Being in the Mechanical Engineering Ph.D.

program at Texas A&M University, College Station has been

an absolute dream for me as I have been allowed to learn under some brilliant professors and work
closely with amazing colleagues and classmates from different parts of the world.

I have always wanted to be a mechanical engineer, as I enjoy the application of scientific methods and
techniques in solving problems. Since I have been here, I have been allowed to work in Dr. Iman
Borazjani's section of the HPRC lab. In his lab, we perform simulations to investigate the interaction
between fluids and biological organisms in computational biofluid mechanics using HPRC (High-
Performance Research Computing) techniques, LINUX, and C programming. It has been challenging and
exciting as I get the opportunity to work in a field that has been of interest to mine but was not available
in any university program in my home country.

Without financial aid, the only other financial options available to me are through my parents. My father
is a retired civil servant who worked for the Department of Petroleum Resources as an operation
manager for 35 years before he retired in 2015, and my mother is currently a high school principal
employed at Joyce Ville College, Ajah. We are 5 in the family, as I have two younger sisters who are both
studying in Canada for their undergraduate degree in Psychology and Science, respectively. The
economic situation in Nigeria has not been helpful as the exchange rate of the dollar to the naira shows
no signs of improving soon. The naira, which is the official Nigerian currency, has undergone currency
devaluation for the past two years and shows no signs of improvement. This economic situation has
caused some discomfort to my parents, who must pay for their three children's school fees. We are
under the status of international. Apart from sourcing from my parents, my only other option would be
to secure a TA or RA position at the Mechanical Engineering Department, hopefully.

Unfortunately, my parents can't afford to pay for the entirety of my education, so I have to use the skills
I gain during this program to assist me in paying for my university tuition. I am working as a Graduate
Teaching Assistant in the Spring 2019 semester. I hope to continue getting jobs as either a TA, RA, or
internship opportunities as this would provide me with ample job experience as well as financial
assistance to help fund my entire Ph.D. education.

Getting a Ph.D. degree would be a great accomplishment as it would provide me the opportunity to be
employed at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the University of Lagos, Nigeria. I will be able
to work alongside Professor Oluwatusin who was my undergraduate project supervisor for my project
research into the field of Computational Bio-fluid dynamics when I was studying for my Bachelor's
degree in the University of Lagos.

Being here has indeed been uplifting for me as I have gotten to learn what it means to be an Aggie. I love
being part of the Aggie culture and hope to experience so much more of what it means to be a true
Aggie. My goal is to graduate as a full-fledged Aggie member, become a practicing mechanical engineer
in either the academic or industrial sector, applying the knowledge and skills applied here in helping
solve problems. I hope to be a recipient of your financial assistance as it would be much appreciated and
would help assist me in achieving my goal.