Meteorology is my playground and my laboratory. For years at a time I have been collecting weather maps, radar images, LiDAR images, remote sensing data and other scientific material just for fun. After graduating from high school, I began to understand that I needed to engage academically and professionally in what gives me substance and joy. My plan is to acquire data to identify and explore structures and characteristics of the earth and its atmosphere; SFSU's LANGUAGE DEPARTMENT offers me the resources to realize my vision. In 2011, I graduated high school with honors from Buxmont Christian Educational Institute. Since that time, I have developed socially, professionally, and intellectually in ways complementary to my aspirations in SFSU's LANGUAGE PROGRAM. My first inclination after graduation was to enter Cornell University. In those four years I took courses on meteorological observations and instruments, differential equations, computer programming and dynamics. In addition to instilling the expected respect for hard work and dedication, my undergraduate experience served to demonstrate my desire to do independent scientific research. I have found that research is particularly pervasive at Cornell, where some of the best professors in the United States work. In witnessing this phenomenon of scientific research, I have become an ardent researcher myself and was therefore very happy to learn that LiDAR remote sensing data is available online. I am particularly inspired by the contribution that LiDAR makes to the scientific community, combining physics with atmospheric and earth sciences, courses that I would like to follow with my studies. I am also interested, if I were to participate in the DR. CAROLT......middle of paper......systems, which match well with SFSU's technological knowledge of encouragement. Finally, I believe that knowledge comes with responsibility and commitment to research; It is my intention to maintain this principle in my continuing education. The DEPARTMENT offers the depth and range that meets my academic goals. From PROFESSOR's many articles and publications to the numerous research opportunities offered by the university, I am excited by the prospect of engaging in theoretical and practical applications of geography and meteorology. Additionally, I have found professors in the Physics and Chemistry departments whose work is relevant to the atmosphere and from whom I take inspiration. Confucius once said “Choose a job you love and you will never have to work a day in your life.” My LiDAR system isn't so much a choice as it is an acceptance of who I am and what I love.