Biomedical Engineering Personal Statement Example 4

As long as I could remember, I've always thought I've wanted to follow the path of my father and become a neurosurgeon. This was until a year ago when I took a 6-month break and questioned what I wanted to become. I realized my true passion, trying to understand the world around me and implement it into the problems I faced. Thus, I chose the field, engineering.

Watching YouTubers like Destin from SmarterEveryDay, Derek from Veritasium and Mark sparked my interest in engineering and showed me to question the world around me (why this works like this...). In SmarterEveryDay, Destin teaches to explore the world using science and to use it to further understand the world around him, people like Mark Rober show how to use your understanding of the world around you into practice.

Watching videos of my dad doing neurosurgery amazes me, especially the machinery he uses to perform these operations. The new technology used for surgery fascinates me, such as the gamma knife which can be used to destroy a tumour without having to perform a single incision or the Da Vinci robot which can be used to make precise movements that even the human hand is not capable of doing. My love for the machinery used in medicine lead me to the path of the Biomedical field of engineering.

When I see broken items and especially electronics, I see it as an opportunity to learn more about the item or to put my existing knowledge of the item into practice. In my free time, I will try to fix the broken things I find in my house such as soldering the wires in my headphones together or replacing the LCD for my phone. Even if the item is beyond repair, I will take it as an opportunity to take it apart and learn more about it.

Whenever I learn something new, I will try to implement it into the real world to test my understanding, such as applying mechanics into the movement of machines or using biology to further understand the human body. I will try not to miss the opportunity to put my theoretical knowledge into practice or test my understanding of the world in local competitions.

In my secondary years, I represented my school in a nationwide competition called the Ultimate Maths Competition where my group made it to the semi-finals and this year, I also represented my college in the National Mathematics Olympiad. These competitions have taught me that maths is not just about calculations but also about solving problems and through these competitions my love for maths has grown further.

In my free time, I try to further understand the world around me through my phone, a book or whatever I can get my hands on. I learnt the basics of JavaScript to understand how basic apps and games work. In learning to code, it has taught me to be patient if the program does not run as I wish it to and to reread all the code to search for problems but with this, I see coding as a rewarding experience when the code executes properly. Likewise, I have learnt to be better at problem-solving and to think outside the box through challenging puzzle games such as Portal, Scribblenauts and Fez.

My experience as a class representative in college has taught me to be responsible for the people under my care and has also taught me that a leader should serve the people and not the other way around. I have also volunteered in public retreats which have taught me to be patient while serving others and that, helping is helping no matter how small the effect is.

I was born in the United Kingdom and lived there for 13 years of my life before my family moved back to Malaysia. I have also travelled the world from east to west meeting rich and poor nations and I have friends from all over the globe. I enjoy meeting new faces, working with different cultures and personalities.

Engineering is changing the way we live our lives and I believe that with my determination that I will put my utmost effort into further increasing my knowledge to change the world for the better.