“Education is the key to the future.

Education is the most powerful tool which one can use

to change this world.” I always feel that I’m fortunate enough to have parents who are
strong believers of the above statements. Coming from a lower middle-class agricultural
family in a rural India and having seen the farming troubles due to the irregular monsoons,
droughts and other myriad problems, my parents were strongly convinced that only
education can give me a better future. In spite of their hardships they have always strived
for providing me a better education.
Having seen my parents and all the challenges faced by farming community, since
childhood I have always had this strong desire to develop tools to assist them in overcoming
their farming troubles. I still remember my high school days, where I have won an inter-
school science competition presenting a project on a drip irrigation system which show
cases the judicious use of water for growing the crops. This desire to develop new tools
coupled with inclination towards sciences, critical and analytical thinking has led me to take
Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry as my majors at Pre-University.
It is in the Pre-University that for the first time I was introduced to Computer and the
internet. I got so fascinated that I wanted to know more about them. I quickly realized the
phenomenon of how computers have transformed the everyday lives of ordinary people.
Right from the air traffic control to a simple grocery shop, the efficient office to the busy
kitchen at home, this technology is all ubiquitous, all consuming. It is at that moment, I
have realized that with Computer and its technology I can, not only solve the challenges
faced by the farming community but myriad other challenges faced my mankind.
I have completed my pre-University education with 82.5% and cleared my under-graduate
school entrance examination. My decision to focus on a career in Computer Science was a
logical inference of my passion towards this technology. But life is full of surprises and
twists. I did not have the opportunity to join the Computer Science in under graduate
course. Instead, I had to secure an admission to Baccalaureate degree in ‘Electronics &
Communication Engineering’. To my surprise, Electronics & Communications Engineering
major has a well-organized curriculum. I was also very happy to realize that I’m not
completely diverted from my aspirations because both Electronics & Communications
Engineering and Computer Science Engineering are closely interrelated fields. Following
Computer Science subjects in my curriculum i.e., Programming in C and Data Structures,
Computer Organization and Computer Networks have introduced me to the basics of
Computer Science.
As a coincidence, as soon as I started with my under graduate course our family had to
incur farming losses and we were overwhelmed with tremendous financial problems. So, to
support the family financially I had to study and work at the same time to make the ends
meet. In trying to do so, I was unable to completely accommodate my time on studies. This
subsequently, has shown some impact on my grades. But in spite of all this I have never let
my goals and aspirations to fade away. I was always good at the applied knowledge of
electronics and learnt a lot from each one of my tremendous professors at college. They
were continuously amazed by my passion, hard work, dedication, technical and analytical
abilities. My strengths include comprehending the nitty-gritty of the concepts and actively
contributing in the class discussions by putting in critical points and my analysis.
After the completion of my engineering degree, I have started slowly drifting towards my
aspirations by learning the basics of computer science concepts like Operating Systems,
Databases, Object Oriented Programming in java. Subsequently, I have joined in a software
job as a first step towards my goal and at the same time to support my family. My first job
gave me the much needed practical experience in developing and maintaining an enterprise
software application i.e., by going through the entire SDLC life cycle, following the software
methodologies, processes, metrics other software engineering principles. I was also
exposed to multitude of enterprise software tools. In a short time working there I have
started receiving accolades for my strong problem-solving skills, hard work and team work.
These two years as a java developer has been a great learning experience in my career and
has been instrumental in increasing my desire to delve much deeper into the computer
science and software engineering subjects.
After two years of my job, I have got married and traveled to US along with my husband
who works here. Since, I am on H4 Visa i.e., as a dependent of H1B, I cannot continue my
job here. This gave me an opportunity in disguise to continue my graduate education. Also,
I’m fortunate enough to have a husband who has constantly encouraged me to go back to
school to pursue my goals and aspirations. Initially, I was a little hesitant as it will add an
additional financial burden on him. Finally, after being 2 and half years in US and having
financially established, now I have decided to go ahead with my graduation in the subject
which I have always been passionate about.
During my stay here in US, I have utilized my time to learn few of the emerging technologies
in the fields of Computer Science and software in MOOC’s like Coursera, Edx, Udacity e.t.c.,
Particularly, I have developed a special interest in the specialization of data science because
I feel data as a basis for many real-world software applications which can make the human
life better. Data can be analyzed to extract knowledge, visualized to identify the patterns
that can help us develop various applications in the fields of agriculture, health e.t.c. I
believe that the passion I have for learning more about this subject will ultimately lead me
to achieve my goal of building the cutting edge software applications for the better use of
mankind. However, I have to equip myself by studying the fundamentals of the subject
systematically and delve deeper in building my knowledge in the field of Computer Science
and Software Engineering. It is with this end in view that I have applied for the graduate
program in Software Engineering. I have carefully studied the prescribed curriculum and I
do believe that this program will strengthen me in the advanced concepts of Computer and
Software Engineering, as well as allow me to study specialization like data science to
achieve my goals.