Not my Statement of Purpose

But an interesting response to an interesting prompt

Cleaning up my Google Drive, I found a long neglected folder with my grad admission submissions. The usual — statement of purpose, personal statements, where do you see yourself in the next 5 years yada yada yada; amongst these carefully reviewed essays that in hindsight sound a little too explanatory if not boastful, I found one that was the most gratifying to attempt (and read 4 years later). The instructions were simple — as opposed to what you have done, tell us who you are, think about your past and how the people, events, and situations of your life have shaped you; then tell us a story that only you can tell.

Connect the dots. How have the influences in your life shaped you?

A little girl gazed down the lane with anticipation; a weekend was far too long to be away from her tricycle! The lorry unloaded and the reunion was celebrated with a few zooms in her new home. I was two years old when we moved cities the very first time. I have lived in nine cities since — each one contrasting with the last! Growing up, bidding farewell was more complex. My younger self grew envious of friends who never moved homes. In my late teens, however, I became increasingly grateful for every relocation and its influence on my personality, not to mention how exceptionally adept I became at assembling packing boxes. Six different schools revealed over sixty facades of my personality. I created new parts of myself, shed them, and created something new. Every new city, new school, new friends, and new neighbours was an opportunity to evolve and mould me to who I am today. Now, I am never afraid to change.

Nana (grandpa) always rang me up to fix the formulae on his spreadsheets, reset the alignments in his document or sometimes just to recover an icon that had ‘miraculously’ disappeared from his desktop! I wondered why he picked me, an inexperienced teenager over his ‘technically proficient’ friends. Nana clarified, “My silly queries test their patience. Technology seems complicated, you simplify it for me”. My experiences with him had a significant impact on my perspective of software designs. With the goal to create an exceptional piece of code, I prioritise minimalism and intuitiveness.

In one of her most enlightening talks, J K Rowling discussed the value of imagination in a broader sense. Influenced, I called upon the logical and creative parts of my mind (which I thought were only used independently) to develop an intelligent map assistant from scratch. The motivation? My ridiculously poor sense of direction. Nana found it handy and easy to use; his feedback was encouraging. It was an excellent project for a beginner: endless learning, an opportunity to design and plan, and iteratively implement new ideas as features. It wasn’t extraordinary, but it was a project I’m most proud of: it marked the beginning of my innovation in technology.

Restless, I looked across the room — eerie silence and nervous faces. It was the first day of my internship and, like all students, I too was anxious to meet my mentors. I had no idea what to expect. In the following months, I realised that all a mentee needs to achieve their potential is encouragement, guidance and an acknowledgement of “I’ve been there too”. I have been fortunate to meet many inspiring mentors. Now a mentor myself, my mentorship journey is more than an act of paying forward, I draw some of the best inspiration and learnings through mentoring; the intrinsic reward of knowing I made an impact in someone’s life — precious!

We’re at an exciting time for female representation in technology. Institutions, communities and organisations across the globe are stepping up but we’re still all adapting. “She’s a ‘diversity hire’” is a commonplace conjecture for the female developers joining a team and I wasn’t excused from this thought either. On one occasion, I witnessed a representation of 12 women among 1000 men at a technical conference. These experiences compelled me to analyse the need for an equitable environment on a global scale, inspiring me to participate in events and communities that recognise women and intersectional technologists. Ever since, I never fail to ask, “Where are the women in the room?”

Please tell us eight improbable facts (things that are unlikely but true) about you.

• I find ancient Egyptian mythology very amusing particularly when authors fabricate these fabled characters into fictional content.
• From symmetrically knotting the line, to launching and steering in the sky, I enjoy an occasional kite flying day.
• The flute helps me discover my musical interests. While I perform for an audience every so often, I frequently enjoy some solitary melodies.
• I start my mornings with a heart-to-heart chat with my houseplants.
• Using only spatial skills, I can assemble a jigsaw puzzle (personal-best 1500 pieces) without glancing at the final picture.
• I have a knack of reusing waste into nifty projects (sometimes handmade gifting options).
• Spending time underwater brings me confidence that very few activities can; I want to dive in destinations across the world.
• My approach of solving a Rubik’s cube has evolved from reassembling after deconstructing the cube to now solving the Pyramix, 3x3 and 4x4 cubes by acceptable methods!

These prompts were from the Knight Hennessy Scholarship application for Stanford University. No, I did not get in. The cohort of accepted applicants were some of the most exceptional people around the world with extraordinary life experiences.

I remember spending days for this extremely structured (albeit word count limited) introspection. The abundance of time during the pandemic seemed like the perfect opportunity. It’s intriguing how, after 25 years of thinking of oneself as unique, it can take days of brainstorming to find just 8 notable facts about one’s own life. The few months leading up to application deadlines are not the most fun, reading and reviewing your own plans for the future over and over can be overwheming — the ultimate recipe for a young adult’s version of an existential crisis. These prompts were a pleasant dive into the past, an opportunity to reward your own experiences, a chance to pat yourself on the back — and not just for your achievements, but for who you turned out to be.

Perhaps I shouldn’t ignore that mindfulness reminder on my Watch.