????: Statement of purposeDegree: Master Course: Mathematics and Foundation of Computer ScienceUniversity: Oxford University, UKAuthor: Adiba Ziyoeva, Tajikistan I, Ziyoeva Adiba, am a 21 year old graduate of BranchMoscow State University after M.V.Lomonosov in Dushanbe, Tajikistan. Long ago I have realized a thing… Whenever I see carsmy eyes just fall at their number plates (it’s a four-digital number inTajikistan), and automatically I start to think and calculate how 2 lastnumbers can be derived from first 2, or how three last numbers can be derivedfrom first. Similar with mobile phone’s numbers, times, and other numericalthings. I noticed that it just happens automatically, maybe it’s by nature – my brain is a fan of mathand I might be the owner of an analytical mind.
I cultivated an intense interest in mathematics asearly as my elementary school. When teachers were giving some solvingexercises, it was my goal to solve it first and correctly. Same in high school.I liked Mathematics a lot. It was my favorite subject. I was trying to comethrough all exercises, giving myself a challenge when there were tripleasterisk questions which meant that this question has highest difficulty level,and I was feeling the happiest person whenever I’ve had solved such exercise.
Eventhough I was good in all subjects and finished my school with distinction, Irealized that I gave my heart to math. I attempted to participate in Olympiad but I wasrefused because I am a girl, and my school accepted girls only for biologyOlympiad. I was angry, and very upset with this unfairness.
I was better than mypeers, consistently achieving exceptional scores in every final-termexamination. Although they started to except girls after a year either, but Iwas already older and got more upset with such unfair situation. A stereotypeof girls that they can’t have good logic and be good at math, maybe that wasone of the reasons of unfairness that I faced by that times. I guess in my highschool I just ruined that stereotype, and I was named as “tashnai donish” whichmeans “a person who has thirst for knowledge” in Tajik.
Who knows maybe if Ihad more opportunities that times I could become better… Circumstances reallyaffect a person in my opinion.
And if I was in Olympiad team I could go muchfurther than I’m now. Anyway, I’m really thankful for my high school as it’snot only me, but due to my high school I have good basic knowledge on allschool subjects, furthermore it is the most prestige high school in mycountry. Even though in my childhood I wanted to become adoctor, my love towards mathematics took me to Branch Moscow State Universityafter M.V.Lomonosov in Dushanbe to undergraduate program in “Appliedmathematics and Computer Science. The theoretical foundations of ComputerScience were always the most intellectually satisfying, stimulating andintriguing. Discrete mathematics, theory of computation, cryptography, datastructures and algorithms have inspired me to excel throughout my undergraduatestudies. As I fell in love with computer science, I discoveredthe thrill and satisfaction of solving problems algorithmically just like Ifelt during school times and I started growing a motivated habit of completingweeks’ worth of projects in matters of day and night.
Every piece of work wasan incomparable exhilarating experience as intense work to tight deadlinesbecame second nature. Being able to absorb and implement new concepts at arapid pace encouraged me to develop a positive attitude towards educating mypeers various topics of our studies, especially those involving complexalgorithms.Nevertheless,I am painfully aware of the fact that in Tajikistan one has very limitedchances to apply practical mathematics skills and to experience advancedcomputer knowledge. Although I have received bachelor’s degree, I still facethe predicament resulting from the break between theory and practice when Icome to tackle practical problems. I have been made aware of the fact that mysystematic and formal trainings are far from sufficient. Hence, mydetermination to go abroad to seek further studies at some prestigiousuniversities.
Now my aim is to make my math knowledges used in Computer Sciencereally strong by applying to your University to this course, so then I will beable to continue my studies in computer science. As computer science reallydepends on math as well as on logical thinking which in return, can be improvedby math. I’mconfident that I will continue to demonstrate the same diligence, perseverance,and optimism that I used to show during school times and undergraduate program.And I believe that I will be able to overcome any challenges.
As the person I have grown into, and confident I canpursue a career in research as well as sharing my knowledge through teaching. I’meven a math tutor to a senior now, for free. He is from a low-income family,and country schools really lack many teachers. I want everyone to haveopportunity to study in prestige and well-educating Universities despitefinancial difficulties. Oxford gives many full scholarships and is one of thebest universities in the world. As my country’s and family’s income are low, Ihope I can be the one who worth a scholarship.
Regarding my goals for the future, I plan to take whatI learn in the UK and apply it to the computing industry in my native country.This industry is rapidly growing and shows great potential, yet compared to other,more advanced countries it is still in its relative infancy. By studying inyour master’s program, I expect to have the expertise, the perspective, and theexperience necessary to lead our industry to a new era. I also have manyfriends with similar goals, and I hope that we can one day collaborate to putour country on the map as an innovative force in the computing world.I am thankful of everyday of my life to have foundsomething that I truly love and dreams that reflect my personality. Last butnot least, I would like to thank the admission committee for their time andeffort.
I look forward to joining Oxford as a graduate student at your esteemeddepartment.Yours sincerely,AdibaZiyoeva.
