personal statement.doc

　　In the deepest recesses of my memories is the boulevard lined with Chinese parasol trees located outside my house. When I was just ten years old, my father put me at the back of his bicycle and rode me every weekend to attend English classes in the nearby community center (English was not part of elementary school education in China at that time). On this road of questing for my first western education, I, as a girl who loved to indulge in observations and meditations, kept an observant eye on the changing colors of the leaves all the year round. The rotation of seasons and the cyclical changes of the trees impressed me with the transitoriness of life and the urgency of making my life substantial within its transitory span. My present application for an advanced degree program at your esteemed university is by far the most important step in my relentless efforts to make my life substantial. 　　Dealing with figures has been our family tradition. As my mother is a statistician and my grandma a certified public account, as a teenager I had also commenced my observations and reflections on figures and calculations in the statements and reports that they had prepared with strong curiosity and interest. This interested strengthened my love for mathematics, often described as the “gymnastics of abstract thinking.” From elementary school to middle school, it was virtually a rule for me to achieve straight A’s in almost every course related to mathematics, a talent which has always made me feel proud of myself. Deep in my subconscious, I knew that a career related to mathematics would fit me most perfectly. Therefore, when I gained my undergraduate admission, I chose to specialize in Mathematics at Beijing Normal University. I believe that this specialty has provided me with a perfect arena to give vent to my passion for mathematics. My dedication to studies in mathematics and effective strategies of learning, plus voluminous readings of technical literature in various acad