My top five strengths are Restorative, Competition, Achiever, Focus, and Significance. Restorative basically means I’m good at identifying problems and dealing with them, especially weaknesses I see in myself. Going through my first year of college, I see myself using this strength every single day, whether it’s reevaluating my work habits, or identifying better ways to study for midterms. While I find satisfaction in success, I always see something more in my failures and sometimes even in my successes something I can change, something I could have done better. My next strength, Competition is probably my personal favorite strength. Competition is described as measuring my progress to others and finding satisfaction in doing better than others. In high school the grades of my peers was always what pushed me to want to do better, because I hated the feeling of being adequate. While I am competitive I don’t let it overwhelm me into becoming a sore loser or being a bad sport if I fail to be to be the best. My competitiveness drives me to do better in classes, regardless if the class interests me or if I have a strong distaste for the material. Being competitive helps me drive myself into asking more out of myself and helps me believe that I can do anything I put my mind to. After receiving our midterm grades I was satisfied with my grades, but knowing many of my peers did better than me brings out my competitiveness to go to the library and study harder for the next midterms. Achiever is having the work ethic and endurance to get their work done. I think my other strengths go hand in hand with this strength because I wouldn’t be able to have restorative and competition strengths if I wasn’t an achiever. During my first two years of high school I was pretty chubby, my health and fitness were not a huge concern for me. During my junior year I realized that it was getting out of hand and I got a gym membership. Regardless of what I had on my schedule that day I would make sure to always put time in to go the gym, get the right amount of sleep, and get my nutrition on track. Week by week I started seeing the results, which only got me to work harder because I love the feeling of seeing hard work reflect in the results. In school I’m not the smartest in a class, and I certainly don’t learn things quickly but I compensate for that with working harder on a consistent basis and keeping myself productive day in day out. Focus is a strength that usually turns on and off with me. A lot of the time I can be pretty absent minded at home but when I really need to get my work done, focus is like a light switch with me, and when I turn it on I get in the zone. While a lot of people lose focus in studying after an hour, before exams I could usually stay in a library for hours focused, with my nose in a book. Significance is last of my five strengths but is the one I think the most about when reflecting on my future. Significance means I like to be important in the eyes of others and I enjoy recognition. In high school this a major reason I ran for student council and my other leadership positions. I truly did enjoy whatever I was involved in high school but the recognition that came with positions was something that did draw value for me. Thinking about my future a big reason I’d like to work hard and achieve the best grades I can in my classes to build a future for myself and because I’d like to have an important role in the future. Being a leader is huge for me because I have confidence in the way I lead and truly believe I can have the competency to do whatever I put my mind to.

Ever since I was a kid I wanted to be a doctor. Going into college I was a little scared because of the amount of people who told how difficult and competitive it is getting into med school. While I still believe this to be the case, I believe my strengths are a big part to why I’d still like to go down this path. Knowing that I do have strengths helps give me the confidence that I can truly bring something to the table professionally. Also I am a firm believer that there is more to my future than just work and see this in my strength significance. In Cincinnati, I frequently volunteered at the Ronald McDonald house and Cincinnati Children’s hospital. Through this I found myself coming across so many amazing people that inspired me. These experiences taught me just how fragile life can be, and why I should be blessed for everything I have, but most importantly it showed me how I have the ability to do so much for others. In high school a saying of ours was “Men for others with others”. We were told this by teachers year by year and sometimes it felt like I was regurgitating it to satisfy my teachers but after actually getting involved in programs that dealt with helping others found myself finding purpose in my life more important than just me. My strengths not only translate to my academics and my future professionally, my strengths are a way for me to work with a greater purpose.

My name is Daniyal Khan. I was born in Dayton, Ohio to Tariq and Sumera Khan. Both my parents immigrated to America in the early 90’s from Pakistan. While I was born in Dayton I have spent most of my life in Mason, a suburb in Cincinnati. I live in the typical Asian household where grades always come first and work ethic is demanded in whatever I did. My parents are probably a big reason for the person I am today. They constantly pushed me to do better, regardless of if it was basketball practice or class assignments. I can honestly say I’m not the smartest guy in a class room but I’m a firm believer that results are shown through consistently giving it your best. If I give it my best, regardless of what the result is, good or bad, I can be satisfied that I did all I could.

I attended high school at St. Xavier High School. Throughout my four years I was involved in almost every club and activity I could find. I was involved in Spanish club. I helped set up book drives for National Honors Society. I participated in our Canned Food Drive every year with my homeroom. I gave tours and spoke to families of prospective students through the Admission Core Team. During my Senior year I was elected onto Student Council where I helped set up school wide events, lead pep rallies before big games, and my “favorite”…chaperone freshmen mixers. The reason I got so involved at school was because I really enjoy meeting new people and getting involved with things outside of my comfort zone.

Aside from school, Cincinnati hold one of the biggest Muslim communities in the midwest and being Muslim the Islamic Center of Greater Cincinnati or ICGC was like a second home for my family and I. Many of my closest friends were people I met through coming to this mosque every Friday. ICGC also has a youth group, which held social, community service, and spiritual events which really had a strong effect on the person I am today. Especially through the community service events we did at places like The Ronald McDonald house I realized  that I’d really like to help the less fortunate  and make a difference in the world. Even now in my summers I make sure to volunteer at hospitals, shelters, and other organizations and do my part to make a difference.

Hobbies of mine include working out and playing basketball. You can probably find me at the RPAC doing both of these activities. I love watching football (Go Bucks). Unfortunately I root for the Bengals and I’m a huge LeBron fan. I’m also struggling with my Netflix addiction and I enjoy binge watching The Office and Parks and Rec

STEM scholars really seemed like the perfect program for me. It combined my love for science and innovative technology and gave me an outlet to get involved the same way I  did in High school. I look forward to visits to COSI museum and meeting all the great people who share similar interest as me in science related topics.