Statement of Purpose

In an essay of 250 to 500 words, please state your purpose in undertaking graduate study at The George Washington University.  As part of your Statement of Purpose, describe your academic objectives, research interests, and career plans.  Also discuss your related qualifications, including collegiate, professional, and community activities, and any other substantial accomplishments not already mentioned on the application form.

            Two road flares.  A first-aid kit.  Bottled water.  Three MRE’s.  A fire extinguisher.  These and more clutter my car’s trunk.  And while my friends tease me about being paranoid, I call it being prepared.

            Whether it is being a United States Marine Non-Commissioned Officer or serving as a Field Supervisor for the Community Service Officer Programs at the University Police Department, I have developed almost an obsession for being prepared for anything.  Quick thinking and calm composure during a time-sensitive and stressful situation are required of a Marine radio operator during an artillery fire mission as well as a community service officer responding to an emergency on campus while allocating limited resources.  However, an inherent property of emergencies is that they are rare.  In between missions and incidents, there are obvious periods of inactivity, which I use to my advantage.  As a Marine, I devised a color-coding system to increase the efficiency of the installation of complex military radio systems.  And as a CSO, I implemented a free CPR training course for our CSO’s by collaborating with the on-campus safety commission.  Both these positions stem from my commitment to serve the public’s general welfare and my experiences in such have fueled my desire to be more deeply involved in higher levels of emergency management.

            The technology explosion and increasing globalization has also made the emergency management field increasingly dynamic and far-reaching.  For example, the recent terrorist attacks demonstrate the need for additional study of counter-terrorism efforts as both preventive and reactive measures.  The decision to stage an emergency operations center close to the World Trade Center had seemed prudent and appropriate to fire department officials in the beginning hours of the attack.  However, because the situation had never been seen before at such a grand scope and no preparedness scenario had ever envisioned such an audacious scale, this decision resulted in an incredible loss of life.  No one could have known of the magnitude of the repercussions of the attack because officials had a predisposition for conventional response measures.  Thinking out-of-the-box, dynamic responses to dynamic situations, and additional research into new “worst-case” scenarios will remedy the complacency that these obsolete paradigms have caused and this is exactly what I mean to study and construct in my graduate studies.

            The Crisis, Emergency, and Risk Management concentration within the Engineering Management Masters of Science program interests me primarily due to its association with the Institute for Crisis, Disaster, and Risk Management and its proximity to the Federal Emergency Management Agency.  The George Washington University is also the only school I have researched that offers the variety of coursework that I am interested in, such as counter-terrorism, information systems, and disaster recovery.  I plan to gain experience from an internship at FEMA or other related agencies while studying Emergency Management.  Afterwards, I intend to return to California and seek employment with a state or city emergency management office.

In accordance with the oath I took four years ago to “support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic” I hope to continue to dedicate myself to the public good through the education and skills learned from the George Washington University.