teaching the primary classes alphabets. I made many friends while I was here, one of whom, a woman of about sixty who had lost her husband recently and had since devoted herself to the service of the poor. I had grown very fond of her and on one of my last days at prashanti told me, "You are the kind of daughter I've always wanted". I cried the whole night. Death cannot kill what never dies. It had taken me almost two years to learn this. I felt forgiven. This phase of my life made me realize how much I enjoy helping others; it is an addiction I intent to hold on for life. I helped some of my juniors with their exams and their career choices over e-mail, something that got me thinking about my career. It was not a hard call; my life has revolved around people all my life and I wanted a career that dealt with people. Psychology fascinated me.
I used to sit and observe people for long hours. I read and observed people for hours, which led to forming a few theories of common traits. I was ecstatic when I found out that if I had done my observations a century back I would have probably beaten Mr. Erik Erikson in bringing out a roughly similar version of the psychosocial stage theory of personality. Be it the theory of behaviorism, or the famous Sherlock Holmsian deductive reasoning, the study of human mind and behavior, fascinates me. I feel reading a person's thoughts and being able to predict one's behavior is one of the very few realizable superpowers in the reach of mankind at present; and many more powerful ones will be, moving deeper in this field, because I feel what our mind is truly capable of will stun us beyond imagination. I would like to work towards realizing that. Summing up an important lesson, I have learnt about life: it goes on. I would like to make the most of it.
