Statement of Purpose

So here it is. Dr. Randall said that he really liked it. He made a couple changes to word choice that I am totally fine with. Other than that, he said not to change anything. Which is AWESOME because it means I am FINISHED with it!!! lol. I would REALLY REALLY APPRECIATE IT if you guys would let me know what you think about it. Well, I should get back to studying/working on my take home test....ugh...

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I would like to earn a PhD in chemistry in order to gain the knowledge and skills needed to pursue a career that would emphasize an industrial application of chemistry. While I enjoy the educational and pure research aspects of chemistry, I have always felt that the most appealing and motivating part was to see how a particular idea or topic could be put to use in a practical and productive manner. My favorite laboratory experiments were the ones in which I synthesized various compounds. However, I always felt like the experiment was slightly anticlimactic. I spent a great deal of time and effort to make a nice white powder, but at the end of the day it just got disposed of. I was disappointed to watch my hard work literally be thrown away. While I understood that the importance of these laboratory experiments was to learn a particular technique, or to reinforce a concept learned in lecture, I desperately wanted my final product to have an actual use. I decided that for my education and career to truly hold meaning for me, and to have a purpose in my eyes, the end result of my chemistry must also posses a purpose. This desire is what has led me to consider an education and a career that would focus on a type of chemistry that would have an industrial application.

My first experience with the industrial applications of chemistry took place in the summer between my sophomore and junior year in college. I attended a summer program at the University of Oregon, which was focused on polymer chemistry. It was interesting to me because it was an entirely new field for me to learn about, and also because I was able to see polymer chemistry being used at various manufacturing plants. Visiting several different companies is what prompted me to think about expanding my interest in chemistry to an interest in possible careers.

The year after I attended the summer polymer program I decided to become more involved in chemistry outside of the classroom. I was nominated president of Lewis and Clark’s ACS Student Affiliate Chapter. I used this position as a networking tool to meet several local Portland chemists, to learn about current topics in chemistry that I would not otherwise be exposed to, and to further explore where a PhD in chemistry could lead me in my professional career. I helped organize Hearts of Los Angeles Youth, a youth program for inner-city high school students from Los Angeles to visit Lewis and Clark College and learn about chemistry. I began to do volunteer tutoring in physics and chemistry, and I also became a teaching assistant. I also was chosen to be the student representative for the hiring committee to replace a chemistry professor who is retiring next year. In the second half of my junior year I decided that while the concept of working in a laboratory all day while earning my PhD seemed appealing, I was not sure if I would enjoy it in practice. I began working with a professor on the enzyme kinetics of tyrosinase in order to determine if I possessed the patience and the self discipline required for performing research. I enjoyed working on my own, researching journal articles for ideas, coming in on the weekend to run extra trials, and taking ownership of a project. I have found this to have been one of the most important steps in my development towards becoming a true chemist. I learned that it was not necessarily my interest in a particular topic that motivated me, but rather it was the actual act of doing research in which I wished to excel. I then participated in the Roger’s research program at Lewis and Clark during the summer between my junior and senior year. I worked with Dr. Barbara Balko, and investigated the enhanced reactivity of zero valence iron in the presence of smectite clays. I enjoyed the research partially because of the practical applications involving environmental remediation, but I also enjoyed it because I was able to work in my lab five days a week, eight hours a day. I looked forward to going to work, and I enjoyed taking home journal articles to read. I chose to continue my research with Dr. Balko into my senior year because I wanted to keep including research in my daily life. I made the final decision to apply to graduate school for my PhD after I realized how much I enjoy doing research on a daily basis, and how I enjoyed learning by actually performing the chemistry I was reading about in journal articles and in textbooks.

In particular, I would like to pursue materials chemistry in some way, whether it be through polymer chemistry, thin film chemistry, inorganic chemistry with a focus in materials, or perhaps an entirely different form of chemistry that I have yet to learn about. I would like to be able to apply my graduate school work towards running a large scale industrial manufacturing plant. While this has been my intended career goal for some time, I am leaving this idea flexible and open to change, because I hope that my graduate school experience will continue to introduce me to new areas of chemistry which may spark an interest in me that I have yet to discover.