Why I Chose These 5 Strengths
1 Learner
I chose Learner first because it is the one I am most sure about. This semester I am taking
three courses at the same time (web development, cloud machine learning, and cloud native
development) and I still find myself opening tutorials at night for things that are not even
assigned. During my internship, my supervisor asked me to look into database migrations in a
framework I had never touched, and instead of being annoyed I spent the weekend going through
the official bootcamp just to understand it properly. I also learned a game engine recently
just by building a small game in it. I like the feeling of being bad at something and slowly
getting better more than I like being finished.
2 Achiever
I do not feel settled until a project is actually done and working, not just "mostly done."
For my midterm in another class I built a bookstore app out of five separate services, and when
it was complete I kept going and moved the whole thing onto Kubernetes for the final instead of
reusing the simpler version. I keep a checklist for every project and I like crossing things
off. Some days that pushes me too hard, but it also means my group members know that if I take
a task, it will be finished and tested before the deadline.
3 Ideation
I always have a new idea on the side. In the past year I started a small AI tool, a landing
page template that I actually put up for sale, and a story-driven game about a painter and a
musician. Not all of them survived, but they all started the same way: I saw two things that
did not obviously connect and wanted to see what happened if I put them together. In school
this shows up when a group is stuck on an assignment and I am the one throwing out three
different directions so we at least have something to react to.
4 Strategic
Strategic is the strength that keeps Ideation from getting me in trouble. My first attempt at
a software product depended on paid AI API calls, so every user cost me money. Once I saw where
that was heading, I dropped it and decided my next products would have zero running costs, which
changed what I chose to build next. I also plan before I code now. For the bookstore project I
drew out the gateway and the services and how they talked to each other before writing a single
line, and that plan is the reason the project did not fall apart at the end.
5 Responsibility
I am currently interning in the IT department of a bank, and in that kind of place nobody
checks on you every hour. If I say a script or a report will be ready on a certain day, it is
ready, because other people are making decisions based on it. The same is true at home, where I
handle some family paperwork and agreements that my parents trust me with. I would rather say
no to a task up front than say yes and let someone down later. People around me have noticed
this, which is why I usually end up as the person who holds the final version of the work.
The one I want to develop further
The strength I most want to grow is Strategic. Right now Ideation and Achiever are louder: I get
excited, I start building, and I only think about the trade-offs when something breaks. I want
to make planning a habit instead of a reaction. My concrete plan is to write a short one-page
plan before every project, list at least two alternative approaches and what could go wrong
with each, and then look back at that page when the project ends to see what I got right and
wrong. Over a few semesters, I think that will make me someone who thinks ahead by default,
not just someone who recovers well.
