After taking the StrengthsFinder Assessment through Gallup my top five strengths in order are: responsibility, relator, discipline, harmony, and significance.  I see these strengths playing a role in my current life in various ways, for as I read through the descriptions of the five strengths I could easily relate to the wording and characteristics that were given in the “What makes you stand out?” portion of the strengths insight and action-planning guide.

First, responsibility plays a role in my current life because I am individual performer who expects to be held accountable for my results, and therefore I strive to do every action correctly.  Throughout my school work and with my interaction with friends and professors I try to be a dependable person who is known for accuracy and precision in completing tasks, whether they are homework assignments, labs, or just everyday situations.  I also enjoy having more control and accountability, so therefore I often take on extra duties, specifically in group work, without making an excitement because this gives me further leadership and responsibility.  Knowing that responsibility is a strength of mine supports my future goal of eventually holding some sort of leadership position.  I have always dreamed of being a CEO, operations manager, or just holding a position in which I am able to oversee others’ work, and therefore maximize my strength of responsibility.  Responsibility falls into the category of ‘executing’ and therefore this strength is associated with the idea of someone who makes things happen.   This strength of responsibility can be utilized to achieve my future professional goal of holding some sort of executive position, by showing my future employers that I take ownership in what I do and strive to provide the greatest reliability and accuracy that I can.  With these traits, employers will see that I am constantly striving to do things more completely than ever before, and so I hope that my strength of responsibility will prove that I can dependably hold a position where I possess managerial responsibility.

My second strength of relator plays a role in my current life in that I truly try to get to know others on a personal basis so that they feel as though my advice and conversations with them are not generic, but unique.  Specifically freshman year everyone is branching out and making new friends, so therefore I really try to not have the same common conversation with every person that I come in contact with because I want others to trust see that I value our conversation.  I also find enjoyment in giving knowledge, talking about past experiences, and helping others acquire skills that I have already mastered.  This relates to my academics because when I complete a math or chemistry problem, successfully finish a lab, or conclude an activity that was interesting, I enjoy sharing these things with others.  It is not as though I am trying to brag, I am just attempting to help them accomplish or experience things.  Furthermore, relator supports my future goal of holding a position in which I have some independence in the way that I carry out activities because I do have my own way of performing tasks, meeting deadlines, and carrying out activities.  I can use my strength of relator to achieve my future personal goal of wanting to form close friendships with others, for I realize that in life I do not have to have multitudes of friends, but a few close friends who will always be there to support me.  Using my strength I hope to form close companions who will seek my guidance for any problems that they may have in their life so that in turn I can be a valuable friend to those whom I love.

My third strength is discipline and this plays into my current life because I am a person who is constantly making lists, keeping an agenda, and trying to plan for all the tasks that I am taking on at the moment.  Also, when it comes to academics I am grateful for deadlines because these are the things that help me prioritize my day-to-day activities.  Throughout both grade school and high school I was known as the person who consistently completed what needed to be done on time because I can concentrate intently on what needs to be accomplished.  I also tend to use discipline to make things more efficient by using daily routines to help me complete assignments with attention to detail.  Using my strength of discipline I tend to waste less time, and therefore I am able to allocate more time to the people, activities, and organizations that I find interesting and that request my attention.  Discipline supports one of my future goals in that I hope to remain organized and efficient throughout my four years of college at Ohio State and beyond.  Discipline will allow me to continue to use deadlines, planning, concentration, and attention to detail so that I may plan effectively for all that I take on now and in the future.  Furthermore, I think that this strength of discipline supports my future professional goal of hopefully obtaining a management position in the company that I work for.  I hope that my employers will see that I successfully make things happen by carefully executing and planning for work that I am given.  A leader is one who is efficient, and by using my strength of discipline I can enhance procedures and actions that are done by those around me.

My fourth strength is harmony in that I look for consensus and seek agreement.  This strength applies to my current life because I do try to be the mediator between disagreements and work to diminish arguments before they even occur.  At home I am always the member of the family who attempts to understand other’s points of view in an effort to reduce conflict from occurring.  Harmony applies to academics because I seek harmony especially when I am faced with a challenge or need to improve upon a skill of mine.  I often turn to experienced individuals such as teachers or advisors, who I trust, to help me identify and better certain aspects of my study skills, academics, or qualities.  Knowing my strength of harmony supports my future goal of continuing to reach out for help when I am struggling and need some assistance.  Harmony helps me to seek advice from others in any matter at hand, and therefore my future goal is strengthened.  I hope to utilize harmony to achieve my future goal of working well with others especially in teams.  Much of engineering and many daily activities require team work between individuals, and my future goal aligns with my strength because harmony is categorized as a ‘relationship’ strength.  Therefore harmony will help me to unite others and bring various talents together in order to make a group greater than the sum of its parts.

Finally, my last strength is significance in which I am independent and want to be recognized by others.  This strength plays a role in my current life because I set definite goals for myself in both my personal and academic life.  Achieving good grades, making friends, and staying healthy are just a few of the ways in which I challenge myself to succeed personally, academically, and physically.  Specifically in academics I tend to work very hard with diligence and give my all to the very end because I want to be seen as the hardworking student who continually persevered.  Knowing that I have the strength of significance supports my future goal of continuing to obtain and strengthen friendships with people who are just as conscientious and hard working as myself, so that therefore they challenge me to do my best.  Significance can help me achieve my future professional goal of earning a positive reputation and making a good impression on important people in my future occupation.  In this way I hope to earn a higher position in the company that I work for, and truly make an impact on the lives of others.

In conclusion, learning about my strengths has been quite fascinating because the results were very applicable in describing my personality, and therefore I now understand myself better.  I hope to focus on my strengths and maximize them in a way that is both healthy and productive so that I, as well as others, can benefit from the strengths that I possess.