Note: Unfortunately, I’m very forgetful when it comes to my favorite songs.  These are just the ones that came to mind at the moment (for various reasons).

All Star – Whenever I hear this song I’m immediately taken back to my childhood years.  Sitting in the backseat of a sweltering hot car as my family and I headed off to the pool on most summer days.  I’m not particularly attached to the songs deeper meaning- its just something I loved listening to as a kid.  Smash Mouth songs in general remind me of my glory days.

Iridescent – I like this song a lot more for it’s musical quality.  It is a rather depressing song due to its pessimistic message, somber tone, and hollow instrumental sections.  However, it is because of these qualities that I put it on repeat and listen to it for hours on end.  Definitely not something to listen to if you’re in a good mood, but its a great song otherwise.

Ideal of Hope – Hans Zimmer has so many amazing instrumental scores but this one may be my favorite.  It’s meaningful to me because when I play it I can just get lost in whatever I am working on.  As the Man of Steel’s theme, the music just just makes you feel so empowered.  It’s a great song if you need inspiration.  Something about it just spurs my imagination.

Lux Aeterna – Another instrumental, this orchestral work is a masterpiece.  The musical development that takes place during this piece is incredible.  I feel like I’m in a movie every time I hear this (which makes sense I suppose).  As someone who loves movies, its an awesome feeling when music is capable of making you feel as though you are in one.

Zero to Hero – I have to have at least one Disney song on this list.  This song is just so much fun!  If you’ve ever heard me singing Disney around the dorms, you’ve probably heard this song come up at least once.  Hercules is one of my favorite movies, and I feel that this song depicts what I strive for as a person.  SIC PARVIS MAGNA.

Duel of the Fates – Do I feel like a Jedi when I listen to this?  Yes. Yes, I do.  This song is important to me because it is my go to shower song.  I will stand there and just let this play as I am transported to a different world.  John Williams created something that allows me to travel to a new world, far, far away.

Waving Flag – I love this song.  It’s my happy song.  It diverges from our normal pop songs and whatnot.  I like the Coca-Cola Edition because in the video it celebrates the world coming together.  It’s played with a lot of sports material and its an interesting kind of pump up song.  It really makes me in a good mood.

Drake’s Theme – Such an awesome opening to such an awesome series.  This song is important to me because the Uncharted series is extremely important to me.  I aspire to be like Drake, thus, I listen to and bask in his theme all the time.  This is not the rapper Drake by the way.  Nathan Drake’s theme is incredibly inspiring and makes me feel ready for anything!

Dream Come True – A song from one of my favorite shows, Dream Come True hits me right in the feels.  It’s kind of a sappy song so don’t judge me.  If you’ve ever seen the show though you’ll totally be with me though.  It’s significant to me because it hits a lot of themes that I can imagine but have never actually experienced.

Give It Up – I think this is my only older song on this list.  The first time I heard it was in Kingsman: The Secret Service- and it was soooooo catchy.  It’s important to me because I actually started listening to it at the beginning of the school year.  I walked around campus with a spring in my step due to this song!

My Strength Results:

1.  Restorative

2.  Focus

3.  Harmony

4.  Significance

5.  Analytical

My number one strength according to the test was restorative.   I strongly agree with this as being my top trait as I love to fix things that were once great.  One recent example of this was with my dad back in high school.  We were redoing the kitchen and I as helping with both the demolition and construction.  While demolition was a blast I truly enjoyed slowly building the place back up to a magnificent final product.  My strength of restoration can be truly helpful when I see something that I have the power to fix.

My second strength was significance.  I want to know that everything I do has a decent impact on the world around me.  I don’t need to be recognized directly for it as long as people can appreciate what I it is I have done.  I think an example of this could be found in my decision to pursue a teaching profession.  As a teacher I would ensure that the knowledge and skills which I passed on to my students were beneficial and unique.  They wouldn’t have to belike “of wow, he’s the best,” as long as they realize at some point in their lives how helpful what I taught them was.

My third strength I chose to discuss was analytical.  I don’t just accept any given proposition.  I want people to have reasons and evidence to support their points.  Sometimes I can be a little skeptical of what others think.  Although this may at times come of at close-mindedness, I think it is a beneficial trait.  An example would be when I study new concepts for school.   I sometimes find myself looking for the connections that prove a fact is true.  When it is lacking I am hesitant to accept it.  Recently in my Spanish class my teacher introduced us to a new concept which I did not agree with.  I required a lot of reasoning from her to even somewhat alter my view.

My partner for the photo project was Caleb Cheadle.  Amazingly enough we had not yet met one another- despite living on the same floor.  However, we exchanged contact information, and decided we’d take a little time to think about how the other person could capture our own personality in a single picture.  Eventually the time came for us to meet up and take one another’s picture.  We went to Caleb’s room first where he put some last minute consideration into a few different items.  He decided upon his D&D Strategy Guide as he loves playing the game and it is very much a part of his personality.  We briefly talked about the game and I learned that he plays it often with a bunch of his friends and really enjoys it.  He also had some soccer balls placed in the background showing that he’s a fan of the sport.  Each of these items can show a little bit about his personality by depicting his various interests.  Although I definitely haven’t learned everything there is to know about Caleb- he seems like a really cool guy with a passion for competitive, strategic, and fun experiences.  We then went off to my room to take my personality photo.  While there, he recognized some of my favorite items and we were able to talk about a similar interest.  All in all, it was a pretty neat experience.  I learned a little bit about someone’s personality which may allow me to work better with this person in the future and maybe hang out with them given the chance.

[Artifacts are the items you consider to be representative of your academic interests and achievements. For each entry, include both an artifact and a detailed annotation.  An annotation is a reflective description of the artifact that attempts to communicate its significance.  For more information, go to: http://honors-scholars.osu.edu/e-portfolio. Delete these instructions and add your own post.]