SOP for university admissions

On October 4th 1957, the whole world witnessed the launch of Sputnik satellite which was done with the help of the rocket R-7 ICBM from tyuratam launch base in the Kazakh Republic. Sputnik was the worlds first artificial satellite and it was named after the Russian word for “satellite” and was launched by the Soviet Union. The successful launch of Sputnik ushered in what has been described as the “space age”, after which we have witnessed many successful launches into space, and also expanded our knowledge about the outer world. We have come a long way since then, from a satellite launch to one of sending humans to Mars in less than 70 years is no easy feat, the advancement in technology has gone leaps and bounds and the only thing limiting us right now is our own self. With major contributions from scientists such as Wernher Von Braun, who was treated as a pioneer in the aerospace field, alongside the legendary engineer Robert Goddard who built the world’s first liquid-fuelled rocket, and the man who lived the dream of every child; Neil Armstrong first man ever to land on the moon. These stories inspire everyone and these people become the source of inspiration. To contribute to this field and maybe one day become one of these people in the inspiring stories, I want to pursue my Master’s Degree in Aerospace Engineering at *** University. I was always an avid reader of books and I still am, but nonfictional novels never really caught my interest and it wasn’t until I was in my 8th standard and I got my hands on “Wings of Fire” it is the autobiography of APJ Abdul Kalam who is also known as missile man of India. I was very sceptical before reading the book but when I started reading it I couldn’t put it down. He was the man responsible for India making rapid inroads into the aerospace industry at a time when many people wouldn’t have even given India a chance to launch rockets. After I had finished his autobiography I realized what a brilliant man he was and how much he inspired me by his words and that someday even a daydreaming kid like me would also be associated with the same field that he had practiced in. When I was in 10th class there was a chapter in physics called “Light” which gave me a brief idea about space exploration using telescopes and how much of our universe was still unexplored, looking back I think that was the final straw that really pushed me into making aerospace as my future. I went to school and had a lengthy discussion with physics teacher, and he with much patience answered me the best he could. I came back home satisfied but my eagerness to learn more and more about this subject only grew. With this my mindset I started my Btech Degree in Aerospace where I had various core subjects which include Jet Propulsion, Aircraft Stability and Control, Composite Materials and Structures, Rockets and Missiles, Space Mechanics, Control Theory and few others but I was more interested in the Composite Materials and Structures and Space Mechanics classes. These were the two subjects which really piqued my interest more than and I wanted to do good in these subjects and learn as much as I possibly could, these two subjects highlighted my 4 years degree here as they had many interesting topics which kept feeding my curiosity and my inquiring mind with solutions which kept me invested in learning the subject. The practical classes gave me a new experience and understanding of the things that I only read about in the classes or online. I initially struggled in Thermodynamics and Propulsion, I also ended up failing in Thermodynamics in a semester but I backed myself to do better. In the subsequent semester I had Propulsion and I put in a lot of hard work as I have trouble in that subject and I was able to clear it. Propulsion and Thermodynamics have taught me to challenge myself and be better and to learn from my failures and tackle the difficult situations face on. In the sixth semester of my undergraduate, I had the opportunity to attend a class called Design Project in which I along with two more students had to design a aircraft of our choosing from scratch. We decided to select a more challenging aircraft and selected 20 seater business jet to work on. That included everything, the type of engine it will have to what type of wing setting will be there on the aircraft. Apart from getting to revisit the root of my core subjects once more I also got to learn more about the different areas which I had previously not ventured in then and had that much in-depth knowledge about. I led my team and divided the tasks amongst ourselves bearing in mind everyone’s weaknesses and strengths, we successfully gathered information on different types of business jets and compared them and came up with data that would suit our aircraft. Furthermore, we went through different engines and different landing gears among many other things while keeping in mind what could suit in economical and longevity aspects to our aircraft. After that was done I took the initiative of making a 3D model of our business jet in Solid Works with some help from my friend and we were successfully able to do it and display the different views of our design. While working on this project I also read through many research papers in order to make our project better and stand out from the rest of my classmates. In addition to the project we were also asked to add a special feature to our design, following which I proposed the idea of adding air refueling which could prove very handy when going for longer and lengthier trips. We were satisfied with the outcome of the design and we wanted to keep pursuing it in more depth in the upcoming semester where we can make more changes and make our design even more viable and better. This experience really helped me learn a lot of different things that enhanced my skills and motivated me to do even better in the future if another such opportunity arises. Working on this project really broadened my horizons on what this field holds and it also played a big hand in me realizing my dreams. I also improved on my time management skills and also polished my leaderships skills, while also working on my critical thinking and teamwork. As a student of science learning cannot take a backseat, you learn new things everyday. So even with corona spreading rapidly and the entire world going into lockdown, I did not let it deter me from my goals. The lack of physical classes and practicals was going to be an issue but my hunger for more knowledge kept me going as I started applying for internships and attended many webinars on different topics related to my field, I did an NPTEL course on aircraft stability and control to make my grasp on the subject even better. {ALTERNATE}// The transition from physical classes to online classes wasn't a smooth one, so to keep myself up to date I watched YouTube videos from different NPTEL courses to make up for it and did not let it stop me from learning //. I did an internship in Brahmastra Aerospace startup which helped me brush up my topics from earlier semesters and had the chance to interact with people who have field experience and it was really invigorating to learn from such professionals. Moreover, I attended multiple webinars related to my field, and when the opportunity arose for me to try out different things I didn’t shy away as I also did a a week long course in IoT where I along with my teammates successfully did the coding and modelled six different robots. I am currently doing an IoT internship to keep myself in the loop about the advancements in IoT as it is going to be part of our lives in the future. I also did courses from Coursera and EdX related to my field and also some other courses, Psychology and Introduction to Python, to keep myself fresh and have a general understanding of various subjects. I also had the liberty to attended rocket building workshop where I learned how to build two different types of rockets on a smaller scale it was a fascinating experience as I got to understand the mechanics and structural side of building a rocket. I really learned a lot during that workshop and that has helped me throughout my undergraduate degree. In my college I was part of Nebula Astro club where I interacted with my club members and participated in different competitions held by the club. I was an active member of the club and it helped me boost my people skills and also gave me a creative edge. I learned how to work with a group of people with unity and aim for a good result. We have come leaps and bounds from the first artificial satellite launch to astronauts being able to consume food that was grown in space but there is still a long way to go. The dream to explore the wide universe is still a far away one but with rapid advancements in technology and the high interest nowadays by people, I think these dreams can come true in the foreseeable future. Aerospace industry is making such dreams come closer to reality one launch at a time, what excites me the most about studying and working in this field one day is that we are working on exploring the unknown and making space habitable to humans someday, the amount of knowledge that is to be gained surpasses the amount of knowledge that we have currently. With the experiences that I have had in my undergraduate degree and from my school I want to keep moving forward with the same curiosity that I had when I first got into the subject. My hard work and my passion for the subject wills me to keep getting better and keep learning every day. With a masters degree I want to do that, I want to gain advanced practical knowledge and hope that maybe someday in the future I'll play an active part in one of the ground breaking space endeavors. I would also like to pursue a PhD in structures and composites or space mechanics once I am done with my Master’s degree. My work hard and give it all attitude will drive me on during my degree.