StrengthsQuest Response Paper 1

StrengthsQuest Response Paper

Melissa Curtis

University of Northern Iowa

Part I. / Section A.

StrengthsQuest Response Paper 2

After I finished answering the questions, I could not help but wonder, “Did I make the

right choices?” and “Why were there not other options?!” and “Why does UNI’s WiFi

connection have to suck; can’t it see I’m stressed enough as it is?!” The few seconds it took to

load my results felt as if I was being tortured, and finally, five little words spelled out my

strengths: input, context, learner, discipline, and harmony. I was confused, at first, because I was

trying to analyze what the words meant in relationship to me and how I view myself. My

impression to the strength of “input” was that I have good ideas and opinions and liked to share

my ideas and opinions with others, which is something I believe to be true. I took “context” to

mean that I keep my view on life focused on the big picture, and I look at the context of a

situation. Learner seemed to be fairly self-explanatory, and the same goes for Discipline and

Harmony. There many aspects I agree with, so much so that my soul felt naked, but there were a

few aspects I did not agree with. I agreed with the fact that I collect things because I have a little

over 2,000 pins related to quotes on Pinterest. Two of genres of television shows that I like to

watch are medical mysteries, like House M.D., and crime shows, like NCIS and CSI: Miami

which makes sense now because that is the type of person I am; I am inquisitive and curious and

try to figure out what is wrong with the person, in relation to House, or who committed the

murder, in relation to NCIS and CSI: Miami. History, particularly the history of the United

States, has always been something I enjoyed learning about. Listening to stories from my

parents, uncles and aunts, and grandparents is also something I always loved. This makes sense

now, because I look back and try to learn from it for the future. The fact that I love to learn is

nothing new, because I have always enjoyed the classes I have taken because I find something I

enjoy about it. For example, I am currently taking Introduction to Sociology this semester, and

the readings from the textbook are extremely interesting to me. The last article I had to read was

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about cannibalism in relation to sociology. I found myself really getting into the article.

Something I did not agree with is “your excitement leads you to engage in adult learning

experiences.” Does reading count as an adult learning experience? Does watching movies like 13

Years a Slave and The Initiation Game count as an adult learning experience because most

people around my age would probably wrinkle their nose at those movies and go watch

Guardians of the Galaxy instead. Patterns and routines are my life, basically; this is nothing new.

They keep me sane and make me feel in control in a world that always seems to be in chaos.

Overall, the one that stood out to me was Harmony, because I just do not think of myself as

being peaceful, mostly because most of the time I am either stressed, worried, or panicking about

one or more things. People have described me as the type of person to be confrontational and say

what’s on my mind. After doing more thinking, I could maybe relate to the aspect of harmony in

the way that I say what’s on my mind in order to achieve peace or something close to peace.

Part I. / Section B.

While the class was not overly exciting, Survey of Art History with Dr. Charles Adelman

played to my strength of discipline. Adelman was clear from the beginning of the semester that

there were to be assignments and online practice quizzes due every week. He also mentioned that

there will be three quizzes, and he would give a least a week warning before giving a quiz. Last

semester, I dedicated my Wednesday nights to getting the weekly assignment and the online

practice quiz done, so that I could turn my printed assignment to the Art Office. I ended up doing

extremely well in the class, despite my predictions that I would fail it and have to take it over. In

high school, I involved in a car accident. I knew it was my fault, but it took me awhile to accept

that fact. This situation can be applied to my strength of context. I forced myself to look back at

what lead me to the accident. On paper, I was going too fast and ran a stop sign, but off paper, I

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was just kind of cruising through my life without stopping to take notice of what is going on

around me. I also looked back on how my family made it through after their accidents. Then I

used my strength of harmony to find a way to make peace with the accident.

There is a quite popular phrase that goes like this: “Curiosity killed the cat.” It applies in

the situation I experienced when I was in high school. My sister’s romantic relationship, at the

time, was in troubled waters, and me, being the curious person that I am, I wanted to figure out

what was going on so that I could help--my intent was to be helpful. I started asking her

significant other what was going on, and my sister saw it as me trying to butt into the

relationship. In retaliation, she told me to stop talking to her significant other and to butt out. To

put it lightly, I was too curious for my own good. Another situation where may not have used my

strengths in the best possible way is when I first came to college. Since I have a scholarship and

generally like to earn good grades, I got into the habit of my routine so that I felt that I did not

have much time to socialize and make friends. My weekends were usually spent working and

doing homework. If my routine changed a bit, I got flustered and overwhelmed. It still is a work

in progress, but I am trying to take my routine above and beyond.

Part II. / Section A.

One personal relationship that is working well is the one between my mom and I. Most of

the time, my mom and I’s relationship is based on phone calls and texts, and the occasionally

visit home. Harmony plays a part in our relationship because my mom does not like to “start”

things; she likes to keep the peace in the house. For the most part, I can kind of see myself as the

peacekeeper in family matters. I know there are times when I know just what to say to get my

dad going, but I keep my mouth shut to keep the peace. One personal relationship that is

challenging me is the one between my dad and I. According to my older brother, older sister,

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mom, and grandma, I am the one who is most like my dad. It is probably the reason why we

always butt heads. If my dad took StrengthsQuest, I am 99 percent sure he would get Activator,

because all that was discussed describes my dad to the “t”. My input strength trips me up because

I am curious and asks questions. We are complete opposites, but since I have been at college, I

have not contacted him that often, When I do see him, the relationship does not seem as

challenging.

Part II. / Section B.

Being an art major and one of my strengths to be discipline, having a predictable routine,

does not make sense to me. Art is volatile in the way that it is generally unpredictable and has no

set routine. People who are majoring in art, generally, are unpredictably free-spirited and think

off the top of their heads. When I told people who knew me well enough to know that I like

predictability and routine that I was a Graphic Design major, they looked at me funny, almost

like I had grown a third head. In contrast, my academic performance, like my GPA, attendance,

and homework, my strength of discipline works to my advantage. I have heard that the more a

person is organized the more successful that person tends to be. As a learner, it plays to my

advantage in relation to my academic performance. I try to find something intriguing about a

class and run with it. When people ask me how I like my classes, I always say the same thing: “I

like all my classes, because there is something that I find I like about all of them.”