“Success is achieved by developing our strengths, not by eliminating our weaknesses.”  This quote by Marilyn vos Savant, the woman who is credited with having the highest IQ for five years, epitomizes how important defining one’s individual strengths and then improving upon those strengths can be.  Up until this point in my life, I had a general idea which categories my strengths were in, and I always strove to improve in those areas.  When I took the Strengths Finer 2.0 quiz, I was expecting my results to lie in this same area, which I considered to be logical and analytical.  At the end of the test I was surprised to find that, while my top five strengths contained some of these aspects, I also had strengths in other areas.

Competition, Ideation, Significance, Communication, and Analytical were my top five strengths respectively.  Of those five strengths, Competition and Analytical were of no surprise to me.  I have always loved a good competition and have always had the drive to win or be the best at what I do.  Along with being competitive, I have always taken a more analytical approach to most situations. It was no surprise to me that Analytical was a strength.  I am also a fairly creative person.  I was a musician for 9 years so the Ideation strength was also of no surprise.  I always look for a new way to go about things or I like to come up with new ideas to try and bring to fruition.  Out of those five results, the two that were most surprising to see were Significance and Communication.

I had never thought of myself as being a big communicator.  I enjoy talking to friends but I actually tend to enjoy solitude and like to avoid any unnecessary conversation.  After further reading into that strength, I came to learn that it fits me more than I expected.  Those which possess the Communication strength like to be a part of the discussion, they hate being separated from those who are dear to them, and they like to listen to conversations and absorb information to recall at a later time.  As I continued to read through the description, I was shocked by how accurate it was.  I hate being separated from my close friends for long period of time and I am the one person that people go to when they need to talk to someone, be comforted, and have comfort provided in a conversation.

Everyone wants to be significant in life, everyone wants to be known, do something great, and feel of importance to the world.  I always believed this to be a fairly universal idea, but to learn that I had a strength in this area was surprising.  The synopsis of Significance that was given in the Strengths Finder 2.0 report states that those with this strength want to be on teams in which others are willing to hear their opinion.  These people want to be in charge of their own destiny and make the decision regarding their life.  It also elaborates that those which have the Significance strength aspire to be leaders, spend a decent amount of energy in “winning followers”, and drive others to succeed.  Not surprisingly, I tend to be the individual in a group who tries to take charge, and when others are feeling down about how they are doing, I am normally the one who tells them that they are going to do great and will be amazing.  This strength also fits into my personal feeling that I want to be important and that I want to feel like I am doing something great and that others will look up to me.

After reading the synopsis for all of these diverse strengths I came to the conclusion that they are all actually very similar.  This helped further the idea that I want to be a leader and that I want to help create something new, help others, and do great things in my future.  Presently, these strengths can be seen in how I interact with my friends and in how I act in group situations.  I like to take charge and lead a group to success, but I also like to sit back, listen for new ideas and provide my own.  I am the person that people tend to go to if they are having a rough day and just need someone to talk to and cheer them up.  This can positively apply in the future professional world because it makes me a much more relatable coworker along with a more down to earth leader.

As mentioned earlier, knowing my strengths only solidifies what I want to do in the future.  My future goal of combining Biomedical Engineering and Veterinary Medicine is something I am incredibly passionate about.  Knowing that I am the type of person that will work hard to achieve my goals instills confidence that I can do something great.  It  reaffirms that I can be of significance and help animals with the aid of science and technology.  The competitive side of me will strive to be the best and to make a product that is best for the animal.  My ability to communicate will make me more personable to patients along with allowing me to express my various and new ideas to the engineering world.  While the results from the Strengths Finder 2.0 quiz may not have been what I was expecting, I came to find that they are incredibly fitting based on past experience and that these strengths are incredibly applicable to my future goals as a Veterinarian.

“Find what you love and let the rest all go.”  This is one of my personal favorite quotes from the band Senses Fail and I believe that it exemplifies my personal philosophy.  My name is Rebecca Danik and I am a member of The Ohio State University class of 2019.  There are several things of which I am passionate about and many of which will be the foundation for my future.  One may say that a job is truly not a job if they enjoy what they are doing.  I agree with this philosophy, if someone is passionate about what they do, they will produce the best results.  My goal as time progresses is to make a change in the world and to be of aid to the positive progression of the world.  I intend to do this through Biomedical Engineering and Veterinary medicine.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?”  Every child has been asked this multiple times throughout their lives and many may say firefighter, dancer, princess, policeman, or Barbie, as I apparently said as a child.  Many children do not come right out of the gate stating that they would like to study computer science engineering, mechanical engineering, genetics, or astrophysics.  Once I overcame my initial and amusing dream of wanting to be a Barbie, my answer has always been the same, veterinarian.  Some may say, “You haven’t changed your mind at all?” or “Isn’t there something else you would want to do instead?” and while for many that may hold true, one event solidified my choice about 10 years ago.  My mother had a Yorkshire Terrier named Duke, Golden Boy as my father would call him for he swore she loved that dog more than anything else.  My sister and I also loved the dog very much but as history shows, not all can last forever and as Duke aged he started to develop several health problems.  Our local veterinarian Dr. Strobel, a mentor of mine, did a wonderful job taking care of Duke and did whatever he could and prolonged Duke’s life several long happy years.  Sadly, as duke reached the ages of fourteen and fifteen, his health began to decline rapidly.  One evening Duke ceased to come to the dinner table to beg for “human” food and when we tried to feed him chicken or eggs the next morning, he refused to eat.  The only thing he expressed an interest in consuming at that time were discs of baker’s chocolate.  We knew at that time, that the day we had long dreaded had come upon us.  We let Duke enjoy as much chocolate as he wanted while we called Dr. Strobel to let him know that it was time.  Having never faced a loss like this in our lives, my sister and I were distraught and once we arrived at the veterinary office, it was incredibly emotional, for even Dr. Strobel was visibly upset since Duke was one of his first patients.  As we were saying our final words of endearment and love for Duke one sentence has imprinted itself in my mother’s and my own mind ever since.  It was at that point I said, “I promise you Duke that I will become a vet and help other doggies like you.”

School was always a place of excellence and at a young age I excelled at math and the sciences.  I was inducted into the school’s gifted program during kindergarten, the youngest anyone from my school had entered the program.  As I continued my education, I excelled in mathematics and was placed on the advanced math track which would allow me to complete both AP Calculus AB and AP Calculus BC by graduation.  I also did very well when it came to the sciences but was severely lacking in the other areas.  While reading is an activity I enjoy, spelling, creative writing, grammar, and writing in general were a struggle and still continue to be a struggle.  Ironically, the class of which I enjoyed and hated the most was Physics.  I excelled at the math and grasped the concepts of physics easily, but when it came to hands-on activity I reached my biggest barrier.  One of the required projects was a rubber band powered car.  After many attempts and failures that car become the bane of my existence.  It was one of the hardest obstacles I have ever faced and its construction caused many breakdowns throughout the duration.  Eventually a working car was constructed and completed to receive an 80 percent on the project, but my teacher pulled me aside and pointed out that I should take a hands-on type class while at the high school.  Having been a saxophone player since 4^th grade and a member of the top bands at the school, I was unable to fit the class into my schedule.  This fact made the decision to join STEM EE scholars a no-brainer.

Wanting to be an engineer and being inadequate at hands-on type activities are two things that do not go together.  That’s why when I saw the availability of a STEM related scholars program I became very excited and knew that it was the one I wanted to join.  Along with fitting into the math and science side that I loved, STEM EE would give me a chance to get more hands-on experience in working on projects and working with a team of people to build new and amazing things.  STEM EE Scholars would create an opportunity for me to get involved in the community while doing what I love, work with others that express similar interests, and meet people with different perspectives who could bring another viewpoint as to how I would usually see an issue or a problem.  Knowing how to work with a diverse team is an applicable skill in the real world and also aids in producing the best product.

Many may wonder how a major like Biomedical Engineering would help in achieving my goal to becoming a veterinarian.  As my education at Seneca Valley High School progressed, I developed a deep love for technology and computer programming.  My love had grown so much that I at one point considered it as another career option, that is, until I learned of Biomedical Engineering.  I never thoroughly enjoyed Biology or Chemistry as individual subjects so I was really struggling to think of a major to pursue during my undergraduate years.  The discovery of Biomedical Engineering was one that really helped solidify my plans for a college education.  I plan to take my knowledge acquired from Biomedical Engineering and Veterinary school to help create better imaging technology for animals along with creating prosthetics and aids for animals which may have suffered an accident or were born with some sort of defect.  All animals deserve the chance to live a long happy life and I hope that as I progress throughout my years at The Ohio State University, Duke is looking down on me and that I make him proud.