I chose UMD for graduate school because I attended UMD as an undergraduate and realized it's the best college in MD to learn as much as possible about Computer Science. I chose Computer Science because computers fascinated me when I was a kid. I was curious about how computers worked and this curiosity developed a great passion to understand as much as possible about computer software. I am currently working under ARLIS as a GRA on an AI optimization problem, but am interested to work with a UMD faculty member on research to begin working toward accomplishing my Preliminary Examination, because I have already completed all of my required courses for the Ph.D. program. I have taken many AI related courses and have taken courses throughout my college career to attempt to have a strong background in AI knowledge.