Dear Admission Committee,

I was born in Pakistan where I completed all my early education till high school. I was most
interested in physics but went for engineering. I did not know the difference between the two
and did not have anyone to guide me.
Unlike in the USA, we must select the field of specialization before joining the university. After
joining the university, the structure is so rigid that it does not allow to switch. So, I was stuck in
engineering.
Also, my country is underdeveloped and does not have good physics institutions, so I did not
drop out from engineering to switch to physics.
I graduated in 2020 during the COVID pandemic. Half of my colleagues went abroad for
graduate studies, some started working as managers in a company and very few were doing
technical jobs.
I was confused about what I wanted to do after graduation. I had a lot of free time so
sometimes I went for a long walk thinking about it. I asked some very fundamental deep
questions that I think everyone should ask. Who am I? What to do? And what's happening?

I found that I am awareness which does not have an identity. I do not have freewill hence the
question of what to do does not make sense. What's happening is that thoughts made up of
language and vision are coming to my mind and I am just noticing them. These beliefs changed
my whole outlook on life and everything in it including mathematics/physics.

Mathematics & Physics

Though I was enrolled in engineering as an undergrad, I still loved physics, so I was learning the
basics of physics informally. The subjects that I covered were Classical Mechanics, Classical
Electromagnetism, Statistical Mechanics and Quantum Mechanics.
In winter of 2022, I got admitted to Carleton University in Canada, where I took graduate
cosmology and astrophysics classes. I was planning to take more graduate physics classes but
later learned that these classes might not count towards my degree in MASc engineering. So, I
stopped taking graduate physics classes and instead took classes that would count towards my
degree.
In summer 2023, I learned how quarks were discovered for the first time and how Emmy
Noether theorem relates group of symmetries to conservation of some quantity. How topics in
mathematical analysis like topology are used in relativistic quantum mechanics. So, I took
graduate courses in algebra, topology and number theory in the fall of 2023 at my university.
I am still taking these graduate math classes. I will soon graduate so now I am looking for
graduate programs in the USA where I can do what I am passionate about (applied
mathematics and physics) while still utilizing my background of engineering. So, I have applied
to your applied physics program.

Why apply to Yale university?

Yale university is one of the best universities in the USA. I want to learn the fundamentals from
the best faculty so that I build solid intuition. Since Yale university is a prestigious institute, I will
learn a lot from people I meet here. Also, Yale university graduate programs have a more
flexible structure than other universities which will give me more freedom.

Reseach interest?
I like to do thought experiments and use mathematical physics to build models. I liked taking
the algebra (structures) class and analysis (infinities) class. Trying to use advanced mathematics
to solve problems in applied physics is something I would enjoy. I am open to what I will do for
research. I will take classes and meet different groups to gauge what I enjoy doing most.

Motivation?
I believe motivation matters most. I don’t know what I would do other than
mathematics/physics. I feel this is the right path for me. Initially I was confused between grad
study in mathematics or applied physics, but it got clear when I was taking proof-based math
classes, sometimes I did not see the point in some of those proofs. I am more motivated by
curiosity to discover reality and then to apply physics to solve problems. So, I like applied
physics more.

Originality?
Maybe the most important component of the research is how original someone's thoughts are.
You can be the smartest person, but you will never discover something new if you are always
following what others did before you.

To be original, you must first realize that everything you know about life and everything in it
(mathematics/physics) was made up by people just like yourself.
This will give you confidence to doubt and question the highest authority which will eventually
lead you to ask questions that authority will not have answer to. Finding the answer to this
question will lead to something new, something nobody thought of before.