Leadership Profile
Below you can find a section detailing my Top Five strengths based upon the Gallup CliftonStrengths quiz.
1. Input
"You are inquisitive. You collect things. You might collect information—words, facts, books, and quotations—or you might collect tangible objects such as butterflies, baseball cards, porcelain dolls, or sepia photographs. Whatever you collect, you collect it because it interests you. And yours is the kind of mind that finds so many things interesting. The world is exciting precisely because of its infinite variety and complexity. If you read a great deal, it is not necessarily to refine your theories but, rather, to add more information to your archives. If you like to travel, it is because each new location offers novel artifacts and facts. These can be acquired and then stored away. Why are they worth storing? At the time of storing it is often hard to say exactly when or why you might need them, but who knows when they might become useful? With all those possible uses in mind, you really don’t feel comfortable throwing anything away. So you keep acquiring and compiling and filing stuff away. It’s interesting. It keeps your mind fresh. And perhaps one day some of it will prove valuable."
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As a student striving to become a future lawyer, I believe that input is crucial in developing a mindset that emphasizes problem solving. Collecting facts and clues ultimately leads to fruitful brainstorming when discovering solutions to newfound problems. This quality also enables me to become a life long learner pursuing excellence on an academic and professional level. Knowing that I function on a level that thrives on information allows a mindset that does not feed onto ego and t therefore allows me to have a greater sense of excitement in frustrating circumstances. Knowing that there are a variety of answers to singular questions on specific information brings me incredibly enjoyment!
2. Belief
"If you possess a strong Belief theme, you have certain core values that are enduring. These values vary from one person to another, but ordinarily your Belief theme causes you to be family-oriented, altruistic, even spiritual, and to value responsibility and high ethics—both in yourself and others. These core values affect your behavior in many ways. They give your life meaning and satisfaction; in your view, success is more than money and prestige. They provide you with direction, guiding you through the temptations and distractions of life toward a consistent set of priorities. This consistency is the foundation for all your relationships. Your friends call you dependable. “I know where you stand,” they say. Your Belief makes you easy to trust. It also demands that you find work that meshes with your values. Your work must be meaningful; it must matter to you. And guided by your Belief theme it will matter only if it gives you a chance to live out your values."
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Personally I believe that this strength defines me the best as my belief system, which stems from my Catholic faith, has always been the guiding compass of my life. I believe that these truths have helped me to champion human dignity, integrity, and authenticity in my life. I am what I believe in and this was highlighted even more, specifically within my time developing a documentary for the Ireland Peace Building Program, as I learned what others fought for in their own lives. The violence that happened in Northern Ireland was rooted in conflicting beliefs of country and citizenship which showcases how dangerous beliefs can be when poorly articulated. From those who formulated the Good Friday Agreement of 1998 to those who participated in paramilitaries, their beliefs defined and ruled their lives in ways that would forever impact history. Through this, I analyzed my belief system and saw that if I pointed into towards my religious values than I saw a positive impact on the lives around me. I can firmly speak my mind and participate in discussion if I know what grounds me; this allows for consistency in my relationships with others and my relationship to my own self. Through this, I can become a stronger leader.
3. Intellection
"You like to think. You like mental activity. You like exercising the “muscles” of your brain, stretching them in multiple directions. This need for mental activity may be focused; for example, you may be trying to solve a problem or develop an idea or understand another person’s feelings. The exact focus will depend on your other strengths. On the other hand, this mental activity may very well lack focus. The theme of Intellection does not dictate what you are thinking about; it simply describes that you like to think. You are the kind of person who enjoys your time alone because it is your time for musing and reflection. You are introspective. In a sense you are your own best companion, as you pose yourself questions and try out answers on yourself to see how they sound. This introspection may lead you to a slight sense of discontent as you compare what you are actually doing with all the thoughts and ideas that your mind conceives. Or this introspection may tend toward more pragmatic matters such as the events of the day or a conversation that you plan to have later. Wherever it leads you, this mental hum is one of the constants of your life."
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In the corner of a library there I stood, my small fingers lovingly skimming over the cream crisp pages of The Lion Witch and the Wardrobe by C.S. Lewis. Looking at my pile of five books haphazardly stacked on the rugged carpet, I calculated how likely it was for the school librarian to let me check out six books instead of three. By the time I was eight I knew the aisles of my closest Barnes & Noble Bookstore like the back of my hand. When I was in fourth grade I beat an eighth grader for most AR points in the entire school. In fifth grade I snuck Reading in the Dark by Seamus Deane into my lap under my desk during science class only to be caught by Mrs. Dasche and told to focus on the lesson. This habit continued into high school, so much so that my sophomore year geometry teacher asked if I was done with the lesson to which I could happily reply yes this time. I found myself between the pages of books and what was originally a voracious appetite for new words became a hunger for the exploration of new worlds. Since I was a child, I craved literature and would read nearly every book I could get my hands on. This eventually led me to ache for intensive academic stimulation for my brain, resulting in pushing myself to break down my own limitations. My craving to remain not only a lifelong student but to become a pupil in my own hobbies allowed me to procure the mindset necessary to becoming a well rounded leader. I have also seen within my own time as a TRS major, how this mindset has lead me to desire critical thinking skills not only when reading but when participating in academic conversation. While I thrive on social interactions, the ability to listen to myself when in private allows me the opportunity to center myself and remain who I am.
4. Ideation
"You are fascinated by ideas. What is an idea? An idea is a concept, the best explanation of the most events. You are delighted when you discover beneath the complex surface an elegantly simple concept to explain why things are the way they are. An idea is a connection. Yours is the kind of mind that is always looking for connections, and so you are intrigued when seemingly disparate phenomena can be linked by an obscure connection. An idea is a new perspective on familiar challenges. You revel in taking the world we all know and turning it around so we can view it from a strange but strangely enlightening angle. You love all these ideas because they are profound, because they are novel, because they are clarifying, because they are contrary, because they are bizarre. For all these reasons you derive a jolt of energy whenever a new idea occurs to you. Others may label you creative or original or conceptual or even smart. Perhaps you are all of these. Who can be sure? What you are sure of is that ideas are thrilling. And on most days this is enough"
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​One day when I was in a Creative Writing Workshop course at JCU, my professor Dr. Metres told us a brief story about a fellow author's writing philosophy. He discussed how ideas tend to float around in the vast emptiness of space and while we as people sift through them to find the "brightest one", it is often the idea itself that chooses us. As a Creative Writing minor and a writer, I believe that the passion to acquire new ideas is crucial to developing a hopeful future. Whether it is through the lines of a fresh poem or the pages of fantasy short story, I aspire to deliver ideas to others in hopes that they can find their own experiences within them. We as people tend to separate ourselves by what makes us different instead of recognizing how similar we are as people. This is where I believe it is important to take "the world [as] we all know [it] and [turn] it around so we can view it from a strange but strangely enlightening angle". Innovation can not happen if our brains crumble in the face of actualizing an idea which is why I have a personal mission to follow the ideas that occur to me (even if they can be bizarre at times) but to also passionately advocate for others to follow their own dreams. This is how we foster a brilliant and humane society.
5. Responsibility
"Your Responsibility theme forces you to take psychological ownership for anything you commit to, and whether large or small, you feel emotionally bound to follow it through to completion. Your good name depends on it. If for some reason you cannot deliver, you automatically start to look for ways to make it up to the other person. Apologies are not enough. Excuses and rationalizations are totally unacceptable. You will not quite be able to live with yourself until you have made restitution. This conscientiousness, this near obsession for doing things right, and your impeccable ethics, combine to create your reputation: utterly dependable. When assigning new responsibilities, people will look to you first because they know it will get done. When people come to you for help—and they soon will—you must be selective. Your willingness to volunteer may sometimes lead you to take on more than you should."
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As someone who grew up playing sports before playing golf at the varsity level in high school and then becoming the team captain my last two years, responsibility has become integral to my life. I have long approached commitments with the following mindset "If I am going to say yes to this I must be saying yes not only with my mind but also with my heart". It is absolutely crucial for me to be able to commit myself 100% to what I am approaching because it allows little room for regrets. I believe that anchoring myself in responsibility is not limited to the physical roles I play such as work, family, or school but goes beyond that to my personal beliefs. Prioritizing responsibility means that I can advocate with a clean conscious for passionate work and deny the desire for laziness. I can then take agency for my decisions; whether they produce strong or weak outcomes knowing that I have instead trusted the process to achieving them.