My top five strengths include empathy, input, restorative, learner, and developer. I believe that all of these strengths represent myself and my values. Looking back onto my life now, I can see how all of these strengths have been prevalent in both my failures and successes. These strengths have allowed me to achieve any goals I have ever set for myself, while also helping me get through any of those rough patches along the way. Even though I may have never acknowledged some of these strengths before, I can see when they have been helpful to me without even realizing it at the time. Now knowing what my top strengths are, I am able to expand upon them, while also learning how to manage my weaknesses.

Empathy, my top strength, can be defined as feeling what others are feeling as if their feelings are my own, intuitively seeing the world through their eyes. I honestly believe that this strength is very relevant in my current life. I feel that I have always had a knack for listening to people, helping them through their own problems. I love being able to provide my insight into what is bothering them, looking at it from their point of view. I also have always been able to notice when someone is upset or something is bothering them. I can also see this strength playing a role in my academics. With sciences, it is all about seeing things from a different perspective, looking at things in a way no one else can do. By looking at things from different people’s points of view, it allows me to gain that different perspective. My empathy for others will help in my pursuits of understanding things academically and scientifically throughout my college career. I do believe that this strength does nothing but support my future goals. Wanting to pursue a career in pharmacy, I will have to help people each and every day. Being able to see things from their point of view will give me a better understanding of who they are as a person, which is important, now especially, as the patient-centered pharmacy practice is growing. Empathy will allow me to make those connections with patients, something that is so important to the care that is provided to the patients themselves.

My second strength, input, can be defined as a love for asking questions, my mind always finding something interesting. I can also see this strength on a day to day basis. I constantly ask questions, thriving for knowledge of the unknown, whether it be a concept I do not understand, or an idea that just popped into my head. I always want to know more, craving something new each and every day. This idea would be a major benefit to my academics. Though I sometimes complain about school work, or how I feel that it is all unnecessary, I still love the feeling of learning something new. Even though I do not always come out with my questions, sometimes being too afraid to ask them, they still exist. I let them build up inside my head until I finally build up that courage to figure out the answer. This strength will support my future goals. Working in pharmacy, I will always have to be on my toes, being able to make a decision at the drop of the hat. But I also need to be able to ask the correct questions that will lead me to solving the issue or figuring out the correct way to approach a situation. This strength will only enhance my abilities as a pharmacist, always craving that knowledge that is so necessary to the ever changing field of medicine and pharmacy.

Restorative can be defined as a love for solving problems, enjoying the task of looking at the symptoms, seeing what is wrong, and figuring out the solution. I can see this strength playing a role in my daily life. I know from personal experience that there will always be some bumps along our journey to success and happiness. If we are not able to handle these problems, no progress will be made and nothing will happen. Because of this strength, I am able to look at those bumps and figure out a way to deal with them, finding a way to get closer to my set goals. Especially in college, there will be a lot of bumps, so being able to look at the situation, figure out what is wrong, and find a way to fix it will help me keep moving forward without stressing myself out. This strength will also allow me to excel in my future career goals. I can use this strength to my benefit, being able to look at a situation, look at someone’s diagnosis, and figure out what the correct approach at solving the specific problem would be. I will be able to create a better outlook for patient’s, providing them with the best possible care that will hopefully help them in their pursuit of health and happiness. My ability to be restorative will benefit not only myself, but also those who I will help as I continue on my journey to become a pharmacist.

A learner is someone who simply loves to learn. The process of going from ignorance to understanding is one in which they believe is very important. This strength can be tied together with input. My love for asking questions helps to satiate my love of gaining new knowledge. I have always loved learning, being raised on the idea that education is one of the most important things that we can ever be given and to never take it for granted. Though I have not always enjoyed school, complaining about the workload or the information being taught, that thirst for knowledge has always been there. This is especially evident outside of the classroom. I just love learning about new things, whether its knowledge I gain just by looking up from my phone and noticing my surroundings, or having a meaningful conversation with someone I may not have known. The knowledge that is not necessarily taught, but is rather hidden in experiences, is the type of learning that I have always and will forever enjoy. This love also plays a key role in my academics. Even though I may not always enjoy what I am learning, I still appreciate the knowledge being given to me, because one day it may come in useful to me. We will never know what the future holds for us, so it is so important to grasp every bit of knowledge that comes our way. Over the years, I have learned to appreciate that knowledge that I may not want to receive at the time. This strength will also support my future career goals. Pharmacy is something that is every changing. Something new is always being discovered, some new drug is going to be found, and it will be my responsibility as a pharmacist to know these things. By keeping up to date on information that surrounds that line of work, I will be able to provide the best care possible to those who need it most.

My last and final strength is a developer. This means that I see each and every person as a work in progress, seeing the potential that they may not recognize on their own. I feel that this strength is fairly evident in my life today. I always try to look at the positives in people, showing them how important they are, how they can achieve so much if they just believe in themselves. I love being able to bring people up, raise their own morale, and just bring an overall happiness to their life. Bringing that joy to people’s lives makes me the happiest person in the world. I feel that as long as I can make an impact on someone’s life, as long as I am enjoying what I am doing, then I am successful in life. I feel that I can apply this strength to my academics. I am always much harder on myself than I could ever be on anyone else. But with this strength, I can somewhat alter this way of thinking, the constant criticizing of my work and abilities. I feel that if I can lift someone else up from their slump, if I can see them as an unfinished work of art, then I can see myself doing the same. This strength will allow me to pursue my academic goals with a more positive point of view, which will allow for a better outcome in the end. This strength will also help in my pursuing a career in pharmacy. Now that pharmacy is becoming a more patient-centered practice, a lot of time and effort is put into one person’s health and medications. These people may not always have the best outlooks on life, especially if they are facing something so severe that has caused them to lose all hope. I want to be able to help them find that hope again, seeing that there is nowhere to go but up and that they can get through even the roughest of battles. I want to specialize in the mental health area of pharmacy, so this idea is very evident. Sometimes people get this idea in their head that they are no longer “good” for the world, that their existence, or lack thereof, would not affect anyone at all. By showing people all that they can accomplish in the world, by helping them realize all the potential that they have inside of them, I feel that my journey as a pharmacist would be successful. If I were to change just one person’s life, showing them just how special they really are, then I feel that I have been successful in my career. This strength will allow me to do exactly so.