Earth Science and Physical Geography MEarthSci personal statement example

Why do you want to study this course or subject?

On an orienteering course last spring, the control I was hunting sat in a scatter of pale boulders that looked nothing like the dark rock in the crags above. I found the flag late, but I spent the drive home wondering how the stones had got there. My Geography teacher explained glacial erratics, and that question has stayed with me: how does a landscape keep a record of processes that are no longer acting on it? I want to study Earth science alongside physical geography because the two answer different halves of it. Geology tells me what the ground is made of and how old it is, while physical geography asks how ice, water and climate shaped it and are still changing it. Reading Marcia Bjornerud's Timefulness made me think about how hard people find it to picture slow change, and why a sense of deep time matters for present decisions about land, water and hazards. An integrated master's degree appeals because I would like time to build field and data skills before a longer independent project. I am particularly drawn to upland soils and peat.

How have your qualifications and studies helped you to prepare?

I am taking Advanced Higher Geography, Physics and Maths, having gained Highers in these and Chemistry. For my Geography project I investigated whether peat depth changes with slope angle on moorland near school. With my teacher's permission and a friend to help, I pushed a graduated probe into the peat every ten metres along two transects and measured slope with a clinometer. Peat was generally deeper on gentler ground, but readings near an old drainage ditch were shallower than the trend predicted, so I treated that section separately and discussed drainage as a possible cause rather than forcing it into one result. Calculating Spearman's rank by hand, then checking it in a spreadsheet, showed me why sample size matters. Writing the evaluation was the part I enjoyed most, because I had to separate what the data showed from what I wanted it to show. Physics has given me confidence with forces and energy, which helped when we studied mass movement, and Maths statistics has made me more careful with uncertainty. Chemistry introduced weathering reactions that I now notice on old gravestones. The drainage ditch mattered because it suggested an alternative explanation, not simply an awkward reading to discard. I would want a wider set of transects before generalising about slope and peat depth. The project has made me interested in how field observations guide the next question as well as answer the first.

What else have you done to prepare outside of education, and why are these experiences useful?

For two years I have worked Saturdays on the counter of a local bakery. I started by serving and cleaning, and I am now trusted to open the shop with the manager, set out stock and cash up. The busy morning queue has taught me to stay calm, explain things clearly and work quickly without losing accuracy. I have been a member of an orienteering club since I was twelve. Reading contour lines at running pace has made me good at matching maps to real ground, and I can usually spot a knoll or re-entrant before I reach it. This year I helped a coach plan and lay out courses for a junior event, which meant walking the area beforehand, checking that controls were safe and fair, and collecting them afterwards in the rain. I also finished second in my age class in our regional league, a result I was pleased with because it came from steadier navigation rather than speed. Away from both, I look after my younger brother after school twice a week and enjoy hillwalking with my family, where I have started photographing rock exposures and looking them up at home.