Information technology has changed and continues to change the way people live in today's rapidly changing world. Growing up in such an era instilled in me a natural thirst for new technologies. Learning more and more techniques gave me the desire to become one of those leading researchers who change the world with their exceptional research. However, neither my need for research skills nor my insatiable appetite for technologies are satisfied by my college education. So here I am applying for a PhD. degree.When I was a freshman, I majored in Information Management and Information Systems. Since only the technical part of the curriculum could attract me, at the beginning of my second year I changed my major to Computer Science. Even though such a decision would have involved enormous risks, I enjoyed the freedom to follow my mind. Generally, it takes 3 years to complete basic Computer Science courses and I managed to finish them in 2 years. Although my Computer Science study started a year later than other classmates, the gap was completely eliminated by the overload of my two years. My ability, tenacity and arduous effort led to the Academic Excellence Award to confirm my preparation for graduate studies. And as shown on my academic transcript, my grades have increased each semester and I feel like I haven't reached my peak yet. As far as I know, doing research requires strong technical skills and extensive project experience. With this in mind, I intentionally chose courses that feature challenging projects to hone my skills. This strategy has proven fruitful. I got A's in all the project oriented courses. My understanding of various domains, such as OS, compiler, NL... half of the paper... broad scope of interest in computational techniques. Furthermore, I think the motivation for software engineering research comes from the demand of the software industry, and UIUC is good at providing such links between industry and academia. Prof. Tao Xie, who works closely with MSRA, is a leading researcher in both PL and SE, which attracts me the most. Prof. Darko Marinov has made notable contributions to software reliability in recent years and his research areas are closely related to my interest. I consider it a great honor to be able to do research with them. In conclusion, my academic background and research experience demonstrate that I am a talented, motivated and hard-working candidate for your PhD. plan. With a strong desire to become a leading researcher, I sincerely hope to be admitted to the Department of Computer Science at UIUC.