During my time at Turing, I’ve seen my StrengthsFinder themes crop up over and over again. My first theme, Ideation, asserts itself everyday in class. All of the new ideas that I’m learning keeps my interest up, even when it’s not directly applicable. My second theme, Input, also shows; however, it can be a downfall, as I get caught in the minutia of things which distracts me from achieving what I’m supposed to be working on.  The Learner and Intellection themes go well with the negatives and positives of curiosity.  I’m becoming very mindful of how my strengths can actually be weakness, and I try very hard to realize when I move into the unproductive world of distraction through curiosity.

So far at Turing, I’ve struggled with anxiety and parsing out all the information that I need to succeed with the projects and the knowledge and skills I need to implement those projects. The first week or two were rough, as I was trying to find my groove. I’ve since found my groove, and the results have boosted my confidence when learning new material.

I would like others to see me as a deep thinker with insatiable curiosity and a solid knowledge of the material. Much as we use testing to drive software development, I believe I can use some of the descriptions in the StrengthsFinder to communicate my journey at Turing.  For example, in the Ideation insights report, the “What makes you stand out?” paragraph provides some good phrases such as “Your mind is brimming with ideas,” and “By nature, you are quite proficient[…].”

In future mods, I plan to keep my StrengthsFinder results in mind so I can be my own cheerleader. Too often, I’m told, I am too hard on myself and have unrealistic expectations for myself. Remembering my strengths will help ease my mind and reconsider my attitude towards myself. For me, gaining confidence helps my stress level, and when I leverage my strengths, my confidence increases, and success in future mods is inevitable.