By Armon Sharei
I took my grad school personal statement more seriously than most people do. The self-reflection required by writing a personal statement led me to a realization that has become foundational for me — what motivates me is the desire to make the world a better place. At the time I wrote my personal statement, I was not enamored with any particular facet of science; I saw it as a means to an end, and that end was using science to change the world through advances like curing diseases.