The first time I had an assignment to write about my short time spent at The Ohio State University, I wrote with the up most enthusiasm. Writing again about my further experiences, I can’t say much of the enthusiasm has died down. While the excitement is not nearly as active, there are still days I find myself sitting in a cozy study room or walking to class that I get bombarded by this feeling of euphoria. This feeling is not only based on the fact that I have made it this far, but the fact that I realize I could not have landed myself in a better place to transition to my life as a functioning adult.

Since I last wrote I’ve managed to acquire a job that I love, humans that I actively seek out time with (considering I’m usually the person who sits around and waits to be contacted, this is certainly a stride), and knowledge that have only made my passions stronger. I recognize that the work load I am receiving is much larger than I’ve really ever received before, but as I keep saying time and time again, everything else is such an improvement, I’ve hardly even noticed. Even with the (eventually) approaching cold, I am still not over having the ability to go outside in the middle of the day and see the sun. That alone has done wonders for my mental health. The freedoms I’ve been given are not being taken for granted.

In my last review, I wasn’t able to write about my involvement in clubs and organizations around campus because they had not yet begun. Now I’m happy to write about the organizations I’ve got myself into. They just add so much fulfillment to my overall experience. I don’t have much down time, but that is the opposite of a problem for me. I rather enjoy spending my free time discussing psychology and mental health, taking free tap classes, going on Humanities themed adventures with some lovely ladies I’ve come to know. I can’t imagine how boring my life would be if I ended class every day at four, did my homework, and just kind of sat around waiting for the next day’s routine.

I know this semester was an easy one for me, and I know it’s only going to get harder from here, but I can’t help but feel excited to be busy with things that I love doing. Tackling challenges and crating experience that I can use in my life after college. I’m sure there’ll be times of extreme stress and anxiety, a good handful of days where everything seems to be piling up and drowning me. I know I’ll survive though because of how willing this university is to help, and how positive everything else I am experiencing is. I am so grateful for my ability to learn about life and new ideas in a school with such an amazing culture.

Top Strengths:

1. Individualization
2. Input
3. Futuristic
4. Restorative
5. Responsibility

Analysis

I am incredibly interested by my strengths. They certainly are not wrong, but I feel as if there are definitely better at than these. I understand where each of them came from, and why my answers on the quiz brought them to me, maybe there is just not a better word for what this website is trying to say I’m proficient at. Who knows! All I know is I definitely meet the criteria for most of each strength. Let’s start from the strongest and work out way down, shall we?

When I first saw that individualization was my top strength, I wasn’t shocked at all. I strive every day to make sure I stand out at least a little bit. I pride myself on my individuality. Then I read what individualization actually meant and had to sit and think about that for a little bit. I suppose as an aspiring psychologist, I should be pleased to find that my top strength is being able to find what makes each person different, what makes them tick. It’s an exciting idea, however, I can’t seem to pinpoint any times when I’ve honed in on that skill and used it. Or even realized I had that ability in general. It must be an unconscious thing that I do, that or it’s just plain wrong. Either way, I shall definitely be paying more attention to that ability in the future.

Input I can agree with 100%. It doesn’t really do me much good, but I’ve for sure got the mentality of a hoarder in many ways. I think what I collect would have to be semi-useless memories that I use for sentimentality all the time. I am very good at remembering specific dates of important things that happened to me, and if not I can use what happened around that to figure it out. I can tell you the shirt you were wearing, what day of the week it was. I also collect a good some of material objects. I hoard CDs like it’s nobody’s business, I own way too many books for someone with no time to read, and I just started a movie and a record collection. While this may not be coming in handy yet, this idea definitely hit the nail on the head with me, and I’ll be sure to keep that in mind.

My only complaint with getting the Futuristic strength is that it isn’t up higher in the list. I spend a good chunk of every one of my days thinking about the future. Most of my time spent on my laptop is looking up places where I want to live, what I should expect my salary to be. I’ve known that I wanted to go to college for Criminal Psychology, move to the west coast, and write on the side since I was 12 years old. Not much has changed. I get little highs from picturing what my life will be like in 10 years. I honestly think this should have been a much bigger strength of mine, but I’m glad it was included.

The last two are the ones I am most unsure about. Yes I am a relatively responsible person, and I like the idea of solving problems, but these are more so things that I wish I could improve on. I always have the best intentions, but I always end up either coming short or, to be frank, bullshitting a solution that often just happens to work. Maybe the test picked up on that and figured “Hey, this girl can figure this stuff out without even Trying! Neat!” No idea, but I guess I must have answered some things a bit too positively about myself in that quiz. Which is possible. Who knows?

I have mixed feelings about this whole strengths project. While on one hand, it’s nice to know what a bunch of questions determined me to be good at, on another I do not agree with the whole focusing in on them. While the positive psychology is probably good for me, I’d rather not waste my time working on something I’m already good at when I can be improving myself as a whole. But, I shall certainly remember these in case I need them in the future.

Nicole Mohan. Freshman at OSU. Majoring in Psychology. Originally from Toledo, Ohio.

What Are You Most Ambivalent About?

“Honestly I’d have to say The Death Penalty. I know I should have an opinion on it and everything, but I really can’t figure it out. I dunno.”

Faraz Ansari. Freshman at OSU. Majoring in economics. Originally from Dallas Texas.

What Are You Most Ambivalent About?

“Third World Hunger”