NAME: COUNTRY:

28.

STUDY RESEARCH OBJECTIVES

Write a clear and detailed description of your study objectives and give your reasons for wanting to pursue them. Be specific about your major field and
your specialized interests within this field. Describe the kind of program you expect to undertake, and explain how your study plan fits in with your
previous training and your future objectives. This statement is an essential part of your application.. Do not mention specific U.S. universities at
which you would like to study. NOTE: Please limit your response to the size of this text box.
NAME: Tabish Islam COUNTRY: Pakistan

29.
PERSONAL STATEMENT
This personal statement should be a narrative statement describing how you have achieved your current goals. It should not be a mere listing of facts. It
should include information about your education, practical experience, special interests, and career plans. Describe any significant factors that have
influenced your educational or professional development. Comment on the number of years of practical experience already completed in the field in which
academic work will be done in the U.S. Do not mention specific U.S. universities at which you would like to study.
NOTE: Please limit your response to the size of this text box of fifty lines of text.

Describing myself, my goals and what influenced them is a complex exercise but once I look back I can recollect some important milestones that helped
me evolve. I am the youngest among the four siblings in the family, the other three being a brother and two sisters. My parents have consistently
encouraged all of us to have a passion for studying and seeking knowledge. My father was an educationist, now retired. His influence and constant
encouragement resulted in my elder brother obtaining B.Sc. in Mechanical engineering from UET Lahore and M.Sc. Advanced Mechanical Engineering
from University of Sheffield UK. Likewise, my eldest sister did MA in mass communication while the other sister completed MA in home economics.
My parents have been a constant source of support at every stage and we as siblings also helped each other to maintain the importance of education in
our lives. As a result, the environment I received at home was always conducive to healthy knowledge seeking and attaining the highest excellence in
education.

My parents decision to send me for early education to a school established in Lahore around 100 years back in pre-independence era of my country was
vital towards my development in academics. The school I went to was different from the government run schools since its motto targeted on building
childrens personalities apart from the imparting quality education of the highest standard. Owing to the secular outlook of the school, I learned to be
tolerant, understanding and to live harmoniously with respect for views of others. Another milestone that molded me into the person that I am today was
the experience of Seeds of Peace camp through which I got to travel abroad at a young age to meet people from different parts of the world. It gave
me an insight about the fact that historical facts vary from country to country. The biggest take away was to look at all things objectively and without
bias. I made some great international friends and we are a solid bunch still.

Mathematics became part and parcel of my life somewhere around grade 8. A keenness for it was initiated by an elderly lady having a masters degree
in mathematics. With her guidance, I scored a very high percentile in advanced and basic mathematics later in OLevels. It was a curiosity in how
mathematics and physics can improve infrastructure impacting our society which eventually led me to choose Civil Engineering. During bachelors, I
learnt to analyze and design a wide variety of structural elements from beams, columns, slabs and foundations. Eventually I was realizing my dream to
help the society at large by learning the engineering of complicated structures. However, the teaching methods in place were want of critical thinking
and engineering practice. This vacuum has inspired me to reshape and improve the education setup which engenders quality engineering work force.
My ambition of helping the society by building infrastructure evolved and merged into teaching. I realized that training young minds with my knowledge
and the conceptual way of thinking that triggers innovation and discovery, will eventually serve my dream of serving the society. What I alone want to
do can be done by hundreds trained by me.

At this point I would like to mention an incident that toughened my resolve to achieve my objectives. Playing football for the university team and a local
club team allowed me to maintain a healthy balance of studies with sports. However, in one of the matches I suffered a horrible cruciate ligament tear
and was advised bed rest and a surgery by doctors. It was a tough time in my life considering I had such high hopes and ambitions. Despite this hardship,
I remained steadfast and with the support of my friends and family earned the deans honor roll for excellent academic performance during that time. I
completed Bachelors in Civil Engineering in August 2011 and had my knee operated in the same month. I still remember that I gave the interview for
masters in structural engineering while walking on crutches. Through pain emanated pleasure, as I got admitted in the first list of this program and
cleared my coursework in the first year. That injury taught me a life-long lesson on how to tackle adversity and cut through difficult times as things turn
better eventually with time.

Finally, at the end of first semester of M.Sc., I secured a job as a lecturer at the University of Lahore (a private university in the city of Lahore) in the
department of Civil Engineering where I brought active thinking based teaching methods. Hence my dream had started to materialize. During my teaching
stint, I have tried to be innovative and change how students in Pakistan approach problems. I eliminated the use of rote memorization in my courses and
encouraged students to test their knowledge by comprehending the problem at hand and then applying the solution they learnt. I have always scored
highly on the feedback forms from my classes and many of my students are still in contact with me. Another achievement I would like to mention, was
to get the Civil Engineering program accredited from Pakistan Engineering Council. During my time at the university, I conducted research in the area
of sustainable concrete and have supervised four final year projects related to recycled aggregate concrete at The University of Lahore.

In December 2015, I presented my masters thesis in front of the entire faculty of the civil engineering department at UET Lahore. I remember how most
of the professors recognized my research efforts and admired my never say die attitude. Like I said earlier, my main aim is to help my society and nation
at large. Be it through education or recycling waste, I just want to make a difference in the lives of my fellow citizens. I realized during masters that
constraints like funding, lack of mentoring, lack of facilities and poor management caused a significant delay in the completion of my masters. I believe
that a Ph.D. in structural engineering will allow me to obtain a position where I can overcome these constraints and morph me into a more accomplished
teacher and a researcher. Most importantly, I will be equipped with the necessary tools and knowledge to ignite change and try to resolve the problems
in our educational system.

Application Page 5