Personal History Statemen

 The Personal History Statement is expected to focus on your personal background while
the Statement of Purpose is expected to focus on your academic/research background and
interests.
We recommend that you complete the essay in another program (i.e. Word, Google docs, etc)
and copy it in the text box below. (850 to 1200 words)
 Challenges and/or obligations you have had to address in order to achieve your
educational goals and how you addressed them (60% of the whole passage)
 Employment while an undergraduate (40 % of the whole passage)
NOTES: Focus on how to learn to teamwork in the working experience paragraph
Focus on how i conquer difficulties during my undergraduate study in first part

(Reference Information)
My name is Jianchao Sun, I am from China. Majoring in Computer Science in California state
polytechnic university Pomona. Being able to choose computer science as my career is no
doubly one of the luckiest things. Not many people have the chance actually to do what they like
for their life.
My journey to Computer science was not easy. I came to college as a civil engineering
major(using old, not evolved technology), not long before I found out wrong. I spent time
searching for a new major, But what inspire me joining computer science is the go match
between alpha go and Lee Sedol. I am 3 dun player in go; I remember my teacher told me that go
is the only board game that computer cannot defeat when I was learning it. How strong the
computer program is shocked me, I knew it is the future of people’s life. The first year in
computer science was not easy because I didn’t use a computer a lot before, I remember the time
I was learning simple I/O, I wasn’t even able to locate the text file located in the C disk on my
windows laptop. A simple binary search algorithm can take me hours to write. Although I spent
time, the grade I got was still not satisfying, and I keep receiving Bs in my first three quarter in
computer science, which directly brought my GPA from 3.8 to 3.2, making mistakes in my
program seemed unavoidable. For a while, I even questioned if computer science is the right
choice for me. In my first few computer science classes, I had a classmate who can easily explain
everything in the textbook and write code so easy that I have to struggle for hours to figure out
how it works. By the time I told myself that I want to be as good as him. To achieve that, I
brought books on programming, practiced coding every day on website leetcode and hack rank.
By the end of my first year, I finished over 300 algorithms problems on leetcode website. My
effort paid off; in my second Algorithms & data structure class, I can look at a problem and just
start to write a program to solve it. With a solid fundamental on algorithm and coding, the
following major classes did not become challenging to me. I made the B I got on my first year in
computer science the last B I got in my undergraduate study.
Two years in computer science, I developed my programming skills and knowledge in the
software-related field. However, I knew to fight alone is not how developing software works;
teamwork is crucial if I want to build software that can change people’s life. I chose engineering-
related fields because I’m not a very social person, but this time I know I have to step out and
work with people. To better prepare for my future career, I joined a start-up software company
called Overwatch Safety Solution. In there, I was able to see how software developing world is

like, during my internship in 2019 summer; I got to program on cloud service and going to scrum
meeting that force me to work with my colleague. I had to use the API built by my colleagues
and communicate with them. At first, it was not easy. I had been used just to use the well-
document code I can find on the internet, and watch the tutorial videos. Now I have to speak out
about my question regarding the code given to me. The first scrum meeting didn’t end up well
for me. I came to the meeting unprepared because I thought all I need for work is to upload my
code, and that’s all I need. During the meeting, I saw people even bring a little notebook that
records what they had done and what is the next plan so that they can report more clearly, I
mumbled a few words in the meeting when it is my turn. Later I received serval emails from my
colleague that asks me to explain what I did, and it took me extra time to get things settled. I
learned the lesson that I must get proper preparation if I want teamwork to be more efficient.

Scholarship writing (550 words)
On a separate sheet of paper write a short essay (approximately 550 words) on the following
topic: Describe how consulting engineers make their community a better place to live both
technically and socially. Your interest, understanding and commitment to the business and
management of the profession are important and should be reflected in the essay.
(Want to mention that I have worked in as an engineering assistant in “BWU consultants, INC.”
from Jan 2019 to present. And the responsibility our consulting engineers hold includes
protecting the general public, treating each client with the best and accurate calculations and
designs. Straightly followed the requirement, and performed the cheapest and most efficient
solutions to customer. Not only we have the knowledge in the field, but also the experience we
collected through different projects. BTW “BWU,consultants” is a structural company, we do
residential and commercial structural calculations and designs (If you want to