Personal Statement

==Draft 2==
Have you ever been deeply absorbed by any hobby or interest that you really enjoyed? This was exactly how I felt when I started to learn percussion in secondary one. I was so engrossed in picking up the skill that, sometimes during school lesson, I would pretend to be paying attention but secretly beat some rhythms on my lap under the table.

What has fascinated me about percussion is that any composition, no matter how challenging it may be, can be decomposed into the same basic element – a single stroke by the drum stick. On the sub-microscopic level, a basic rhythm is formed by combining a variety of strokes. A drummer has to master all the different rhythms in the composition first, before he can integrate them together and perform in one succession. This bottom-up approach of conquering a musical score appeals to my personality of being analytical and organised.

Akin to interpreting a composition according to its constituting strokes and rhythms, I always break up a seemingly insurmountable problem into multiple achievable tasks. This allows me to stay focused and composed when faced with difficulty. In fact, my ability to solve problems in a systematic manner explains why I have always been strong in Mathematics and Science subjects.

Pursuing honours in electrical engineering gives me the opportunity to apply my analytical skills to solve real life problems in future. My traits will be an asset to the industry where effective engineering design must be carefully planned and systematically executed.



==Draft 1==
Have you ever been deeply absorbed by any hobby or interest that you really enjoy? This was exactly how I felt when I started to learn percussion in secondary one. I was so engrossed in picking up the skill that, sometimes during school lesson, I would pretend to be paying attention but secretly beat some rhythms on my lap under the table.

What has captivated me about percussion, even until now, is that any challenging rhythm can be decomposed into the same building block – a single mallet stroke. As long as you can master the correct variations of strokes in the musical composition, you can perform pleasing drum beats to the audience. Not only that, transfer the same striking techniques to the keys on a xylophone, and you can produce melodious tunes.

Playing percussion has taught me to be more systematic in solving problems. Just like interpreting a musical score stroke by stroke, I have learnt to break up a big task into smaller parts, and tackle them one at a time. When practicing a certain segment of the rhythm, I have to be fully focused and not be bothered by the rest of the rhythm. Similarly, I have learnt to be patient in overcoming one obstacle at a time and not rush into things.

This pretty much tells you about my character - I like things to be neat and organized. I hope to apply my systematic analytical skills in solving real engineering problems.