My Internship Experience, Personal Statement Example

#1

The deadly 2008 earthquake in Sichuan, China that caused thousands of deaths not only affected me on emotional level due to human sufferings but also made me question the role of ethics in today’s society. I felt disturbed by the fact that a significant number of people died because some construction companies chose to ignore the highest safety standards in the pursuit of commercial profits. The leaders at such construction companies failed to realize that they also have responsibilities towards the communities in which their companies exist. The tragedy changed my perspectives on the role of businesses in today’s world and convinced me that business ethics demand greater attention at our academic and commercial institutions. I also became convinced that a civil engineer should be as passionate about the mission of providing safe housing to the public as he should be with compensation and professional advancement opportunities. This is why I want to pursue a career in engineering so that I can play my role towards ensuring minimum loss of lives in the face of natural and man-caused tragedies.

My internship experiences in Macao didn’t meet my expectations which motivated me to pursue my engineering education in the U.S. because U.S. has one of the best engineering standards in the world, also due to the presence as well as strict enforcement of government regulations. As soon as I started my education at Diablo Valley College (DVC), I reached out to different student organizations and started participating in community services related to engineering. My most memorable volunteering experience was at Kenny Cottage Community Garden, managed by The Victory Garden Foundation, which involved converting an uncultivated land into a usable platform for gardening. Even though it was not purely engineering project, the experience did teach me that sometimes we can make difference in the communities even in small ways that may have huge dividends in the long run. This volunteer experience broadened my view of the role of a citizen within a community and now I am motivated to contribute to the society not only as a civil engineer but also in ways that may not be related to my professional background.

I landed a summer internship this year as a construction and development assistant at Leong Kei, a construction company in Macau. As an intern, I was involved at various stages in the overall construction process including waterproofing, building electric systems, and piping. This experience helped me understand the interdependence among various tasks to meet time and resources constraints and how each stage should be done perfectly to meet the highest safety standards in the construction industry. We would also be regularly reminded of the fact that we cannot afford even the slightest negligence because the safety of the would-be residents will be determined by the quality of our work. I really liked the fact that my supervisor would constantly remind his subordinates of their ethical responsibilities because it inspired us to take more religious approach to our work.

I believe in continuous education and am always looking for opportunities to not only improve my technical skills but also expand my perspectives. I am seeking further education at University of California (UC) not only because it will expand advancement opportunities for me but also because it will help me improve the society. Each one of us can improve the society in some ways and our job is to figure out the best use of our interests, skills and capabilities.

#2

The personal quality I am most proud of is perseverance. During my high school, I was involved in many extracurricular activities such as the school choir team, boy scouts, and school basketball team in order to personally grow and learn new skills. All of these activities required significant time commitment in addition to academic obligations. Instead of compromising, I improved my time management skills to ensure that I could fulfill all of my obligations without a performance decline in any activity including academics. I viewed the challenges as blessings in disguise that were helping me become better prepared for future life. My hard work and persistence paid off and I made it into the school’s basketball team after three years. I am proud to be part of the school’s basketball team that won three consecutive championships at the annual inter-school basketball tournament in Macau. In addition, I was also a tenor leader in my school’s choir team and twice won the best honor at the inter-school choir competition. We are ambassadors of the organizations we are part of and I would be more proud of raising my school’s positive image than of my own accomplishments.

I started the fall 2011 semester at DVC with the same level of confidence and again committed myself to several co-curricular activities in addition to taking courses in Physics, Chemistry, Mathematics, Engineering and English. I was determined to make an A in all the courses despite co-curricular commitments but I overestimated myself and ended up dropping four of the classes while ending up with a B grade in the Engineering class. The experience even made me question myself whether I am really suited to Civil Engineering but eventually I decided to own up to my mistakes. A detailed discussion with a professor helped me realize that I underestimated the difficulty levels of the courses which resulted in poor time management on my part. I retook the four courses in the following semester and ended up with A’s in all of them. This experience shows that I am willing to learn from my mistakes. I have also learnt that failures are not an excuse to give up but a reason to learn about the causes of failure so that they can be avoided in the future.

My experiences have increased my self-confidence but have also made me more mature. I have also learnt the importance of never giving up and hope to adopt the same attitude towards learning as a proud member of the UC’s community.