I am writing this letter to express my great interest in pursuing my studies in

graduate program at Computer Science department at University of Toronto. My

interest in Computer Science appeared since my childhood when I saw my brother
working with his computer at home. He later received his Ph.D. in Computer
Engineering from University of British Columbia in 2006. As a child, I was always
curious about computers and wanted to know what was going behind what I saw on
the monitor. My brother used to explain principles of computer in a simple language
to me which deeply fascinated me about computers. I still remember the joy of
writing my first computer code in 1st grade of high school which printed out my
name on the monitor. From that moment on, I knew I was going to be a
software engineer.
I pursued my passion in computers by studying
Software Engineering in Ferdowsi University of Mashhad which is one of
the most prestigious universities in the Computer Science field in Iran. Excellent
courses, knowledgeable and expert faculty and great learning environment at that
university have given me a firm grounding in all the fields of Computer Science.
I graduated in 2009 with honor, ranking 3rd among all graduating class of 2009. I am
determined to pursue my academic education up to the Ph.D. level, and I see
earning M.Sc. degree as a very important intermediate step towards my goal.
I have excelled in my academic studies at every stage of my education, and I
am determined to continue to do so. I ranked first in my class during all 4 years
of my high school education. Furthermore, I ranked in the top 0.02%
among 400,000 candidates in highly competitive national university entrance exam
of 2005, which allowed me to attend one of the most high-status engineering
schools in Iran. In the first semester of 2005 during my B.Sc. program, I
ranked first in the institutional programming competition among all freshmen. I
always did my course projects with on-edge algorithms and with as optimized
codes as possible. I always received extra marks for the graphics I used in my
projects. I also did my final project under Dr. Naghibzaheh’s supervision titled
“Designing and implementing a database system for an online dictionary” which
received A+ by the referees and was recognized as one of the best applied projects
of the semester by the faculty. I was given a lot of positive comments on the
representation day. I also did a research in Wimax technology. My research was
published in "ESCAPE" Magazine (Computer Magazine of the Scientific
Committee, FerdowsiUniverity of Mashhad) titled “Opportunity of
Mobile Wimax Access in Iran”issued on 2008/10/05.

As a part of my B.Sc. program, I had a chance to do 3 months externship

in Borsa Inc., a well-known incorporation in Iran. That externship provided me a
unique opportunity to apply the knowledge I perceived during my B.Sc. I became
more determined to pursue a higher education in Computer Science. I
received lots of encouraging feedbacks the head and staff of Borsa Inc.
I am particularly interested in doing my M.Sc. research in either 3 areas
of Databases, Artificial intelligence or Networks because of the vast applications
possible in this field. The results of the researches being done in these fields can
improve humans’ life standards. My grounding in these fields is solid, which is
reflected in my obtaining the highest grade in these courses and in their respective
labs too.
I am determined to expand my knowledge and help contribute to improving
either Artificial Intelligence, Database or Network fields. Considering the pioneering
work going on at Computer Science Department of University of Toronto in the
fields of my interest, your department is an ideal choice for an exciting research
career. The programs at Computer Science Department are known to support and
nurture the students, while also challenging them to the fullest. I believe that such
an environment will lead me to achieve my utmost potential. With my strength,
including diligence and dedication and genuine quest for knowledge I am confident
that I will be able to make significant contribution to science and engineering during
my Master and Ph.D. studies by working under the guidance of distinguished faculty
at your department. I look forward to pursuing my passion as a M.Sc. student at the
computer science department of the University of Toronto. Thank you for your
consideration.

Maryam Azimi Hashemi