Chemical Engineering Personal Statement (part 1) My passion for engineering sparked at a young age, since I watched the French science series “C'est pas sorcier”. At that time I was amazed by scientific explanations about natural and common phenomena surrounding my daily life. However, not until was I in grade 8, my initial impression about Chemical Engineering appeared. Due to my great performance in Chemistry class, I was among few pupils who were chosen to the Chemistry Lab to conduct a set of chemical reactions related to glucose. They were my first hands-on experiment which beat any lesson out of my Chemistry textbook. From that moment on, I realized my career was destined to be in Chemical Engineering. Being hard-working and passionate in Chemical Engineering kept me motivated to achieve academic excellence in high school. I was admitted to the top class Chemistry I in Hanoi Amsterdam High School for the Gifted and reap the benefits from profound lectures in Math and Physics, which complemented perfectly to my Chemistry courses as well as provided me an excellent background for my further education. In Math, I developed my logical thinking and problem solving skills; while in Physics, I learnt about basic concepts, which paved the way for my easier approaches to the study of Chemical Engineering. For instance, the quantum properties of electron are truly fundamental to the formation of the atomic orbital and the Mendeleev’s periodic table. To a greater extent, I went far beyond what other students usually did by perusing more Chemistry books than I was required. The more I read, the more I wanted know. Furthermore, hours of experimentation, along with repeated tests of neutralizing, mixing and distilling, taught me the importance of carefulness, patience and persistence required to a chemical engineer. My first experience to real-world chemical engineering was in year 12 when my uncle, a petrochemical engineer in Dzung Quat refinery, took me to his working place. I had a chance to see how the petroleum systems worked in reality. As far as I’m concerned, petrochemical technology is growing and will be the most significant field in my country for the next few years. Just recently, two refinement oil plants worth 9 billion dollars in total have been erected in my hometown. Hence, a vast number of jobs, ranging from operating the petroleum systems to making the precise calculation for refinement process, will be offered to skilled and qualified chemical engineers.