My father is a Certified Public Accountant, and my mother is a pediatrician, so both have learned the values of higher degrees first-hand. Their example, encouragement, and pride has always led me to strive harder than the minimum needed to get by, with my Honors Degree in Astronomy, Mathematics, and Physics from the University of Wisconsin the ultimate example. I owe a great deal of my academic success to their confidence in me. I know that to reach a similar level of success in society I mustn't stop s triving, towards a Master's degree and eventually on to the Ph.D. (in my case, Astronomy). They have taught me to reach for the stars, and I intend to do so almost literally.
My religion, Islam, is no less a shaper of my personality. My community is extremely close-knit and well-organized, and serves to give me spiritual and moral guidance that permeates every action I take. Contrary to stereotypes of violence and insanity, m y beliefs have taught me patience, strength, respect, and self-confidence, and my community has nurtured my idealism and love for my culture and people. My religious beliefs are not separate from my scientific education; rather the two have complemented e ach other and my faith in either has never been shaken. When I come home from school every month it is these forces that rejuvenate me and release the accumulated stress of college life. I even participate in moderated discussions over the Internet, explo ring and testing the boundaries of my faith with other college students in my community across the country.
A vast majority of the members of my community are professionals in some field, usually in business or medicine. Most of the elder generation are immigrants like my parents, and as a result the emphasis on graduate study is very pronounced. My peers and I have all been brought up with the expectation that education did not end with a Bachelor's degree, and have been encouraged (and expected) to perform well academically as a guarantee of a solid future. The end goal is to be secure financially and social ly for your childrens' sake. This motivation of family and community have influenced my grades ever since elementary school.
I perceive graduate study as a means to ensure accessible and plentiful career options, especially in light of my parents' example. While an undergraduate degree is sufficient for entry-level opportunities in most fields, a serious commitment in the real ms of space exploration and planetary science requires an advanced degree. I am a firm believer in mankind's destiny in space and intend to participate in making that dream a reality. To play an active role in the forefront of space exploration, an advanc ed degree will be absolutely crucial.
The specific field of astronomy that draws me is planetary science. Exploration (manned and unmanned) of the inner planets, specifically Luna and Mars, is my main interest. The possibility of eventual establishment of manned outposts on these bodies exci tes me. To that end, the study of resource extraction and utilization is important given the staggering array of resources available in the Solar System for our use. Metals, water, and minerals are all available in abundant supply, there for the taking if science (geology, chemistry, and physics) provides the means. I see the future of planetary science hinging on smaller, cheaper, more efficient exploratory/surveyor craft (as opposed to massive, multi-billion dollar projects like NASA's Magellan and Gali leo), due to the new budget-conscious attitudes in Congress. The challenge, then, is to find new methods of sensing and probing that will return useful data within the size and monetary constraints.
My choice of research project for the last two semesters was motivated by this interest, in fact. To earn my Honors degree, I used spectro-polarimetry on several regions of the lunar surface to look for wavelength-dependent polarization features. My hope was to identify signatures that could be traced to mineral deposits, using polarized light as a kind of resource probe. This yearlong project involved data collection from Pine Bluff Observatory, located west of Madison and affiliated with the UW - Madis on Space Astronomy Lab. I learned how to operate the 36-inch telescope and how to cope with the quirky polarimeter system, as well as how to analyze the resulting data with Silicon Graphics workstations. I planned and executed my entire observational prog ram and analysis from scratch to achieve my final goal, under the supervision of Professor Ken Nordsieck and SAL researcher Brian Babler. Unfortunately, Murphy's Law and the Wisconsin weather taught me a few lessons in humility, yet despite the setbacks I learned a great deal and honed my appetite for graduate research. I have supplied a copy for your perusal.
My eventual goal is employment with NASA or similar space agency at the forefront of space exploration. Specifically, research into remote sensing & resource extraction, mission planning, and the astronaut corps itself lie within my ambitions, but I am willing to find my own niche, whatever that may be. I am resourceful and talented enough to do almost anything and enjoy it, so I know I will exploit my abilities to my satisfaction. As for far in the future, after retirement perhaps, I hope to teach o r work to bring science into the public awareness (preferably by writing, a passion of mine), but for the present my attention is concentrated on an active role in planetary science, preferably one that will benefit by my energy and enthusiasm. This is th e natural extension of my lifelong interest in the final frontier.
Aziz H. Poonawalla