Write a short summary why you are interested in participating in research in physics.
Feel free to criticize!
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My Life: Over Flowing with Curiosity
I was born in India where carries on a tradition that men have to join the family business once they turn 18. Among my extended family of 17 people, I was the only one who had the courage to break that family tradition.
It was in 7th grade when I started to investigate whether it was possible to make a motor with only magnets and no electricity. At that time, I did not have enough knowledge to understand the concept of conservation of energy, but above all, I was powered up to explore the impossible. My friend and I used to sneak by and climb up the school water tower that we used as our "laboratory." In our investigation we tried different, possible arrangement of magnets to get the perpetual motor working. Our work was not successful, but we were able to explore the mechanism of an electric motor. Many experiments that we had done made me appreciate science.
My parents felt an urgent need to find a better educational institution for me in 7th grade since I scored top of the class in my science final exam. Their final decision was to send me to a boarding school. It was upsetting for me that I had to leave my beloved friends, but in the mean time I was excited for the life at boarding school since they provide better facilities and resources than day school.
Mr. Raghavan was one of the most inspiring teachers that I met at the boarding school. Not only was he my physics teacher, but also my mentor. Mr. Raghavan used to sit by me at the dining table, where most of our interesting conversations related to physics took place. We used to talk about various topics like kinematics, lightning, and magnetism, as well as about famous scientists, such as Sir Isaac Newton, Nikola Tesla, and James Maxwell. Once I asked him about the possibility of time travel, thus opening doors for myself to the world of modern physics. The topic at our table circled around modern physics from then on. He told me about universal speed limit, the speed of light, which astonished me. Although all the explanations that he gave me were a summary of the hypothesis and theories, they were inspiring enough to spark the curiosity in me for modern physics. Additionally, we discussed about general and special relativity, superstring theory, particle physics, the mysterious Higgs Boson particle, and many more that completely fascinated me. Sometimes I wonder how my life would have been if I had not met Mr.Raghavan and discussed about science with him.
After graduating from boarding school, my interest in modern physics did not decline; instead, it kept increasing while I was nourished by lectures and books on physics. My desire to explore the physics world completely took over me. By the beginning of my senior year, I had almost finished watching MIT's 8.01 by Mr. Walter Lewin, which is an introductory physics class. Over the last winter break, I started watching lectures on multivariable calculus by Mr. Auroux from MIT and on modern physics by Mr.Susskind. I also read the book The New World of Mr.Tompkins, written by George Gamov. It gave me a joyful ride of an imaginary universe where the speed of light was 15mph.
Physics, especially modern physics, is something in which I intend to specialize and achieve my goal, and nothing else can be more ideal for me than researching in that field. I used to look out for sources, such as the Internet, to explore the world of modern physics due to unavailability of research programs in India. Now that I am in the U.S., and I am seeking a better opportunity and experience that will enable me to explore modern physics. I believe that Argonne will be able to provide me with the perfect platform where I will work under the guidance of the most respected and professional scientists, and I am also looking forward to working with some advanced scientific equipments such as Argonne Tandem Linac Accelerator System. Having come this far from my home country after breaking the family tradition there is no turning back.
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One word: overflowing
Overflowing with Curiosity
I was the only one who had the courage to break that family tradition.---- this sounds judgmental and arrogant. They don't necessarily lack courage. You can write:
I was the only nonconformist who chose to defy that family tradition.
** I don't really think you seem arrogant. I was trying to describe my experience of that sentence and why I don't like it. :-D
Now add one or two more sentences to that first paragraph -- sentences about physics research. That way, you will have introduced the whole "big picture" of your essay.
Then, continue with paragraph 2:
It was during 7th grade when that I started...
This is great writing, but I think you should condense it, taking out the things that are least important. That way, you can add a paragraph or two about recent research studies that interest you. It will be worth the money to invest in a subscription to a scholarly journal in order to find fascinating articles to cite -- articles about research that you want to participate in now.
So, read those articles!! Some of them will be complex, but your writing is so good that I am sure you can understand them. You'll find some articles that give you ideas about what type of research you would like to do. If I was doing it, I would want to learn about "bioelectricity" (Robert O. Becker The Body Electric)
