To date, I have maintained over a decade of conceptual continuity in my academic and professional careers, a consistent and unswerving path to Acoustics in Engineering. Indeed, further confirmation that I am exactly where I need to be has been reinforced through my yearlong relationship with Dr. XXX of the University of XXX, in Australia, an academician of some prominence and fellow musician - in the area of Acoustics. Through his observations and encouragement, a passion for researching the Acoustics of musical instruments, specifically conical horns for woodwinds as well as the design and acoustics of string instruments has been ignited within me. Moreover, I am particularly interested in examining the resonance physics of the cavities in the bodies of specific types of string instruments. Having reached a point in my career where I feel I will quickly exhaust every path of opportunity and challenge at my current academic level, I have turned to University of XXX, and have already proven my ability and commitment to a scholastic program by completing XXX graduate-level credits with XXX. Moreover, I have been impressed by the breadth and autonomy of the Acoustics program and am eager to immerse myself in the area of Audio Engineering, and Digital Sound Processing. Obtaining a Masters of Engineering in Acoustics will enable me to bring my goals, plans my dreams to fruition. Having traveled to XXX several Latin American countries, I have seen a distinct deficit of knowledge and research in the area of Acoustics and Audio Engineering. Through a continued relationship with XXX, combined with my Hispanic background and ability to speak two languages fluently, I will be able to bring new ideas, contemporary concepts, and cutting-edge research to Latin America and other emerging nations. Additionally, I envision increasing my exposure in the field and serving as a manager of Product Development and Research within an acoustical products manufacturer/design firm. I bring with me to the student body a solid foundation in Electronics Engineering. Combined with this are my years of relevant experiences, instances where I have been able to apply classroom theory to solving real-world problems. Currently, I am working for a company that produces acoustical products for Architectural Acoustics and Noise Control. These past five years in the US have found me bringing my enthusiasm, and energy to the only field that has ever brought me the highest level of personal and professional satisfaction. XXX is my sole choice for further education. Aside from the convenience and flexibility of the distance learning aspect of the engineering program, I have been impressed repeatedly with the diverse student body, access to resources and truly approachable faculty, people that really care about their students, and have been inspirational to me; these are the people I want to learn from, share and interact with. I look forward to my continued relationship with XXX and my research experiences with great eagerness. Thank you for your time and consideration.

For twenty-two years, I have served the US Army and the people of XXX and am eager to begin a new chapter in my career, one that combines service to my country as well as developing a deeper understanding of the role and duties of the Legislative Liaison. If selected for the XXX, I envision completing a graduate Legislative Liaison program, building my exposure in the field as a Legislative Assistant to the XXX. Moreover, through my position, I will be ensuring that elected officials ensure that their constituents concerns regarding the military are heard and addressed accordingly. It is my distinct aim to be an intermediary between the people and elected officials in military matters. I bring with me to the XXX a solid academic foundation in Political Science, Global Management as well as Law. Coupled with this is my legal background, particularly my decade of legal work with the XXX D.A.s office, and three years of pro-bono work through the Bar Association of XXX. Aiding my transition to Legislative Liaison work is my experience working for the Department of Army, work that increased invaluably my practical exposure to working with senators on Strategic Army issues. In the most practical terms, I have traveled throughout three continents, am culturally competent and am proficient in four languages, developed skills that will allow me to communicate effectively with concerned parties, reaching out to them in their arterial languages. It is my belief that my service record combined with academic performance and professional career have prepared me for the challenge and opportunity the XXX presents. No other branch of service has nor ever could bring me the same intense level of pride, personal or professional satisfaction. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Having completed my undergraduate and graduate degrees in mechanical and manufacturing engineering, respectively, I am eager to being my Ph.D. research. To date, my research, both professionally and academically is solid evidence of my patience, and ability to solve real-time problems in manufacturing. My focus for future research is firmly in robotics, cnc machines and advanced manufacturing processes. Completing my Ph.D. in mechanical/manufacturing engineering, I will be able to bring my goals my dreams to fruition, namely becoming a professor of mechanical/manufacturing engineering at a quality university with opportunities for ongoing research and publication. The ideal for my future research would be to explore viable paths to solving quantitative decision problems, equipping myself with in-depth knowledge of optimization techniques, statistical methods, and simulation. I envision my studies and research leading to streamlining present methodologies and saving valuable resources with a constant eye on optimizing decision making. I bring with me to the student body, not only an excellent scholastic foundation, with near-perfect GPA, but also over three years experience in the manufacturing industry, one year of teaching undergraduate manufacturing and aeronautical subjects, and four years of IT experience in the US. As a future professor, I will have the unique opportunity to expose students to relevant, current research with real-world applications. The field of Engineering is inherently multidisciplinary, and could benefit from incorporating elements from other disciplines. Through quality research programs, I will be able to devote my time and energies to making progress in these relevant and largely unexploited studies. Your Ph.D. program and its opportunities to work with professors, as teaching assistants, being involved in the curriculum, will lay the necessary groundwork for my own burgeoning teaching ambitions. I cannot think of a more ideal environment in which to learn not only my own subject matter, but also gain invaluable exposure to a quality curriculum, its design process, implementation and management. Even within my own teaching experiences, I was not able to participate at such a level, adding my own insights into course design. However, I am certain I can work with great confidence and ease regarding the routine administrative tasks, and grading. US universities have a reputation for being the finest in the world, with a wealth of disciplines that are genuinely career-driven. Upon researching the faculty's research interests, I find that they are a match for what I have studied, researched, including stochastic process, statistics, modeling and simulation. Moreover, I feel that I would be an excellent complement as I have interest in and some experience in a variety of fields. I look forward to the opportunity to develop myself as a creative leader for Engineering, both for the industry and ensuring its future through teaching. Your time and consideration is greatly appreciated.

For the past twelve years, I have dedicated my professional career, time and energy wholly to ensuring that children all children received the finest educational, nurturing and guidance I could possibly provide. Yet, I have only been left wanting to give more, and on a greater scale, to bring to focus my passion for educating our special needs children and address omnipresent, even growing needs that I have seen and want to address in my school district. In order to affect the changes needed, I am finding that at my current academic level, and professional exposure, this is simply not feasible. Turning to the post-graduate SBL program with XXX, and XXX is more than a logical choice or progression for my future career, but a natural choice given my sensibilities, goals, ambitions, and indeed my dreams. Earning my SBL administrative certification will enable me to increase my professional exposure, laying a positive foundation for eventually serving XXX, where I presently teach, as an educated, experienced and visionary principal within a special education school. We need to consider the educational, physical and developmental needs of all children, including those with emotional and behavioral disorders, XXX, pervasive developmental disorders, learning disabilities and speech impairments. What greater display of our humanity could we possibly offer than to include all of our children's needs in our educational system? I bring with me to the student body and post-graduate program a solid academic grounding in both Psychology and Special Education. What is more, I bring four years of direct instructional experience earned in the field, working with children with emotional and behavioral disorders. Moreover, I feel that the leadership skills I developed, utilized and proved as Coordinator for Special Education Religious Education will prove invaluable in my future work. Having interviewed, trained, observed, and supervised volunteers, and paraprofessionals in addition to designing and implementing individualized lesson plans for each child autonomously and with my colleagues, utilizing and adapting different teaching methods, my skills are both in teaching and in effective administration. Furthermore, my skills are based on an understanding of what needs to be accomplished in the classroom, promoting educational, physical and social development of my students, as well as in the school as a whole, as an entity. Observing and evaluating students performance, interacting with parents, administrators, testing specialists, and social workers has developed my ability to communicate effectively with people from all walks of life, socioeconomic backgrounds, and even cultures, an ability that school leadership requires and yet is probably the hardest to grasp, coming only with experience and not from a lecture hall. I look forward to serving my community and school district at a higher level with great eagerness, within the only field that has ever brought me the greatest personal and profession satisfaction. While I have strived to inspire each individual student to believe in themselves and their ability to learn, I am convinced that my future is in developing a body of like-minded educational professionals, nurturing, guiding and rewarding them for the benefit of my community and the extended community my students will go on to be contributing members within and beyond. Thank you for your time and consideration.

While I was too young to remember all my family endured in the Haiti of the early 1900s, I have grown up knowing all that did happen, from first hand accounts of events that most Americans, and thankfully so, will never have to endure; the corruption, collapse of healthcare services, and rampant public health issues. Coming to America was a chance to start over, and to give back to the country that had welcomed us, and the invaluable opportunity to bring a better tomorrow to others. Earning my PA accreditation will enable me to bring a number of my goals, ambitions, but more importantly, my dreams to reality. In the most practical terms, I have seen a distinct and growing need for multilingual healthcare professionals. While I speak Haitian Creole, French and English, I feel I fill this need even better than someone who is simply conversant in other languages. Indeed, I have walked more than a mile in the shoes of the immigrant and feel particularly sensitive to the unique needs of our culturally diverse patients. As a PA, I anticipate serving under the supervision of an OBGYN/Gynecologist, or in an ER. Upon building my exposure in the field, I anticipate using my academic and professional experiences as a jumping off point for medical mission work developing nations, aiding others as a healthcare provider, bringing much needed health, preventative medical education and above all, hope. I bring with me to the PA program a solid academic foundation in pre-medicine, Biology and Chemistry, coupled with practical experiences, and direct-patient contact as a nursing assistant, direct care assistant and home health aid. In order to prepare for the opportunity and challenge of the PA program, I have worked with the mentally disabled, conducted forty hours of clinicals, as well as job shadowing. Nothing, absolutely nothing has swayed me from the path to my dream. The loss of my father, helping my family through hard financial times and the desire to have a family of my own have only strengthened my desire to pursue my PA accreditation at all costs, to help others, the poor, the sick and the needy through the greatest challenges of their lives. Through an academic relationship with a quality educational institution like UMES, I will be able to see my patients with a clearer, more open mind, seeing beyond the disease, treating them within the context of their individual needs. Furthermore, I anticipate being exposed to the dynamic world of evolving medical treatments, new techniques and technologies with a constant eye towards hospital policy. I look forward to the opportunity to develop myself as an exceptional Physician Assistant as no other field has or could bring me the same level of personal or professional fulfillment. Your time and consideration is greatly appreciated.

Statistics are the life's blood of our golden age of information. The data generated across industries, disciplines, and countries brings with it the mammoth task of organizing that information, making it sensible, and translating it into information useable for specific purposes. From the time I was introduced to the concepts surrounding Statistics, I have dedicated myself to its study. While classmates around me struggled with memorizing formulas, never fathoming what they represented or their applications, I grasped very quickly the importance and relevance of Statistics. I knew that while an engineer creates things that help make life easier, the statistician provides the information that makes the engineer's work possible. By being able to translate what data tells the researcher about human behavior, disease, or engineering, the applications are infinitely applicable to everything that it means to be alive right now. Nothing could be more profound. For me, there is no better truth to find. As an undergraduate and Statistics major in Korea University, I struggled with the more mundane required courses. I understood the importance of being a well-rounded student, but I craved more outlets for my love of Statistics, taking courses in economics, and finance while developing my English skills. To develop my English even further, I participated in XXX Academic Program in Canada, a program in which I surpassed 89 other Korean students in my English proficiency. It was during this time that I discovered and became deeply interested in computational statistics, becoming adept at handling large-scale datasets. In data mining, statistical database, multivariate statistics, computational statistics, econometric analysis classes, I became fluent in the handling of large datasets and running simulations using SAS, S-Plus, Minitab and Matlab. My zeal for my work meant that my graduate work and research could not begin soon enough and flowed directly from my undergraduate foundation work. The work was under the heading of Industrial Engineering, but primarily focused on stochastic process, data mining techniques and feature extraction methods. It was during my Master's research, I learned some very valuable lessons, not the least of which was during my interpretation of biomedical data project, with my advisor Professor XXX. While I was to explore the non-stationary signal type data in ovarian cancer and develop feature extraction method and make a model for prediction of ovarian cancer in early stages, I lacked the requisite knowledge of biomedical data to apply the correct methodology, and, thus, my initial results were not satisfactory. From this, I learned some very important lessons: insufficient knowledge in the field and general statistical analyses under strong assumptions often cause problems in applying to various fields. Learning from this experience, I set about the project with renewed vigor, re-adjusting my approach. Still there were more lessons to be learned, particularly that methods adopted from another field of study such as wavelet transform can be more suitable for the data that do not satisfy strong assumptions. Data exploration was done by careful examination of peaks of signal in time domain and wavelet coefficients in frequency domain. Large signal type and non-stationary data sets are wavelets transformed so that distinct features of the data are extracted in wavelet domain rather than time domain. The application of my wavelet-based feature selection method to a mass spectrometry data set for ovarian cancer diagnosis resulted in nearly 100% classification accuracy when statistical classification methods were employed. With this research project, I won Master's theses competition and published my paper in the Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers. While the domain of my professional career has been national defense and security issues, the work has always firmly incorporated statistical research. As a research analyst, I participated in several ROK government sponsored defense modeling and simulation projects. Often I cooperated with domestic and international organization including XXXs. The work that I have been involved in with the XXX Institute of Defense Analysis, utilized a simulation based acquisition package called Synthetic Theater Operations Research Model, a package that is based on operations research (OR), with methodologies such as linear programming, scheduling, transportation problem, and stochastic simulation. While XXX has given me an excellent education in terms of being an effective researcher, I feel I will quickly exhaust every possible avenue of promotion and challenge at my current level of education. More than this, though, I feel motivated to return to the academic world as I feel I have so much more to offer. CMU will enable me to fill in the gaps remaining in my Statistics education, the remaining pieces of the puzzle for developing statistical models or methods to bring valuable quantitative information to light out of the vast expanses of raw data. The Department of Statistics focuses on computational statistics, non-stationary data, Bayesian statistics or machine learning, and Cross-Disciplinary Research that is intrinsic to my desire to study with XXX above any other institution. XXX strikes a critical balance between theoretical and applied Statistics that I feel makes for a more well-rounded and relevant Statistician, and more applicable to real world situations. Adding to the attraction to XXX, there is the ability to study computational statistics in much greater depth with the University having the finest Computer Science and Statistics department of any school in America. Moreover, XXX provides many opportunities to join workshops, seminars and colloquia. This is particularly important, as being adept at ones subjects is as equally important as being able to speak intelligently about the topics. I feel that these experiences outside the classroom are important for keeping in touch with the latest industrial developments, the most recent thought and advances. More importantly, I see that several topics from recent workshops and seminars include my previous research focus - data mining, Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methods and wavelets increasing my belief that XXX is the ideal environment for me, personally. In reality, data mining, and wavelets, were closely related to my master's thesis, and MCMC was a part of my graduate study, as well as my defense simulation model work with the XXX Institute of Defense Analysis, Center for Modeling and Simulation. For the future, I envision returning to the classroom, this time as a professor and Statistician attached to a university with ample opportunities for ongoing research, research that I can expose my students to. It would be an excellent opportunity to expose students to relevant, current research with real-world applications. I envision contributing to the further development of ways to gather invaluable information and handle large-scale data. Given my defense department research experiences and XXX education, I feel that I would become a very effective professor, indeed.The reputation of XXX is more than impressive. XXX's Department of Statistics has a greater than 94% ability to place its alumni in quality and relevant employment, indicative of an educational experience that guarantees not only quality, and conceptual continuity, but also professional relationships and respect of industrial partners. Statistics research with XXX is my sole choice for further academic and professional development. Your time and consideration is greatly appreciated and I eagerly await a personal interview.

Having been a scientist involved in industry and research, I have learned that extraordinary science comes from extraordinary mentorship. As a future educator, I feel that my professional background, combined with a solid foundation in science education I will have the opportunity to instill in my students newfound enthusiasm for the sciences, helping them channel their strengths and identify and improve upon their weaknesses. Students of today are tomorrow's problem solvers and need to be provided with a quantitative skill set that gives them the confidence, independence and the creativity necessary to excel in the sciences. I will bring to Teachers College's Ph.D. Science Education program and the classroom over a decade of experience in industry and academia, real-world perspectives on science and specialized attention as to the connections between classroom science, industry and research work. As a graduate and post-doctoral student, I have educated technicians, undergraduates and other post-doctoral students in the theories behind our specific research, as well as teaching various lab techniques. In addition, I have had the opportunity to present and critically assess various scientific publications to a body of my peers though journal club seminars, educating them on how research was performed, and highlighting novel techniques employed. Adding to my teaching acumen, I have also presented my research and conveyed scientific information at national conferences, and student seminars. Throughout my academic and professional career, I have come to find that there needs to be an additional classroom emphasis on the scientific method observation, forming a hypothesis, designing experiments to solve problems, and deriving conclusions or future directions based on results is critical to solving scientific problems. Students need to have the confidence to apply learned concepts and methodology to scientific problems, to see the applications of science, and develop problem-solving skills. For the future, I am intent upon conducting education research that incorporates acknowledgement of neuroscientific findings. Neuroscientific research has proven that the human brain is capable of producing new neurons. Moreover, neurogenesis in the hippocampus helps regulate learning, memory and mood. This process can be positively influenced through everyday behaviors, which means, in terms of education, teachers/professors can actually encourage neuron development by providing thinking and skill building exercises, commonly known as brain-based learning. My aim would be to improve, not only awareness, but also the learning and processing of scientific knowledge in students in secondary through college-level education, particularly students with minor learning disabilities. There is also evidence to support the theory that such approaches to education may be beneficial to sufferers of chronic epilepsy, and depression. In the nearer future, upon completing my Ph.D. in Science Education, I would like to learn more about science education by working as a practitioner in either secondary education or in a university setting. This exposure will aid me in my ultimate goal of opening a science and mathematics learning center, offering specialized programming catering to students with minor learning difficulties, such as dyslexia, ADD, ADHD, etc. The ideal would be to use this experience and educational center as a model for a charter high school, employing teachers with advanced degrees, and offering a curriculum that gives students exceptional, practical preparatory experiences that they can take with them to higher education. These sorts of ambitions require close ties and positive relationships within a community. I have always been involved in volunteering, aiding my community, giving of my time and energy to nursing homes, soup kitchens, and while a graduate student, mentored students through a summer research project funded by the Department of Defense. Communities are only becoming increasingly diverse in terms of the rich tapestry of cultures and creeds they represent. As well as being bilingual, and living in Ireland for 10 months as an undergraduate, I have traveled throughout Europe and Caribbean and have spent 1-2 months at a time in Greece for the last quarter decade. These experiences have increased not only my worldview, but also my ability to interact effectively with people of a multitude of backgrounds. This is what I will bring to the classroom, as well: a healthy understanding and appreciation of ethnic differences, insights and skills to bridging cultural differences that may present themselves. XXX University's Teachers College offers the finest education possible in my field, has almost 125 years of conceptual continuity, and is my sole choice for Science Education. I was particularly struck by not only the Teachers College's amazing faculty, but also the approach to learning, their maxim of producing alumni that will go on to serve society in an anthropological vein while never losing sight of the science that governs human development. I look forward to the opportunity to develop myself as a creative leader for science education research and practicum. Your time and consideration is greatly appreciated and I eagerly await a personal interview.

A police officer from Los Angeles, a dedicated public servant, I am as comfortable working in the office as walking the beat. A compassionate and sensitive man, I have always struggled to do what is right, even though police officers sometimes have to directly face supreme difficulties in figuring out exactly what that entails in any given situation. My first choice for graduate study is at the University XXX, Planning, and Development in the Executive Master of Leadership Program. I am drawn to your program since it is geared towards people who are already working in the public sector. The Advanced study of Leadership is my central interest and professional focus because I want to fine tune my leadership skills I have already attained through many years of experience with the LAPD, the San Diego Sheriff's Department, and the XXX Corps. I want to become an effective leader and an excellent role model for younger African-American men and boys. I am a native Californian to the core, raised in the San Fernando Valley, North Hollywood, and Van Nuys; yet, the Marine Corps helped to greatly broaden my global consciousness since it allowed me to travel. But it was good to come home. I am very proud of my city and proudly where the badge of the LAPD. While we have had, perhaps, even more than our share of problems, particularly as a black officer, I am happy to be part of the solution as well. Graduating Cum Laude for my Associates Degree in Administration of Justice in 20XX. I became hooked on education and subsequently finished my BS in Professional Studies at Cal State Long Beach in 20XX. I am especially interested in doing graduate work in the area of Public Management and Public Policy. These two areas go hand in hand with my line of work since I serve as a public official in the non-profit/public sector field. Your Executive Master of Leadership Program at USC is uniquely suited to propel me to a management position with the LAPD, helping me to attain the rank of Lieutenant and have more authority and responsibility within the Department. This would enable me to have a much greater influence on how the Department operates and help us work towards the progressive change that is needed in so many areas, especially with respect to heightened multi-cultural sensitivities. Since I already have 15 years invested in the LAPD and I am still young, I look forward to serving my community as a teacher after another 10 years or so as a police officer. Your program will help to prepare me to someday teach the Administration of Justice at the community college level. Inspired by your program, I may also decide to pursue a Doctorate at some point. A firm believer in lifelong education, I heartily endorse one of the LAPD's Core Values Quality Through Continuous Improvement. As a highly experienced Police Sergeant, I supervise a platoon of officers that patrol the street. Also an investigator I investigate complaints of misconduct by our officers, which has helped me to master extensive amounts of technical writing. I am highly motivated and have many reasons for wanting to complete your program. I want to become an excellent role model for my community and for all of my nephews and nieces to emulate by struggling to change the face of law enforcement to better serve our community. As an African-American, I strongly believe that the more diverse the LAPD, the more effective it will become in conflict avoidance and resolution. Thus, I see my own first-hand experience of the struggles of the African American community to be of critical importance to the cultivation of diversity appreciation and multi-cultural consciousness in our police force.

My first choice for graduate study towards the Ph.D. degree is at XXXX University for a variety of reasons. I am especially interested in studying 20th century continental philosophy especially, and several professors in your program are experts in this area. I would also love to study philosophy abroad which is also something that your program has to offer. I particularly look forward to studying phenomenology because, after reading numerous works in this area, this paradigm has served to open my eyes and inspire me to ever more creative reflection on how humans interact with their social environments; and I am particularly keen to do research concerning critiques of phenomenology and reactions to those critiques. I have also read many works in post-structuralism and the way in which this perspective serves to critique phenomenology; thus, I am especially intrigued by the relationship between phenomenology and post-structuralism and how those views might be synthesized or seen as complementary to each other. I profoundly appreciate the way in which your program offers the opportunity to integrate the study of the history of philosophy with contemporary philosophical methods. I am very much attracted to your programs interdisciplinary approach to the framing and treatment of philosophical problems and the relationship between philosophy and other academic disciplines. Still only 20, I seek to take advantage of the energy and passion of my youth and apply it to a rigorous exploration of many of the critical issues of philosophy as they are relevant to our times. As a Latino, born in Mexico and raised in the United States, I am also fully engaged with questions of identity, why I am labeled as a Mexican in the United States and an American in Mexico. Thus, my own crisis of identity has led me into a philosophical exploration of notions of individual identity and the mechanisms by which they are determined. My interest in philosophy is very much a personal quest for clarity that I hope will prepare me for a lifetime of scholarly pursuits, inspiring me to constantly reach further in my intellectual development. I see your program as a foundation for the constant perfection of wisdom, the personal satisfaction of learning how to see and understand in increasingly complex ways, especially the relationship between philosophical paradigms and social issues and the way in which the struggle to know oneself is always played out in a given historical context. I want to struggle with philosophy as a means of to liberation, avoiding slavery, and earning the kind of intellectual freedom that only results from a great deal of diligence in the exploration of ideas. I see the study of philosophy on a graduate level as a way to take control of my life and prepare myself to be as productive as possible in terms of human development and meeting the responsibilities of citizenship. My journey began with the study of existentialism and then on to phenomenology, and these areas together go a long way towards explaining my passion for existence. In addition to being fluent in Spanish, I have also studied both French and German, especially the former, and I feel this is most important, the multi-lingual discourse of ideas. I live to learn and find my greatest joy in intellectual complexity, ever struggling to make philosophy relevant, for myself and others, harnessing its power for human liberation. I want to thank you for consideration of my application to your program.

I spent the first half of my life tripping across the world, visiting six of the seven continents of the world, living in Holland and France as well as the United States. My parents work brought me a level of cultural competency few if any of my classmates could ever hope to attain. I clearly remember visiting the Soviet Union in the 1970s and especially getting caught up in what is now called the 1980 Turkey coup d'tata. This past summer, though, while in Japan on a study abroad trip, I found my life's purpose. Professor XXXX of the Nuclear Studies Institute of American University opened my eyes to the sufferings of those caught in the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki of 1945 and the aftermath which continues to this day in the form of the Hibakusha those that survived the nuclear assault. Particularly chilling was Professor XXXX's detailing of just how close to nuclear war we've come in the recent past. While in Japan, I was impressed by the culture of peace as seen through the great number of peace museums, peace parks, and commemorative functions. I was struck by how the Japanese having survived a nuclear holocaust, are probably the world's largest anti-nuclear war advocates, adopting the Three Non-Nuclear Principles into their government, and have maintained a non-nuclear weapon standard for over sixty years, while the superpowers around them continue their stockpile of nuclear weaponry and research. And, yet, through the stories of the Hibakusha, especially Koko Tanimoto-Kondo, an American University alumnus, I was profoundly moved by the lack of bitterness, and rather, a continued hope for world peace. The Hibakusha are living testimonies to the mistake of nuclear war. Of course, my hopes are their hopes, that one day nuclear arms will be simply outlawed completely, worldwide. Continuing my academic endeavors through a Master's program of study with the American University my only choice for graduate education - will enable me to achieve my dreams. It is my aim to become a professor myself, researching the effects of the atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki as well as the effects of the atomic testing programs in the United States, particularly the civilians inadvertently affected downwind of test sites. As a professor, it would be my responsibility to teach students the moral implications of President Truman's administration's choice of response to Japan during WWII, impress upon them the ferocious destructive nature of a nuclear assault and the intense despair caused by this choice. Students need to learn from our past mistakes and must be educated in alternative strategies for ending conflicts, to avoid a nuclear war at all costs. Ideally, my future work will enable me to lead student groups, be it high school students or college students, on study abroad trips to Hiroshima, Nagasaki, and nuclear test sites in the United States, using these places as an extension of the classroom to impress upon my students the deadly power of these weapons of unimaginable destruction. While World War III may come some day, let it not be done with nuclear weapons. If nuclear weapons are employed in a large scale conflict, I am convinced that the impact will be felt around the world, if not destroying most or all of life on earth as we know it. And who better to lead students to these ideals in the classroom and beyond. Having learning disabilities myself, who better to encourage my students to struggle for their goals? Having survived cancer and the irony of nuclear medicine is not lost on me and maintaining a 3.77 GPA while going through chemotherapy during both my junior and senior years of undergraduate work, who better to encourage students to give there best, and demonstrate how obstacles are opportunities. And through it all, even my severe seizure disorder, I keep a positive attitude, and a good sense of humor. I turn my pain into positive energy, and have raised money by participating in the Breast Cancer 3-Day walk, walking a total of 360 miles and raising over $15, 000. It is a love of life that keeps me going, and a love for my academic work that gets me up every day. And while I have never been a teacher, I have, in fact, been a National Champion coach of Girls Softball four times. I thank you for your time and consideration and look forward to a personal interview.

Growing up in Seoul, Korea, I was immersed in a city which has grown into a truly global city. I clearly recall looking up at the skyscrapers, at the feet of giant whose shadows stretched for miles; the engineers abilities and imagination seemed staggering and limitless. The city is truly enormous, the world's second-largest metropolitan, with half of the entire South Korean population calling the greater Seoul area home. More than this, Seoul is my country's chief economic, political and cultural center. It is no wonder I grew up in awe of the engineering accomplishments that have made Seoul so very unique. And in recent years, the international population has been steadily growing, with many citizens being fluent in at least two languages, as I am. Since my time as an undergraduate, I have maintained a consistent path to Operations Research, and a Mastery of its fundamentals. I had a strong interest in computational statistics especially handling large-scale datasets. In data mining, statistical database, multivariate statistics, computational statistics, econometric analysis classes, I became fluent in my handling of large datasets and running simulations using SAS, S-Plus, Minitab and Matlab. My undergraduate education flowed logically into a graduate Industrial Engineering degree, which was focused primarily on stochastic process, data mining techniques and feature extraction methods. Throughout this time I increased my proficiency in English, even spending approximately two years at the University XXX, a school in which I earned a UBC scholarship for the highest GPA out of 89 other Korea University students. During my Master's research, I learned some very valuable lessons, not the least of which was during my interpretation of biomedical data project, with my advisor professor Woojin Chang. While I was to explore the non-stationary signal type data in ovarian cancer and develop feature extraction method and make a model for prediction of ovarian cancer in early stages, I lacked the requisite knowledge of biomedical data to apply the correct methodology, and, thus, my initial results were not satisfactory. From this, I learned some very important lessons: insufficient knowledge in the field and general statistical analyses under strong assumptions often cause problems in applying to various fields. Learning from this experience, I set about the project with renewed vigor, re-adjusting my approach. Still there were more lessons to be learned, particularly that methods adopted from another field of study such as wavelet transform can be more suitable for the data that do not satisfy strong assumptions. Data exploration was done by careful examination of peaks of signal in time domain and wavelet coefficients in frequency domain. Large signal type and non-stationary data sets are wavelets transformed so that distinct features of the data are extracted in wavelet domain rather than time domain. The application of my wavelet-based feature selection method to a mass spectrometry data set for ovarian cancer diagnosis resulted in nearly 100% classification accuracy when statistical classification methods were employed. With this research project, I won Master's theses competition and published my paper in the Journal of Korean Institute of Industrial Engineers. While the domain of my professional career has been national defense and security issues, the work has always been firmly related to operations research and or statistics. There are clear parallels between the working environment I have been immersed in these past few years as a researcher, and the IEOR. On the most practical level, working for the XXX Institute of Defense Analysis, Center for Modeling and Simulation, we were a XXX government-funded research organization; the IEOR as a department funds their doctoral students. The pressures were very real, with my work supporting such stakeholders as XXX Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Ministry of Defense. Moreover, I was working in a multidisciplinary team environment and I would find the transition near seamless to IEOR academic work.I have worked for the Center for Modeling and Simulation at XXX Institute for Defense Analyses since 2006. As a research analyst, I participated in several XXX government sponsored defense modeling and simulation projects. Often I cooperated with domestic and international organization including XXXs Army Materiel Systems Analysis Activity. While XXX has given me an excellent education in terms of being an effective researcher, I feel I will quickly exhaust every possible avenue of promotion and challenge at my current level of education. More than this, though, I feel motivated to return to the academic world for further development for this reason among one other. XXX research as opposed to academic research as defense research projects tend to last one year or less, and need immediate results, affecting XXX policy maker's decisions and, as a result, the research is not always conducted under the most ideal circumstances. To be completely honest, I was frustrated by spending half of my time gathering data and studying defense knowledge, which was critical, of course, arguably the most important, and the precious remaining time performing research. I was left feeling that deeper analysis and research was blocked by the time limitations of projects. This was simply not a good research paradigm. The work that I have been involved in with the XXX Institute of Defense Analysis, utilized a simulation based acquisition package called Synthetic Theater Operations Research Model, a package which is based on operations research (OR), with methodologies such as linear programming, scheduling, transportation problem, and stochastic simulation. I was particularly intrigued with the OR features and this is one aspect of my desire to seek out the finest, most specific education possible in this area. For the future, I envision returning to the classroom, this time as a professor attached to a university with ample opportunities for ongoing research, research which I can expose my students to. It would be an excellent opportunity to expose students to relevant, current research with real-world applications. Given my defense department research experiences and IEOR education, I feel that I would become a very effective professor, indeed. There are many opportunities in the field of Operations research, a field which is inherently multidisciplinary, and that could benefit from incorporating such elements as finance, biology, and homeland security. Through quality research programs, I will be able to devote my time and energies to making progress in these relevant and largely unexploited studies.The IEOR program and its opportunities to work with professors as teaching assistants, being involved in the curriculum will lay the necessary groundwork for my own burgeoning teaching ambitions. I cannot think of a more ideal environment in which to learn not only my own subject matter, but gain invaluable exposure to a quality curriculum, its design process, implementation and management. Even within my two years of teaching assistant work, I was not able to participate at such a level, adding my own insights into course design. However, I am certain I can work with great confidence and ease regarding the more routine administrative tasks, and grading given my background. The overall goal for my future professional development and research would be to explore viable paths to solving quantitative decision problems, equipping myself with in-depth knowledge of optimization techniques, statistical methods, and simulation. I envision my studies and research leading to streamlining present methodologies and saving valuable resources with a constant eye on optimizing decision making. IEOR has a reputation for being one of the finest Engineering and Applied Sciences departments in the nation, with a wealth of disciplines that are genuinely career-driven. Upon researching the faculty's research interests, I find that they are a match for what I have studied, researched, including stochastic process, statistics, modeling and simulation. Moreover, I feel that I would be an excellent complement as I have interest in and some experience in a variety of fields such as biomedical, national security, and financial engineering. IEOR offers the opportunity for exposure to all of these fields. The reputation of IEOR is more than impressive. IEOR's doctoral candidate selection process alone, with an approximate 3% acceptance rating, is indicative of an educational experience that guarantees not only quality, and conceptual continuity, but a low student-to-professor ratio; an intimate and personalized relationship, one in which I feel that my academic purposes will be brought to fruition. I look forward to the opportunity to develop myself as a creative leader for Operations Research. Your time and consideration is greatly appreciated and I eagerly await a personal interview.

For the past seven years, I have maintained a consistent aim in my academic career. Beginning with my time in high school, I have immersed myself in the pursuit of increasing my communication skills in English and proficiency in algebra, trigonometry, as well as calculus and computer courses. I found that my greatest strengths and enjoyment in math was in vectors, differential and integral calculus. My BS in Mechanical Engineering, introduced me to the basics, and brought focus to my research interest in the manufacturing of automobiles. At the same time I was introduced to and have subsequently become proficient in the use of many computer-aided engineering software packages as well as increasing my English technical writing and communication skills. In order to bring my ambitions to fruition, I need to become well-versed in the assorted challenges, difficulties and needs of the automobile industry from the mechanical engineering standpoint, as well as a thorough understanding of automotive mechanical systems. I feel that I could contribute to any multidisciplinary engineering team involved in the car manufacturing planning process, perhaps as a mechanical technologist, process technologist, or mechanical designer to begin with until I am fully versed in the industry, and more able to begin a firm of my own. I feel that I have exhausted every avenue of promotion and challenge in my professional career with my current level of education. Akron University stood out to me as I researched schools in the US. XXX U will not only educate me in the optimizing of quality automotive parts production, their manufacture and assembly methods, but also give me the invaluable technical management and supervisory skills I will need in the future firm I intend to create and run. This will be my first time out of my country, and all I have ever known, and trust that XXX U will be a wonderful and relevant experience for me, not just as a student but as an individual and burgeoning, passionate and ambitious engineer. As a child, growing up in Lagos, Nigeria, I had always been in awe of this massive complex of towering skyscrapers which seemingly defy the laws of physics, and our city's manufacturing hub that supplies most of Nigeria and exports to the world our engineered goods. Surrounded by so much technology, the airplanes screaming from our airports, the bustling and brand new bus lines, the huge network of highways which seem to draw all of Nigeria to our metropolis, I feel invigorated, excited and wanting to become a part of what makes all of this marvelous industrial progress function. Mechanical engineering was a logical choice for me, especially given my aptitudes in as described above school. As an international student, I feel that I will add to the diversity of the classroom, increasing my fellow classmates cultural competency while increasing my own. In Nigeria, we have one view of the world, and in the US, I anticipate immersing myself in its culture and gaining an appreciation for its world view as well. In short, I feel that those I will learn with will become better-rounded as individuals from their contact with me. Combined with this is my extensive experience with the installation, maintenance and troubleshooting of automobiles, GPS tracking devices, and vehicle immobilizers.I thank you for your time and consideration, and I look forward to hearing from you.