Out of the thirty-four themes calculated by the Gallup Organization, my five most dominant strengths are context, adaptability, intellection, individualization, and harmony.
The theme of Intellection is one that has stood out to me ever since I was really young. I remember that rather than play with the other children on the playground I used to pace the expanse of the area completely consumed in thought. As stated, the theme of Intellection does not dictate what you are thinking about, but simply that you like to think. To this day Intellection rings true. Whether I spend plenty of time alone or in a group setting, I tend to listen more than speak so this leaves even more room for thought. Individualization is the theme I’ve noticed more recently. While I sit and think in class or listen in group conversations I pay attention to people’s varying characteristics and how people act. Individualization is being intrigued by the unique qualities of each person and using what they say and how they act to come to a better understanding of their characters.
Intellection is the perfect trait to satisfy the first learning objective because it is literally the process of taking a person, object or situation and taking time to mentally turn it over, examining it from every angle. Intellection may not determine what exactly takes over your thoughts, but anything you “practice” thinking about helps to improve your overall analytical skills. It just takes a bit of focus to hone your intellect on a specific topic. You can identify new issues and problems, compare them to problems of the past and then come your own conclusions on what to do. Individualization can satisfy the first objective more so through interpersonal skills. When I study people’s character and what makes them unique, I have try to learn and understand how they became the person they are in the moment. I try to understand what makes them themselves. This can help me identify an issue if it arises with someone’s attitude or as a conflict between individuals. If I can identify the cause of an issue, I can also find a solution. For the second objective, intellection can help summarize and explain texts and documents while individualization could help explain a belief. Sometimes condensing a text or argument down, making it short and concise, is a lot trickier to accomplish then going into lengthy detail. It takes a lot of time, for me specifically, to get the phrasing and explanation just right so that the audience can understand without any confusion. In the end it might take time, but thinking things all the way through without over thinking brings a summary to its top form. Understanding where people come from and the environment that helped make them who they are makes it easier to under why they carry certain beliefs with them. I might not necessarily agree with their beliefs, but I could respect their ideologies as an individual, after all it is what makes them unique. Respecting them by listening makes it even easier to summarize what they have to say.
Analytical skills will be critical in this course, as we have to read a variety of young adult novels and identify and compare the way gender is depicted in each. People who analyze find out the reasons why authors write male and female characters these ways and how society came to either accept or reject these images. To be able to analyze the stories themselves properly, background is needed on the novels, authors and society itself. This way you can connect the reasons and causes to find a pattern.
Of my five strengths I’d like people to see that I care about what makes each person their own person. I don’t always look the part, but I do care about each person I meet albeit in different ways. I am always interested in exchanging personal experiences as means of getting to know my peers better because it is interesting and relationships built now can go a long way.
