This is how I once decided to express myself in terms of chemical concepts.. 92.6% people who took chemistry won't understand this.
My World as a Painting
I live in a painting. My world is a piece of abstract art; I will not change the colors, I will not change the lines. The only thing that I will change is the interpretation and meaning of that abstract painting.
I come from the Muslim world. I will not change the colors; I will not change the values; I will not change the lines; I will not change the principles. In my world, my duties are to worship God and to make the earth a better place to live. My parents brought me up in the religion that emphasizes honesty, kindness, respect, and kinship. Islam is my guidebook, it shows me the red lines I should keep away from, such as dishonesty, violence, and cheating, but leave my creativity and imagination to determine which way I choose to follow the rules. I choose to build the earth in a way compatible with my interests. I choose to use my knowledge to bring out the new and the beneficial. I choose to pursue my education in chemical engineering to solve problems and to have a background in the science that will help me come up with and make inventions that will hopefully improve my community’s and surroundings’ conditions. I’ve already started with my attempts to create things and to give better alternatives. With better education and a higher degree, my ideas will reach to a higher standard; I will then be able to fulfill my duty as a Muslim.
The painting I live in will never change. The only variables are others’ perspectives and their interpretations. Unfortunately, the media has a strong influence on many classes in diverse communities and has shot the painting from an angle which shows the flaws in the painting caused by the others living in the painting. The media captures Muslims who don’t represent their religion, and leaves out the angle that shows what Islam is all about. My dream is to filter the camera lens of the media and to adjust the angle. My open-mindedness and interaction with others on an international level will always proliferate my individual efforts to tell the world that I am a Muslim and I am peaceful. I have been misjudged, misinterpreted, and misunderstood. This, however, can be changed. For the way someone understands the meaning of an abstract painting changes according to the mindset of the observer, and the factors that may affect how he sees it.
Even if I stay away from home, I’ll always belong to that painting. It never depended on where I am, but on what I believe in. I believe in God; I believe in justice; I believe in positive change; I believe in peace; and I believe in myself.
(College app essay)
Artist as an Engineer
I was born an artist. I see shattered colors that make up a random pattern beautiful, but others don’t. An artist's job is to use the raw colors to invent a new product so that everyone can witness the beauty. My love towards the colors is enough for me to produce something with them to the world so that all will feel their importance.
Likewise, this is how I imagine myself as an engineer, an artist. My job will be to bring out pure science, like colors, in a way that all will witness the beauty of it. Most of my classmates back in high school hated science and math, but their blackberries are attached to their hands and Facebook is on their laptop screens all day long. Here’s where engineers come into the picture. They take science, because they’re able to feel the pleasure and significance of it, and convert it into something more productive so others will share their feelings.
On my senior year of high school, my physics teacher taught us how to write lab reports for the first time. To my surprise, it wasn't part of the curriculum, but the teacher believes that it is vital to graduate knowing how to write one. Our teacher gave us the chance to choose any unprecedented experiment idea related to optics, electronics, or thermodynamics. I was very thrilled and excited that we actually had the opportunity to be creative and decide whatever we’d like to work on, for usually topics of projects that count a big part of our final grade were already set up for us. I came up with a long list of ideas. However, the teacher found a problem in every challenging idea I got excited about, so I ended up choosing something seemingly simple; studying the relationship between heat absorption and color.
I assumed that there were already researches available on the topic I chose, but most of the information I found was limited. What I found was all about black absorbing more heat energy than white, but I was trying to find something about colors. I came up with two experiments to collect data to analyze. I kept complaining about how simple my project was, when I wanted something more engrossing. I expected to find a straightforward relationship between wavelengths of the colors and absorption, but I didn't, and that was the challenge. I then became more enthusiastic about it. I read about colors and different ways they were categorized, and tried to see what independent variable would make my data make most sense. I reached to a point where my teacher couldn't keep up with me when I got deeper into my readings. I asked university professors and physics tutors whom I found their contact information online, and each gave me a different response. I had to choose what seemed right to me based on the data I collected. In the end, emissivity of colors turned out to be the variable I was looking for. However, after all my work, I realized that it's not what I'm made for.
An engineer would use that science in an application. I got a full grade for the report, but not according to my own standards. I decided to write an additional lab report, where I’d use the theoretical knowledge I’ve acquired to serve a purpose. I wanted to find out how an animal’s coat color affects its water consumption. In order to do so, I used two rabbits; a white one and a black one, to see which one consumed more water. According to my findings from the previous report, the black one absorbs more heat energy, and will lose more water by sweating. Consequently, the black rabbit will consume more water to compensate for the water loss. I separated the rabbits in two cages, and gave them the same amount of food and water each day. The graduated water bottle helped me measure the daily consumption. The black rabbit did indeed consume more water, but unfortunately, its life came to an end.
I remember when I was younger, and faced difficulties (like running out of tape), I used to whisper to myself, "think like a scientist," to come up with solutions to resolve the problem. It's different now; a scientist will find the answers. "Think like an engineer, Mayada." That's what I tell myself now, for an engineer will take scientists' answers and put them into action. I will take the colors and will mix them. I will use them wisely, but creatively, and you shall see the painting.
On my senior year of high school, my physics teacher taught us how to write lab reports for the first time. To my surprise, it wasn't part of the curriculum, but the teacher believes that it is vital to graduate knowing how to write one. Our teacher gave us the chance to choose any unprecedented experiment idea related to optics, electronics, or thermodynamics. I was very thrilled and excited that we actually had the opportunity to be creative and decide whatever we’d like to work on, for usually topics of projects that count a big part of our final grade were already set up for us. I came up with a long list of ideas. However, the teacher found a problem in every challenging idea I got excited about, so I ended up choosing something seemingly simple; studying the relationship between heat absorption and color.
I assumed that there were already researches available on the topic I chose, but most of the information I found was limited. What I found was all about black absorbing more heat energy than white, but I was trying to find something about colors. I came up with two experiments to collect data to analyze. I kept complaining about how simple my project was, when I wanted something more engrossing. I expected to find a straightforward relationship between wavelengths of the colors and absorption, but I didn't, and that was the challenge. I then became more enthusiastic about it. I read about colors and different ways they were categorized, and tried to see what independent variable would make my data make most sense. I reached to a point where my teacher couldn't keep up with me when I got deeper into my readings. I asked university professors and physics tutors whom I found their contact information online, and each gave me a different response. I had to choose what seemed right to me based on the data I collected. In the end, emissivity of colors turned out to be the variable I was looking for. However, after all my work, I realized that it's not what I'm made for.
An engineer would use that science in an application. I got a full grade for the report, but not according to my own standards. I decided to write an additional lab report, where I’d use the theoretical knowledge I’ve acquired to serve a purpose. I wanted to find out how an animal’s coat color affects its water consumption. In order to do so, I used two rabbits; a white one and a black one, to see which one consumed more water. According to my findings from the previous report, the black one absorbs more heat energy, and will lose more water by sweating. Consequently, the black rabbit will consume more water to compensate for the water loss. I separated the rabbits in two cages, and gave them the same amount of food and water each day. The graduated water bottle helped me measure the daily consumption. The black rabbit did indeed consume more water, but unfortunately, its life came to an end.
I remember when I was younger, and faced difficulties (like running out of tape), I used to whisper to myself, "think like a scientist," to come up with solutions to resolve the problem. It's different now; a scientist will find the answers. "Think like an engineer, Mayada." That's what I tell myself now, for an engineer will take scientists' answers and put them into action. I will take the colors and will mix them. I will use them wisely, but creatively, and you shall see the painting.
(College app essay)
Sympathizing Physically
One can never appreciate what one has until one loses it. I have faced a challenge that gave me the chance to appreciate whatever I took for granted; my eyesight, hearing, and balance.
Three years ago, I was diagnosed as a Multiple Sclerosis patient. As much as I felt that the disease was a curse and an obstacle in my life, I’ve learned to look at it from a different perspective. Since the illness affects brain cells, the attacks, or relapses, can happen anywhere in my body. Every once in a while, I had to go through a relapse. I’ve gone through vision problems; double vision and unclear vision. I couldn’t hear the teacher even if I sat in the front in class. Once I even lost my balance and couldn’t walk, and I had to use a wheelchair for the first time in my life.
Given that there’s no known cure for the disease, and it will most probably accompany me for my whole life, I decided to be more positive about it. Each time an attack occurs I temporary lose a blessing, just to feel how important it is to me, and to sympathize with others who suffer from such losses permanently.
My disease was the biggest challenge I ever encountered in my life. However, if I had the choice to make it go away, I wouldn’t. The lessons it taught me, and the experiences I had because of it added to me. I’m not blind, deaf, or paralyzed, but I know exactly what it feels like.
(College Essay)
Three years ago, I was diagnosed as a Multiple Sclerosis patient. As much as I felt that the disease was a curse and an obstacle in my life, I’ve learned to look at it from a different perspective. Since the illness affects brain cells, the attacks, or relapses, can happen anywhere in my body. Every once in a while, I had to go through a relapse. I’ve gone through vision problems; double vision and unclear vision. I couldn’t hear the teacher even if I sat in the front in class. Once I even lost my balance and couldn’t walk, and I had to use a wheelchair for the first time in my life.
Given that there’s no known cure for the disease, and it will most probably accompany me for my whole life, I decided to be more positive about it. Each time an attack occurs I temporary lose a blessing, just to feel how important it is to me, and to sympathize with others who suffer from such losses permanently.
My disease was the biggest challenge I ever encountered in my life. However, if I had the choice to make it go away, I wouldn’t. The lessons it taught me, and the experiences I had because of it added to me. I’m not blind, deaf, or paralyzed, but I know exactly what it feels like.
(College Essay)
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