Computer Science Model Personal Statement
This is a model personal statement of a successful Oxbridge Computer Science applicant.
Communication is a challenge. For me, speaking foreign languages and writing code for machines mean building up communication channels. Both programming code and natural language are opportunities which allow me to express my ideas and views by creating human-machine, human- human and machine-machine communication loops. Instructing machines to execute, think, decide and report, and exchanging ideas and information with project team members are all about communication. Moreover, I think software and hardware development
As any IT related story, my first major project started in a garage, a place where we didn’t have to think about any damage when setting up the hardware systems. This 3-student group project was an automatic Arduino-Android-PHP based warehouse design that won the Enterprise and Evolution awards against 1000 participants at the “Coolest Projects International” in Dublin.
Warehouse 2.0 could be the most complex hardware project that I have completed due to the amount of wiring and details necessary for sensors in each storing compartment. Hence, during the process, I encountered multiple problems, such as wire connection issues due to incomplete soldering and system synchronization errors because of automatic updates which cost me time, but led to my decision making, problem- solving skills and patience grow. Still, I encountered almost the same problems with a music- reactive LED cube, but was able to faster debug and solve them due to previous experience, which helped me achieve 1st place at a Romanian national competition.
Other big projects I worked on in Arduino were a smart-house design, a mini-sumo robot, a puzzle protecting a safe; and in Java a finance-educational Minecraft Server. Out of all the projects, the most challenging one was my latest social app idea, QuestZone. The idea presents an app which provides temporary job opportunities for refugees in the UK to be able to faster financially and socially adapt. It was my start-up idea for Innovation & Social Entrepreneurship at my school; hence while self-learning a new programming language, React Native, I also had to take into consideration risks and characteristics of a social business. To improve my skills and further my understanding of system security, I also took courses for Java(40h), Linux(64h) and ISMS ISO 27001(24h).
Besides my coding experience, this year I participated in regionals and nationals of the UKSDC, where we were in charge of designing space stations to host people outside the Earth. For both stages, I was the Head of the Automation department which oversaw the planning of construction robots, networking systems and security & cybersecurity on base. The whole 40-member team also had to consider the most appropriate costs that each department would need if the plan were to be put into practice. The jury nominated me to participate at the internationals of the “ISS Design Competition” in the US. I think that an important experience that helped me achieve this was my participation at the AAAS science conference in Washington DC the same year. There, I attended talks about cybersecurity, machine learning, AI, quantum computers and NASA’s future projects of robots in space. I am also interested in helping others and was a mentor in the coding club, that I was a member of. Deeply invested in sharing knowledge, I took part in a fund-raising trip at a school in Rajasthan, India, where I was able to share my knowledge by teaching kids with disabilities.
I want all the coding knowledge I have accumulated to be applied in the fast-developing technology sector, whether it will relate to aerospace or human services. With my previous experience, future learning and new options, I would love the opportunity to refine my skill set to a specific application domain.
