What I Bring To The Table
What are some skills, passions, etc. that you bring to the table? I never know exactly how to answer that questions. Sometimes it can sound almost like bragging, but most of the time I don’t know what skills or passions I possess. However, when I took the StrengthsQuest I found that my top five strengths were relator, discipline, belief, context, and developer in decreasing order. After reading the information and talking to some upper classmen that knew a little bit more about what each strength means, I found how each of these fit into my life and how I go about things. Relator means that I value intimate relationships and would rather have a few very good friends than a large groups of shallow relationships. Although some people may view this trait as standoffish and cold, being a relator just means that I value productive and deep relationships. Although I can be acquaintances or just friends with somebody, meaningful friendships are where I thrive and feel most comfortable which also means I try to achieve importance in the relationships that I build. Discipline means that I like to see order in the things around me. Whether it be my room, my time schedule, my life or the lives of those around me, I like things to be structured and well-planned. I can definitely use this to my advantage to be a planner or an organizer when people need something to be tidied up. Belief means that I have a very strong belief system from which I rarely falter. This is probably mainly because I was brought up in a very conservative Christian family, which instills certain ideals and values in me such as love everyone and forgive others. Context means that I like history and the past. Whether it be a person in my life or just the world in general, I see the past as being very important and something that should be remembered. When I approach people, I can see who they are in the present and relate that back to the things they dealt with in the past in order to sympathize with them on a greater level. And finally, developer means that I am able to see the potential in people and help them to develop it. This is probably one of my best strengths that I could use to help others because, well, it’s all about helping others. I like to find what people are the best at and help them to cure their potential, whatever it may be. These strengths helped me to see what skills and passions I may “bring to the table” when I enter a new community. Digging deeper than what the results of an online test tells me, I thought about what makes me different that I can consider myself beneficial in a group environment. Based on personal reflection, these are just some of the things that I found. In most friend groups there is always a person that people go to with their problems for advice and I happened to be that friend no matter what friend group I joined. I don’t know if it’s because I am able to keep a unbiased opinion in situations that fall upon my friends, but they always seem to turn to me for comfort. This also leads into another trait that I bring to the table, which is being able to be the mediator in a conflict. This could help in community settings because I would not get rash or emotional when a conflict appears, but rather approach it with a cool and level head in order to find the best way to solve it. Not saying that those who get emotional in such cases are not capable of solving their problems, because it’s human nature! However, I’ve always just had the ability to observe a situation from a detached third-person view which tends to help in resolving conflicts. Another trait would have to be that I am very stubborn in fighting for and working in the things that I am passionate about. Now, people may take this as “I only work hard for the things I take an interest in”, but rather its more of a I like to focus my energy and fully devote myself to something I feel strongly about. Thus, because I feel strongly about community service I make sure that I devote my energy and time in serving others and the world as a whole.
