When I was about 9 years old, I went on a school trip. We went to an exhibition in the town of Dorchester in the English county of Dorset. It displayed the iconic gold and blue mask of the ancient Pharoah Tutankamun. From that moment, I was entranced by Ancient Egyptian culture and mythology. I read about it constantly. I incorporated into schoolwork at every opportunity. I drew pictures and memorized the life stories ofPharoahs, gods, and other beings from Egyptian folklore.

Now, years later, I have not applied to study archeology. I have not become an Egyptologist. I’ve never even been to Egypt. A deep interest in another time and place was a great exercise in curiousity for me. It stimulated an ongoing passion to read about, and catalogue things that capture my imagination. Nonetheless, I would argue it has precisely NO connection with my work as undergraduate, graduate, or professional. If I ever wrote a Statement of Purpose for an archeology program, or a history program, or any other type of program, I would not start it like this.

In your Statement of Purpose you should concentrate on introducing yourself according to parameters that matter to the admissions decision-makers. We can put these into three broad categories: FOCUS, FIT, and FUTURE.

[FOCUS]

Like it or not, the people reading your application WILL be attempting to categorize you. They’ve got a process. They’ve got a lot of submissions to move through that process. Hindering that by trying to incorporate too many subjects or secondary interests… With complex or spurious connections to the central thrust of your argument… Is not helpful to them. Therefore it’s not helpful to you.

That’s why writing about a childhood enthusiasm for… ANYTHING… is an unwise way to start a Statement of Purpose. A childhood illness doesn’t adequately explain or support an application to medical school. A family bankruptcy doesn’t explain a desire to study risk management… Why?

Let’s use another example: When I was 11, I was obsessed with cars. There’s still a pile of Top Gear magazines as tall as me in my old bedroom. And yet, now, I don’t even have a driver’s licence. What does this tell us?

Passions in our youth, however genuine, do not reflect the depth and intensity required to become an EXPERT in the modern world. As a child you simply do not and cannot generally know enough to explore things in such depth. If you have maintained a passion for Egyptology or motoring from the age of 6-26… Whatever originally spurred the interest is tremendously unlikely to be the same thing that has enabled you to MAINTAIN it.

And that’s what the admissions committee are interested in (partly). They want to know where you’re at now. They want to know how you’ve got to this advanced level. And they want to know whether those two things will sustain even more advanced study. On their program. Under their faculty. If you are applying to a program that asks for an Statement of Purpose, it’s pretty much assumed that you’re interested (even fascinated) by the subject it teaches. You can assume everyone else who’s applying will feel the same way. And yet, a lot of people choose to take this ‘childhood origins’ approach to explaining their aspirations as graduates. You can illustrate your passion for the field in a much more compelling way: By talking about your passion for the discipline based on what you know now!

This is particularly important for graduate applicants. You want to convey focus because that is what you’re expected to have acquired as an undergraduate (when there’s more scope for—and it is more desirable to—explore myriad interests. Why? Because that process is supposed to SETTLE your interests and promote the concerted, distraction-free study that is required to acquire expertise in many academic fields at a graduate level. Therefore when you’re describing your development remember the examples should show a clear sense of direction and… PURPOSE.