[SebKom]

My second try, hope you help!

I was only seven years old when I was firstly introduced to computing, through a video games console. The first few moments of excitement were followed by a lot of questions: how come the hero obeys to my orders, who made this game, how can I make my own one? Since then I can remember myself saving money to buy video games, The turning point however was around seven years later, when I sat in front of a PC screen and a whole new world expanded in front of my eyes: I could not only play but also listen to music, print pictures, watch videos, connect to the web and much more.

As a result, my enthusiasm for computing got stronger and I began spending my free time on it, reading magazines, visiting technology stores and discussing with other people. This enthusiasm also was the main reason for the orientation (Technology & IT) I chose in high school. There, I studied Discrete Mathematics and Statistics and with the help of my teacher I understood better the connection between them and computing. I also studied Programming, a subject mainly focused on algorithms, were I learned my first programming language, Pascal. Other subjects included on my orientation were Business Management and Physics, which, although less relevant to computing, contributed to my hard working nature.

In high school I also participated in two projects relevant to computing: I was assigned to make a report of my fellow students opinion about the school's computing equipment and make recommendations for its improvement. The result was rather satisfying with the school buying extra computers to fill the needs of the students. The second project was the creation of some mini maps of the monuments in my town, which I accomplished using flash and the construction of my school's web site. The maps were my high school's contribution to that year's Socrates Commenius, a students-exchange project that my school participates at. These weren't pure computing works but I got a small taste of how it is to work with computers. I also developed my organization skills and my leadership.

This year I am doing a Foundations of IT course, at Brunel University, which has so far helped me improve my mathematical ability and my english language skills, something which was one of the greatest challenges that arouse when I chose to study in UK.

Most of my spare time is gone to computing too: I am currently learning how to program using Ruby, I am constructing a web site for a friends' store from Corfu, I am blogging, which is an opportunity for me to express myself on social, political and other issues and I am sometimes playing computer games. Apart from the computing activities though, I enjoy listening to music, mostly jazz and classical, I read books, I watch movies and I so much like being with friends, no matter what we are doing. I am also pretty interested in sports, playing basketball and watching snooker: basketball is a way for me to stay fit and have fun and snooker is thrilling, because of the concentration and the precision it requires.

A look around is enough to persuade me that I want to study computer science: not only is it that too many things would be worse without computers but they also designate our future. I really want to play a vital role on my and others tomorrow's life and computer science is offering this chance to me, also giving me pleasure I can't find elsewhere.