Daman 1

I had some different reactions when I was presented my results in the end of the

StrengthsQuest quiz. When I read through them all some of them I was like oh yeah that is

totally me and then the others I read through I was like oh no definitely not that’s weird. My

overall reaction though was actually a positive reaction and I actually agreed with most of the

information that they provided me with my five strengths. Normally you would think that you

would not agree with most of your results and others would be like yes that is actually you, but I

actually agreed with most of my results and my friends and family were all like this is not you

and so on so I was shocked. When I thought that they got things on point others thought

differently which I actually thought was funny.

My five strengths from the StrengthsQuest were Restorative, Individualization, Futuristic,

Empathy, and Relator. There actually were many things that I did agree and disagree with when

reading through these results. My first strength was Restorative it said that I love to solve

problems, I enjoy identifying what is wrong and then finding a solution those are the things that I

agreed with in the paragraph. Some of the things that I disagreed with were that I become

energized when someone has a breakdown when actually I am good at solving problems, but if

someone breaks down in front of me normally I feel what they feel and would cry too and I do

not handle those situations well, also I feel a push when I come into contact with a complex and

unfamiliar problem well I do not normally deal with super complex issues, and it says I always

fix things when problems come up when I do not always fix the issues. I asked Krista to read all

of my results and give me a little feedback on each one and for Restorative she said that she

thinks I definitely am Restorative because I like to solve problems because I would rather not

have any with anyone so that makes me a problem solver.

Daman 2

My second strength was Individualization the information I received was that I am

intrigued by the qualities of each person. I am impatient with the term “type” because I like the

individual person. I hear the one-of-a-kind stories of a person’s life. I am a keen observer of

other people’s strengths, and can draw the best out of a person and those are the things that I

agree with. Some of the things that I disagreed with were that the individualization theme also

helps me build productive teams. I do not like building teams necessarily I like to work on my

own and I just like to help others. Another thing that I found that I disagreed with was that the

results said that I observe a person’s style, each person’s motivation, how they think, and how

each build relationships which I find actually kind of creepy, weird and that it does not make

sense. I like to know the background/qualities of a person and their life, but I do not focus on it

and “watch them” in any way. Krista said for Individualization that it is definitely me as well

because I am the one person that she can tell everything to and I never judge her instead I give

her advice and help her through all her problems.

My third strength was Futuristic and in this paragraph it explained that the future

fascinates me. I also see the detail that the future might hold for me. That picture of the future

keeps me going to the next day. I see visions of what life could be like in my future and how I

want it to be and I cherish those visions. When the day becomes frustrating I look at the future

and it energizes me and drives me to keep going. People look to me to describe my visions of the

future to them. Yes I do have my future planned out I know what I want to do at all times every

day and what I want my future to look like, but I do not look so far into the future like whole life

future I look about ten years at a time which sounds silly. I know that what I see my future to be

will/could potentially change it’s the future it is not set in stone. I go with the flow, but to an

extent I am not super laid back where I have absolutely nothing planned I still have a plan. Krista

Daman 3

said that she does not see me as very Futuristic because she never hears me talk about my future

and she said I am mostly stuck in the present never in the past and never in the future.

My fourth strength was Empathy and it says that I can sense the emotions of the people

around me. I can feel what they are feeling as if they were my own feelings. I am able to see the

world through their eyes and share the perspective they have. I do not feel pity for the person

because that would be sympathy. I do not condone each person’s choices, but I do understand. I

am able to anticipate when people are in need. I find the right words to say and in the right tone.

This whole paragraph I actually agreed with and I found that interesting. I am always there for

my friends when they have a predicament then come to me I listen then give them my opinion

and I have yet to give the wrong advice. Krista said that I am very empathetic and that I can

always tell when something is bother her or someone else and I always do my best to be there for

the her or the person when they need it and help them as best I can.

My fifth and final strength was Relator and that said that I pull myself towards people I

already know. I do not shy away from meeting new people and that I turn strangers into friends. I

build up a strength of being around my close friends. I want to understand everything about them

their fears, goals, dreams, feeling’s etc. I want them to know mine as well so we can connect to

each other. A relationship has value to me if it is genuine and the only way to know that is to

entrust myself with the other person. I am not completely this person at all in my opinion I like to

relate to people, but I do not make the first effort to show or see if our friendship is genuine nor

do I try and relate to people I do me you do you that is the way I look at things sometimes, but it

does not always work out. Friendships are risk in itself and that is something that not everyone

likes. Krista did not see me as a relator as a strength of mine because it does not seem like me

she said I am more of understanding, but I do not relate myself to them.

Daman 4

One example of when I was able to use my strength successfully was with my friends and

the strength that I am talking about is Empathy. I probably use this most with Krista because I

can always tell when something is bothering her. I actually have that ability I always know when

something is bothering anyone for that matter. I would always ask her hey what is bothering you

or I can tell something is wrong so let me hear it and she will tell me every time (mostly

boyfriend troubles). If I do not ask then she will come to me when she is dealing with an issue. I

am pretty good with knowing the right things to say at the right time when it comes to certain

things. I am just able to understand her and that is why our friendship is so strong because I help

her with her problems and she helps me with mine.

The second example of me using a strength successfully would be with school and not

necessarily college, but when I was in high school leading up to the present I always had/have a

plan of the future and that strength I am talking about is Futuristic. When I was in high school we

had to fill out this online plan called “I have a plan Iowa” most kids did not fill it out until their

senior year because it was a graduation requirement, but I always filled it out with the classes I

wanted to get into, my planned college major, what colleges I was interested in and now in

college I am constantly thinking about what to do next. My mom gets annoyed sometimes

actually because I am always talking about when I plan to take the Praxis, what classes I am

going to take next year, and when I plan to do my field experience etc.

One of my top five strengths was Individualization well I find this strength challenging

for me. Like I said before it talks about me being able to build productive teams and finding each

person’s individual strengths which is a load of bologna for me. I am not good at building teams

and if I am put into teams I am awful at finding people’s strengths and what each person would

be able to contribute. For example in my Psychology class last semester I grabbed some of my

Daman 5

friends for a group pop quiz and me thinking that they were paying attention to certain things

because I saw them writing notes I was wrong because they all relied on me to know the

answers. Also it says that I know to pick teams by each person’s strengths well I usually just say

“hey you want to be in our group” so I guess I do not really even pay attention to who it is.

Another strength that I had that I actually can see being challenging in my everyday life

is actually the Relator strength. It says that I do not shy away from meeting new people and that I

find the thrill in meeting new people. Well I do like meeting new people, but I am not one to

usually talk to them first it depends on the situation. For example first day of cornerstone when

we had to find a partner and introduce each other I just kind of sat there waiting for someone to

ask me and then Krista did. I normally wait for people to talk to me first and another example for

that was actually before Winter break I had not really spoken to Anna or Marissa a whole lot and

after class they both walked with me out and we three exchanged numbers and now we are super

close. I see that as a challenge everyday meaning I just do not always make the effort to meet

new people I sort of wait for them to come to me.

My first strength that I see myself utilizing in my academic life is Futuristic in the way

that I am constantly looking at what is due, at the syllabus, working on things, and checking my

grades just about every day. This helps me in my academic life because it has stopped me from

procrastinating my homework and whenever something is assigned I start working on it right

away.

There are two strengths that help me/are a challenge with my relationships that I have and

those two are Restorative and Individualization. Restorative is a strength that helps me a lot with

my friendships due to the fact that I love to solve personal problems for people and give advice

to those who need it. I use this strength with my friendship with Krista just about every single

Daman 6

day. She will always come to me with a problem with her boyfriend and I always tell her my

opinion and what I think and as far as I know I have been helpful so she says. Communication

between me and Krista is not an issue whatsoever we literally talk all day every day we

understand each other and can just look at each other and know what the other is thinking about.

Individualization is the other strength that I find to be challenging in my personal

relationship/friendships. That friendship that is causing it to be challenging to use

Individualization is with Andrew because I always try my best to be there for him and help him

out by finding ways that he likes or is good at doing things so he is successful and he shuts me

out and ignores me. Communication between a people is key to a successful friendship and when

a friendship between two people used to be talking every day to not talking at all you know that

is a failed friendship.

While taking the StrengthsQuest online there were many different reactions I had as well

as many thoughts going through my head while completing the questions and reading the

descriptions of my five strengths. My five strengths were Restorative, Individualization,

Futuristic, Empathy, and Relator. Overall my thoughts on the StrengthsQuest was that it was

very fun to participate in and I enjoyed reading the results in the end and I will recommend this

to anyone.