I Consider myself to be Self-Motivated

Since I started learning to code, I have been fascinated by the ability of machines to be autonomous and carry out actions without human intervention. After I programmed a neural network to play Snake I realised the immense capabilities of machine learning and artificial intelligence to impact the world around us. I firmly believe that Artificial Intelligence will change everyone’s daily lives in the future, just as the personal computer and smartphone have done in recent decades. I learnt Python by creating simple games in Pygame then Project Euler.

At Upper School in the UK I took part in the RoboCupJunior Cospace National Finals 2014 and came 2nd.

At age 14 I moved to France which has been amazing as I have learnt a whole new language and experienced living in a different culture. I am now (mostly) fluent in French and have learnt Spanish and German at school too. I am studying the Baccalauréat S specialising in Engineering Sciences (Physics, Engineering, Further Maths ) alongside Philosophy, Chemistry, History, Geography, English, German, Sport and Music. I know I could expect higher grades if I was studying in English however this has been an irreplaceable experience and a challenge which I’m proud to have accomplished. In early 2016 I came second (again!) in a Robotics competition at a local Lycée. I then participated in an Inter-European Robotics competition between my school, a Dutch and a German school. In the past year, I have pushed myself to understand more about algorithms and machine learning. I learnt javascript so that I could easily use API’s and I have taught myself the basics of C++. I am currently reading “Hello World” by Hannah Fry. It is similar to Superintelligence by Nick Bostrom which I loved. I do fiction too, Philip Pullman and Lee Child being favourite authors. I enjoy listening to podcasts such as the Wired podcast, TED talks, and Numberphile. I play the piano as well, it relaxes and inspires me. Sport is good. I have two younger brothers so I have to stay fit! Together we cycled 300km up the West coast of France in August 2018 with tents, it was a pretty cool adventure. My favourite sport is definitely rugby, in the UK I played for my school and the local club. In France, I take “Section Rugby” at Lycée. We train and play in national school competitions. I am studying to be a referee and a coach. I also play Badminton for my school and am a member of our local town tennis club where I take part in regional tournaments. I have been able to ski here too which is amazing on a sunny day in the Pyrenées.

I consider myself to be self-motivated and disciplined. This is demonstrated by the independent learning I have pursued, not only in technology but also music and art. I studied part-time for a GCSE in Art during 2015/ 2016. The French system with its academic focus, particularly the Baccalauréat programme, has given me a good work ethic. I am able to apply myself and feel confident in my abilities. I enjoy being at home due to the long school days but have a great group of friends with shared interests at school. We often work in teams on projects and encourage each other to extend our knowledge and abilities. This year I’m hoping to help with a research project at UCL where they are using AI to make decisions and advise decision making on the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. I’m interested in how machine learning is shaping our lives, informing what we buy, our entertainment, our work, our transport networks and our medical treatment.

I consider myself fortunate to be able to apply to study this field to obtain the best technical competences to pursue the myriad of possible applications in this expanding field. My goal is to participate in AI research both at Undergraduate and Postgraduate level and ultimately use this knowledge plus experience in the real world to have positive impact on people’s lives and the planet for the better, the opportunities are endless and only limited by our creativity.

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