The continued rise in the world’s population is the greatest problem faced by humanity at the present time. What are the causes of this continued rise? Do you agree that it is the greatest problem faced by humanity?

“When most people hear the term

geography

, they immediately begin to think of maps, but it is so much more than that. To understand why studying

geography

is relevant, you must

first

understand what it means.

Geography

is the study of places, landscapes, environments, and people, and how they have affected each other over time to become what it is today. It combines natural sciences (physical

geography

) and social sciences (human

geography

) in a way no other

field

of

science

does.” I was 14 when I

first

read

this

quote in my class, back

then

, I thought I really understood what it meant. To learn and understand how the world’s basic physical systems work and affect our everyday life, studying

geography

is essential.

This

subject

has embedded its root deep inside every other

subject

and in order to discover the mystery of life there’s nothing better than becoming a geographer ACADEMIC BACKGROUND: I am Taniya Choudhury. I have completed my schooling from Nayabazar High School. I scored 79% (2011) in my secondary examination and I have taken Arts as my subjects in 11th, 12th standards and secured 82% in the Intermediate Examination (2013).

Then

I moved to

Siliguri

to obtain B.A. degree in

Geography

Honours from

Siliguri

College

. I have finished my course with

Geography

as my main

subject

; Political

Science

and History in Pass. During my course I have realized that

this

subject

is an unending ocean of

knowledge

covering wide areas of interests.

I’ve

learned the basics of Physical and human

geography

along with handling weather and levelling instruments. In the

third

year

of my

college

,

I’ve

performed a group work on ‘Population Dynamics and Socio-Demographic profile of Toto Community in Totopara’ under the supervision of my professor. There I was qualified with 62.25% (2016). Afterwards, my performance assured me a seat in the

Department

of

Geography

in the

University

of North Bengal. I had to submit two individual projects during the 2nd and the 4th semester. These are, ‘Project Report on Land Capability Classification of Temi Tarku Block by USDA Method’ and ‘Morphology and Terrain Analysis of Rimbi Chu Basin’ respectively, where I

also

learned to use software like Global Mapper, Arc GIS, Surfer, and SPSS . I maintained a consistent performance in the academics and being in the top 1% of class of 52 students by securing an aggregate of 66.5% (2018).

I’ve

accomplished two years of Bachelor of

Education

degree from ‘The

West

Bengal

University

of Teachers’ Training,

Education

Planning and Administration’ (2020) as well. Now, again I would like to pursue my Master’s in

Geography

from

University

of Melbourne;

however

, I was forced to take a one

year

pause due to

this

pandemic situation. During the 3rd semester of my post-graduation (2017), I took

part

in 2nd Regional

Science

Congress, which was organised by the government of

West

Bengal and received an outstanding

paper

award for the

paper

‘Spatio-Temporal Variability and Trends of Rainfall by South-

West

Monsoon over North Bengal’ and

thereafter

, I attended 25th Regional

Science

Congress (2018). In the

year

2018,

I’ve

participated in UGC sponsored SAP DRS-II National Seminar, where I presented a

paper

related to landslide.

I’ve

presented my

paper

based on climate change in the National Seminar on CLIMSES organised by Bangiyo Bhugol Mancha in collaboration with

Siliguri

College

(2020). A webinar was attended by me, which was initiated by the ‘International Scientific Conference- Dendro-ecology, Forest Management and Reforestation: theoretical and applied aspects" (Ufa, Russia on 5-6 October, 2020) and published a

research

paper

on ‘Habitat Destruction and its Probable Impact on

Wildlife

in Mahananda

Wildlife

Sanctuary’ in the international journal ‘Ecobiotech’ (

third

issue, ISSN: 2618-964X, , 2020). On 27th September, 2020, I took

part

in another national webinar conducted by Maynaguri

College

namely, ‘Emerging Issues and Challenges in Social

Science

: A Retrospect during the Period of Covid-19 Pandemic’. As soon as I decided to pursue my Master’s in Australia, I realized the need to improve my communication and language skills as

I’ve

studied in Bengali medium, where English used to be a

second

language. I took the help from a few online resources to improve my command over

this

language. I appeared for IELTS Academic examination on 14th and 16th September, 2021. These are my scores: Test Date: Speaking: 7.5 Listening: 7.5 Reading: 7.5 Writing: 7 Total Band Score: 7.5 CO-CURRICULUM:

I’m

a firm believer in the fact that extracurricular activities can empower learners to gain vital experience and skills to lead them on the path to a bright future. Right from my childhood, I was very active in

this

domain. I took keen interest in painting and sculpturing and continued till now;

however

, I do not have any formal

education

in these fields.

I’ve

learned two Indian classical dance forms namely, Katthak and Rabindranrittya.

I’ve

performed in numerous programs, my

last

performance was in an international seminar (31st IGI). I used to lead the ‘cultural committee’ of the

Department

of

Geography

in the

University

and successfully ran the reunion ceremony in our

department

. Along with that

I’m

also

inclined towards recitation. Currently,

I’m

learning French from IILS and playing a guitar.

I’ve

participated in various competitions and won trophies as well, like in debate competition, extemporary speech and story-telling. To illustrate, in the

second

year

of my

college

, I got

second

position in a debate competition. I wrote poems and informative essays in school and

University

magazines. Since 2017,

I’ve

developed my interest in

wildlife

photography and hiking. As a consequence,

I’ve

some trekking experiences.

For instance

,

I’ve

trekked to the highest point of

West

Bengal: Sandakphu (11,930 ft). I believe all of these co-curricular activities instilled immense confidence in me and had a chance of improving my creativity, critical thinking, leadership capabilities and communication skills to a great extent. COMMUNITY SERVICE: Personally, I reckon, helping others is the best way to help myself.

Consequently

,

I’ve

joined one NJO called SNAP in the

year

2017. There, I had organised and participated in number of seminars to educate local residents about the importance of preserving ecosystem and

wildlife

,

such

as ‘Vulture conservation Program’, ‘Human-Animal Conflict’ and so on. I

also

did some

field

work to reduce human-animal conflict in forest villages of North Bengal with the help of SNAP members. Even during

this

pandemic situation we’ve assisted some forest villagers by supplying daily commodities, in the outskirts of

Siliguri

. Individually

I’ve

designed a magazine (

second

vol., 2021) for

this

group. During

university

days, with the help of my four other friends, we raised a fund by selling dumplings to help the leprosy ward at

Siliguri

.

I’m

also

an active member of ‘River Rejuvenation

Research

Group’, which was formed in the month of June 2020, with the assistance of Dr. Rupak Kumar Paul who teaches in

University

of North Bengal;

although

,

this

NGO isn’t registered yet. Earlier,

I’ve

already mentioned about ASER

education

survey, where I participated during my graduation. In the

first

year

of my

college

, I was selected from my

department

for a voluntary participation in the ‘Tea Smile Project’, in collaboration with the students of

University

of Hiroshima, where I represented my state, especially Darjiling, as it is known as the leading tea producer. Volunteering my time boosts my energy, happiness, health and sense of well-being. WHAT INTEREST ME I was inspired to commit to a future in

geography

. The true breakthrough for me took place in my sophomore

year

of

college

, when I was volunteering at ASER National

Education

Survey at

Siliguri

,

West

Bengal, which was based on quality of

education

and literacy ratio associated with the socio-economic status of the people residing in different states of India. After publishing their report when I was going through that, it ignited a passion inside me to resolve the issues in a sustainable manner.

Nonetheless

, I became more inclined towards physical

geography

. In my point of view, without incorporating natural phenomenon it is quite impossible to come to a solution.

Consequently

,

I’ve

decided to acquire profound

knowledge

in

this

particular

field

in order to serve the community, before pursuing my

research

, which I lacked here. WHY YOUR UNIVERSTY? “

Education

is not received. It is achieved”

This

statement is in fact true with the case of your

university

.

University

of Melbourne is known for providing quality

education

for centuries. I believe

this

educational institution can provide all the assistance I require to fulfil my future

research

. The

department

website showed involvement of the distinguished faculty in intensive

research

with lots of

research

experience. The presence of great minds, interested in imparting

knowledge

and hands-on experience to the students will help me amass sufficient

knowledge

to contribute my mite to the

field

of

geography

. I am eagerly looking forward to become a

part

of the intellectual family residing at the

university

; and if I become one, I will bring the best out of mine with dedication and zeal. CONCLUSION I know that studying in the

University

of Melbourne requires a lot of focus, discipline and dedication, which I believe I have. I am a law-abiding citizen and a very responsible individual. I wish to enrich my ‘little’ talent by gaining ‘huge’

knowledge

at your esteemed institution. So, I request you to give me an opportunity to achieve great heights in

this

field

which has been my dream since childhood and I can assure you that I will not let you regret

this

decision. I feel honoured and proud to be a

part

of your

university

.