personal_statement.txt

 - High level takeaway: I harbor a strong desire to positively impact society.
   Computer science grad school is the best environment for affecting change on
   the world. It's also the best place to grow as a person.

   Subtext: I understand /why/ I do what I do. I understand /why/ the status
   quo is the way it is. I think hard about which problems are important and
   which are not. I have a vision for how we should tackle the important problems.
   
  - Specifically:

< Why I'm in grad school >
    * Computer science is an extremely important field. Its influence on
      society is indisputable. It has huge potential for developing regions.

    * I'm a technically-minded person. People are most successful at what
      they're good at => CS is the best way for me to have an impact. 
       
    * Grad school affords you time and freedom, which is exactly what you need
      to come up with solutions to important problems.

    * I want to improve my skills. Surrounding myself by people smarter than
      me, and forcing myself to learn how to write, read, talk, etc, is
      the best way for me to do that. I've learned a tremendous amount in grad
      school, and I'm only 2 months in!

    * Berkeley in particular is very strong in both networking and ICTD.

< Evidence that I want to have impact >

    * Mentoring younger students (Finn, Henry, Dustin, Mary, Steve, Jesse,
      ...) is very satisfying to me. Sitting in my office and working alone
      for weeks on end does not suffice for my satisfaction.

    * Related: I have a desire to share my positive experiences with other
      students, evidenced by serving as a panelist at undergraduate research
      night. 

    * My trip to South America was (partly) motivated by a desire to get a better sense of
      the problems affecting people outside the USA. Lots of stories to be
      told here.
      
    * Similarly, I was (partly) motivated to do an AWS internship in order to get a
      better sense of the problems that real engineers deal with.

   * My strength is in /asking questions/ and talking to other people, (not
     necessarily having a broad vision for how the world should be). 
     Plenty of stories to be told: asking other people questions about the
     problems they face, and being totally exhilarated when I helped them
     develop a solution to it.

    * Saw first hand the problems faced by people in South America, and
      technology's potential to help solve them.

    * I plan to disseminate ideas through blogging, teaching, etc. 

    * Related: I helped create a group of other UW undergrads interested in research.
      Goal was to talk about our research to others, practice communicating
      results, brainstorm with others, etc. 

    * I have a strong need to do whatever it takes to solve a problem

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Intellectual Merit:
  - I clearly think hard about justifying my choices. 
  - I'm a technically-minded person, and I consciously chose to leverage this
    strength.
  - I'm highly independent.

Broader impact:
  - I have a desire to teach, collaborate, do work that is meaningful to others
  - I'm cognizant of how my work fits into the broader picture. I consciously
    /choose/ the problems I work on based on how important I believe they
    are. 
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TODO: 
  - specific anecdote(s) that get my point across.
  - less bullshit
  - less laundry-list