Archaeology Personal Statement Example 1

Society today is fundamentally founded on key events in our history. Archaeology plays a key part in providing us with vital evidence about our past, teaching us more about how our ancestors lived. This intrigues me, discovering the story behind each artefact and how it affected who we are as a society today.

It combines two passions of mine, history and science; however it has the ability to further our understanding much more than these two subjects would individually.

Throughout my childhood, my interest in Archaeology developed due to my passion for history - as a child I was fascinated by museums and the vast amount of information that was available about each museum object.

This was further fuelled by my work experience at Derby Museums, where I had the opportunity to experience the wide variety of artefacts stored in the museums first hand. A particular group of artefacts that captured my interest were fragments of a 16th century stained glass window, which I cleaned and helped photograph for the museum archives.

This allowed me to appreciate how much time and effort goes into preserving our past, and how crucial this work is. Through this experience I was able to meet those who had studied Archaeology at university; they described how they studied ancient civilisations, and how they were able to conduct their own research into a particular subject which interested them.

This inspired me to pursue Archaeology as a course to study at university; I want the freedom to research specific areas of history which interest me, and be able to collect my own evidence about past civilsations.

My A-level choices were influenced by my enthusiasm to study Archaeology, and as a result each of my individual subjects has developed a set of skills which I can apply to my further studies.

History has further developed my interest to conduct my own individual research - part of my current coursework requires me to find my own sources to include in my essay, which gives me more freedom to find my own evidence.

In addition, my science options allow me to understand analytical techniques which can be applied to the discovery of artefacts, such as carbon dating. Learning about different techniques used to analyse substances has given me an in-depth understanding of how more information can be gathered about an artefact using science based methods.

To gain more experience, I helped out during school history lessons - this allowed me a chance to become more responsible, and work with other people whilst sharing knowledge about a subject I have a passion for.

Also, as a member of my sixth-form council, I have the opportunity to resolve issues which affect the sixth form, which develops my communication skills with my peers.

Outside of school, I have volunteered at a charity shop - this improved my team work and communication skills alongside other staff and with customers developing valuable skills for when I study Archaeology.

Extra-curricular activities I participate in include being a member of the Air Training Corps. It has given me the chance to be a leader of a group; advancing my problem-solving skills and challenging me to think outside of the box.

The Air Training Corps has given me a vast amount of opportunities - for example during last year, I was selected to be a part of an expedition team going to the Spanish Pyrenees, achieving the aim of trekking up a 3000m peak in the region. To achieve this aim I had to be committed to the expedition, attending training weekends and completing independent research into the area.

These experiences have allowed me to be proud of a personal achievement outside of the normal school curriculum, thus inspiring me to achieve more than the norm during university and beyond, into my future career as an archaeologist.

Archaeology will allow me to understand more about the society which I live in, and in turn I will be able to contribute to the expanding information available about our ancestors.