Neuroscience Personal Statement

For as long as I can remember I have been thrilled by the study of science. As a child I was fascinated by dinosaurs and their complex biology, and having developed a love for science fiction films and the mechanics of cars while growing up, I recognize in myself a problem solving instinct and thirst for understanding of the world which has led me to pursue the sciences both at school and in my own time. I have covered varied scientific fields so far during my BTEC in Science, and studying Neuroscience at university would allow me to learn several disciplines such as Psychology, Physiology and Biochemistry and the connections between them which allow us to understand the complex human brain, in order to cure illness and help mankind move forward. My varied scientific interests show my thirst for knowledge. I love science fiction/action films such as Transformers, Inception and Iron Man- which inspired me to study science, as I identified with protagonist Tony Stark problem solving under pressure to figure out the mechanics of a robot. I am a natural problem solver, enjoy achieving my goals, and love new inventions and discoveries. I recently read The Female Brain by Louann Brizendine, for insight into the subject of gender’s impact on actions, and I enjoy reading biological anthropologist Dr. Helen Fisher’s articles for the same reason. I find nature programmes such as Planet Earth fascinating as the complexity of our environment shows how much different aspects of science depend on each other to survive and thrive. My love of cars also links to this; my favourite, the Maserati Qauttroporte GTS, is slick, elegant and fast and the engineering involved in creating this type of machine appeals to my love of new inventions and the miracles of scientific knowledge.

I am very keen on sports and enjoyed the teamwork and responsibility involved in gaining my Sports Leadership Award, which allowed me to share my skills in basketball and other sports with children, and work towards a goal of which I can be proud. I regularly attend my local Kickz football scheme to play in 5 a side matches, and was chosen from my local Basketball team to be featured in video clips posted on Youtube. Football and basketball encourage teamwork which is one of my main strengths as I believe that mankind must share with other in order to make a better humanity. The relationships between the sciences, mathematics and logic prove the importance of sharing knowledge and making connections, and require an inquiring mind to create new knowledge and inventions out of existing facts.

I lived in Russia for nine years and this experience of another culture has deepened my wish to understand and make a positive contribution to the world. I am very keen to travel the world to further my knowledge and I believe this is as a result of my time already spent abroad. I am multilingual; I speak both English and Urdu as mother tongues, as well as Russian, Spanish and French, and I believe this makes me a special candidate with a great capacity to retain knowledge and communicate with others. Having done work experience at Office Angels Recruitment Agency while studying I learned the importance of being extremely organized and focused on the task at hand, as well as working with others and alone effectively. As I really enjoy working in a team and on my own, I am well suited to a science degree course which requires independent study and group work.

I am passionate about proactively changing the world for the better; recently, as part of the Imagine Croydon scheme, I gave a presentation to the Mayors of Croydon Council on how my borough should improve to create a better future. I chose to take part in this because I want to contribute something new to our world and believe studying sciences is the key to this.