Sample Structural Engineering Personal Statement
My family has historical ties to the worlds of industry and engineering in Glasgow, my great grandfather worked as an engineer in the city’s shipyards during World War Two, and continued to work there after the War. In certain key respects, I am following in the footsteps of my great grandfather, like him I am driven by a passion for the world of structural engineering.
Whilst my great grandfather was a naval engineer, my interest lies in the fields of mechanical and structural engineering. I enjoy both these strands of engineering equally; above all I enjoy the overlaps between them and the great technological potential that a synthesis of electronic and structural engineering has to offer. These fields of engineering motivate me because they facilitate technological innovation. Ultimately, I would like my career path to take me to a project management position, where I would be constantly stretched by the technical and managerial demands of bringing large, cutting-edge and complex projects to completion. I see an interdisciplinary degree with a core engineering component as being the first step towards achieving this goal.
I am deeply enthusiastic about physics and mathematics, which I have enjoyed studying during my time at secondary school. I have found my efforts to master these two subjects have paid off, and through application and perseverance my skills and understanding of both subjects have improved greatly in recent years. My study of physics and maths has been complimented by my other Highers in business administration and product design. I have enjoyed the more practical focus of these two subjects, and it has been the combination of studying them in conjunction with physics and maths that has helped lead me towards an ambition to work in project management in the engineering sector. My interest in this combination of subjects has also motivated me to read widely about production processes and technological developments in industry, such as studies of new techniques for car production and the financial and logistical problems associated with hi-tech production lines. With English being my second language, studying in Scotland has at times been challenging, but I am proud that I have managed to achieve good academic grades at the same time as improving my English. Achieving an IELTS score of 7 recently was a particularly gratifying achievement.
In the last few years I have had a taste of working life through a range of work placements. A week working as an administrative assistant at a GP practice in Easterhouse improved my ability to work with information technology, and also gave me experience of working as part of a team. I have also volunteered at a local electronics repair business; I particularly enjoyed the hands-on, practical experience of working with the items that were brought in for repair. At the moment I volunteer at a care home. This work has had a big impact on my general perspective on life because it has taught me the importance of values such as mutual respect, empathy, patience and friendliness, and also allowed me to experience challenging situations to which I have been able to apply my problem-solving skills.
I enjoy swimming, athletics, table tennis and taekwondo, both recreationally and competitively. In all of these activities I have won gold or silver medals in a wide range of tournaments, though I am motivated not so much by the idea of competing with others as I am in seeking to do my best in everything that I make a commitment to do. I believe that it is this attitude that has helped me to overcome challenges such as the language barrier of living in Scotland and the less-than-ideal surroundings of the Easterhouse area in which I live, and it is also an attitude that I intend to apply to my university studies.
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