kash
Junior Member
Posts: 78
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Post by kash on May 11, 2022 19:44:26 GMT
Just like I had a fair share of "worst" characteristics, I do believe I have a couple of different characteristics which I would also say are some of my best. The first I would like to pride myself on to be as a good characteristic of mine is that I am a very understanding person. I think I pride myself on the fact that I always give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and that I genuinely do try to see the best of everyone who is in my life. I think that I would want someone to do the same for me, so I really try to express it as well. This is definitely a skill which I have worked on a lot over my life, and not something that came to me naturally. I think earlier, I used to be a bit more judgmental and was a lot more uptight and serious, but I quickly realized that is just simply not the way to go about life. It is not fair for me to judge someone due to a small simple interaction, and not give them a better chance to learn more about them. So, I really pride myself about working on this, and being a more openminded and less judgmental person. I also think another good quality of mine is that I am very good at being organized and time efficient. I think I get this trait from my mother, as she is genuinely the most organized human being I have encountered, so growing up around her, I think she definitely passed on the trait to me. I think that for me, the easiest way to be organized is through writing EVERYTHING down. I have been carrying around a planner/ bullet journal / notebook for as long as I remember, and genuinely utilize Google Calendar every single hour of every single day. I think its just honestly because there is always so much going on in my head all the time, there have been instances where I have not written something down, and have completely missed deadlines or meetings with people. Thus, I really try to make an effort to make sure I am as organized as possible with everything which is accepted of me. I think if I truly cultivated this characteristic, I feel like life would be just so much more efficient because everything would be planned for, and I would always be on top of my day no matter what. Another good quality which I think I have is that I am a good conversationalist. I feel like I do a good job, no matter even if I am in a horrible mood, if I am having a conversation with someone I will always try to act very interested in what they are saying, and make them feel as if they are being heard and supported. I think honestly a conversation, especially a good one, can truly make or break someones day. I know a couple weeks ago, I was in a really bad mood and I had an interview with an active that day. I was a little nervous for the interview just because I had such a bad day prior, that I was not sure if I was going to be as professional as I should be for the interview. However, the active I was interviewing, had such a good conversation with me where he was actively listening to what I had to say to him, and I left the interview feeling so much better about myself. That one conversation completely made my day, and lifted my spirits much higher than I had originally had entering the interview. Thus, proving why I always pride myself in trying to cultivate being a good conversationalist, as it can truly make or break someones day without me even knowing.
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Post by jonalyngaspar on May 12, 2022 5:29:22 GMT
I believe I have the best characteristic of having integrity when it comes to certain situations. If I were to cutivate this characteristic in my life, I would continue to grow trust amongst my different relationships. For example in a workplace you want to be able to have trust amongst your peers to ensure that things will be executed correctly and fairly. A second best characteristic of mine is being a good communicator when it comes to my emotions. As an individual, it is always a good trait to be able to explain to others how you are feeling so there are no discrepancies when it comes to fostering a healthy connection between people. For example, being empathetic towards others helps me understand others and respond appropriately to certain situations. A third best characteristic of mine is being ambitious. If I were to continue to be ambitious in my life, I would be able to meet so many others and do different things I may have not known of. For example, being ambitious can open up so many opportunities for an individual as well as teach them important skills they may not have had originally. A fourth best characteristic of mine is my ability to be adaptable and flexible. These certain traits allow me to be able to work under high stress environments and teach me the necessary skills to have in different workplaces. For example I am able to still be productive throughout the day if my schedule happens to be changed or altered. A fifth best characteristic of mine is being able to work well amongst a team. I myself am able to come to a consensus when working with others so we can promptly and efficiently complete projects. For example, it is always good to understand and view different perspectives that are different from your own by making compromises so it allows others to be heard. A sixth best characteristic that I believe I have is the ability to step into leadership positions within different workplaces or scenarios. I think it is always important to be able to have the ability to delegate others and help lead a team to success. For example, having certain leadership skills can enable an environment of both personal and group growth. A seventh characteristic I believe I have is the skill of crisis management. With the skill of crisis management, I am able to react to situations calmly and devise strategies to come out of uncertain conditions to decide on the future course of action. An eighth characteristic I have is the ability to balance my professional and personal life. As this is an important skill to have, I am able to successfully attain a healthy work life balance. Therefore I am able to cease chronic stress that may be induced by certain situations. With all these traits I believe I am able to deliberately respond to different situations in my life whether it be professional or not. All these collaboratively work together to support myself in all my endeavors and goals within the future.
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Post by oliviadelapp on May 12, 2022 9:38:11 GMT
I think I have a few good characteristics that help me stand out among others. One of these is that I put my all into things I commit to. I believe that in particular, I have cultivated and tested this characteristic this quarter through the pledging process. There have been many times when I have felt like giving up, as I know it would be the easy way out. However, I kept telling myself "You've already committed so much of your time to pledge, why would you give up now?" I do not like quitting, and I feel like this trait has served me well this quarter. This trait will also help throughout the near future, such as during my time in law school and hopefully in my first few years as a lawyer. Obviously, being a lawyer is hard work, or else everyone would be one. I have heard from many friends and acquaintances that have gone through law school that one of the main reasons they got through it was by sheer motivation, which is why I think my tendency to not give up will be a good one to have. I have also been told by several of my friends that one of their favorite things about me is that I am always down to do anything. I think this could serve me well in life, as I feel like some of your best experiences and best memories are those that are not planned and that you don't expect. When you keep yourself open to anything, you are more likely to stumble into unexpected, unforgettable experiences. This can also apply to people. I feel as though sometimes, people keep themselves closed off, only opening up to someone if they see right away that they have similarities. However, I believe that I do not do this and that I am open to almost everyone when I first meet them. I always say that you can never really tell who a person is by one interaction, so having the quality of being open to all different kinds of people is a good thing to possess. I have also been told that I am a good listener. Although this is a good quality to have friend-wise, and people appreciate it when their friends pay attention to what they're saying, I also feel as though it is a good quality to have for the career that I want to pursue. If I end up being a criminal justice lawyer, having my clients feel as though I am really listening to what they are telling me will make them feel as though they are valued, and that I will try my best to do well in representing them. Having the faith of the person you are representing carries a lot of weight and is noticeable in a courtroom. If a jury sees that your client believes you are representing them well, they will also start to believe what you are saying. Therefore, being a good listener is a good trait to have both personally and professionally.
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Post by faithndegwa03 on May 12, 2022 9:56:58 GMT
I believe my best characteristic is my empathy for others. I think because of the circumstance I grew up in, I have always been really understanding of the hardships of others. I grew up on the southside of my city in a neighborhood called Roseland. Roseland is one of the most culturally enriched yet under-resourced neighborhoods in Santa Rosa. The entire southside of my city is infamous for its crime and danger, all of which I had to endure since I both lived and attended school in that area. However, I feel like it has made me really understand the problems of others. Most of the individuals in my area come from dysfunctional families and live in one of the most underserved and underfunded parts of Sonoma County. I really got to understand that a lot of those same individuals who go on to commit crimes were never put in the position to succeed in the first place because of systemic inequalities. These experiences have changed my overall perception of people. The older I get, I grow to realize that I never know the environment others were raised in or the factors in their life that have contributed to their current behaviors or actions - which makes me more understanding. However, I feel as though my empathy for others can sometimes have negative effects on myself. While learning about someone’s background can help you to understand them - it in no way justifies their wrongful actions. I have a tendency to feel bad for people because of the tough circumstances they have undergone and sometimes let their behaviors or actions slide as a result of it. However, I have grown to get better at learning to hold people accountable for their actions regardless of their background. I think my skill of empathy can be greatly cultivated in my future careers in law and public policy. Although I am pretty torn on which field of law I want to pursue, I have always known that I want to go into one that directly impacts the wellbeing of other individuals - like criminal defense or immigration. I have realized that a lot of the individuals who are negatively impacted by these systems were never put in the place to succeed because of systematic inequalities that are embedded within these fields of law. However, I realize that while law can help on a case by case basis, it does not make a systemic change - which is why I yearn to go into policy. My empathy for others has definitely been a driving factor in why I want to pursue these fields.
I think another characteristic that I pride myself in is my communication. I feel as though the main reason relationships (whether with friends, family, or others) do not work out is because there is a lack of communication and understanding on either side of the relationship. I really pride myself on being a good communicator. My friends have told me I am great at being able to articulate the things they could not put into words. This is another skill that could be cultivated within my future endeavors.
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Post by danieljudd on May 12, 2022 22:26:05 GMT
I humbly believe one of my best characteristics (bold of myself to assume I have more than one) is my ability to look at everything in life in a positive light, or at least I try to. I think the critical moments throughout this entire pledge process were ups and downs where I found myself struggling to meet what was expected of me. There have definitely been parts of the pledging process that have been very difficult and the entire process has been time consuming. Despite this, I have tried to make the best of the process focussing on the bonds of friendship and brotherhood that I have made within my pledge class and with my awesome big and Adopted big ( shoutout to Eric and Jacob if they read this!) Despite all the lows with pledging there have definitely been some great highs I have really enjoyed all the times we have met up outside of meeting hours to work together on projects or simply just grab some food. I seriously hope that those that are reading this dont think that Im simply stating something that I believe the active body wants to hear. Still, over the past year and especially the past summer, I had a hefty amount of time to reflect on my life and how I want to approach it. I think we too often take things for granted. Throughout the entire pandemic year many in my grade complained about not having in person graduations or any of the other experiences that seniors often have going for them. Although its true that I did not have the perfect graduation and high school experience that I had hoped for I realized that many others did not either and for many the experience was much worse than it was for me. I honestly tried to remain positive throughout the entire experience and because of that never really got hurt. This positivity no matter what started when I was young with many health issuses happening in my family. When I saw my parents going through cancer and remaining positive, I thought to myself that I can do the same thing with whatever small negative things that happen to me. In the grand scheme of things there is always someone that is doing worse than you or struggling more and so I always try to be grateful that Im not doing so terrible and that everything will work out in the end. I remember dwelling on my wish of having my life returning to normal. As someone who's not a philosophy major, my capacity to thoroughly explain why I do it is a sense of relief to move on from thoughts. It is easier to forgive and move on than to hate, although we tend to lean towards negative thoughts in those moments. I also think it's how I was raised and the environment in which I grew up. Everything moves at a fast pace, and there simply was not time to save such thoughts. I think it is great that I've mastered this skill, although I believe in the future, some might mistake this trait of mine as being pushed around easily. I definitely think it is a great skill to have for law school or any career in the future. I have my highs and lows, but at the end of it all, I hope to maintain shedding the same light towards my experiences and lessons that I've learned. I'm optimistic about my future and how far I will be able to push myself because I firmly believe that attaining this sort of mentality will help me go really far in life and handle obstacles in my sleep. I simply am not afraid of a challenge. That being said, I have a lot of things to learn from those around me and those who will help keep me grounded. As much as I like to think it is a well-cultivated trait, I do think it goes hand in hand with my naivety, but that's another extensive essay for another time. It will take time to learn how to balance between what I want and what I can because sometimes I do not know my limits and would consequently push myself too far.
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Post by alizanovoa on May 12, 2022 23:37:35 GMT
Often times I am more critical of myself than I am loving myself. I hold myself to a high standard so when I see myself drift it is hard but nonetheless I truly am comfortable with myself and who I am as a person. There has never been a time that I did not feel confident in myself outside of the school of course. There is alot of things I love about myself because why am I going to spend time hating myself when I literally created my personality, style, drive, and how I look. There are times when I wish I could change things about myself but that is once in a blue moon talk. In my eyes, I am perfect the way I am because of the person I am and characteristics like compassion, loyalty, responsibility, and authenticity.
When people are sad, stressed, or worried I feel that and never want a person to feel that way. So I always make it a point to be there for people. Sometimes it is hard because people find the healing process to be an individual thing and I agree but I always want to help alleviate any feelings they may be having. I always hope to be that friend that they can call when they need someone to listen to and just vent to about how they are feeling. I like that I am a compassionate person because it later turns into why I want to go into my field of law because I know firsthand what it feels like to have a parent of undocumented status and the struggles that come. So sometimes people need someone that can relate to what they are going through.
I am a loyal friend, sister, and to my family. Specifically, family because I was just raised to always have their back. I think it comes from me being the oldest daughter. I never want to disappoint someone so I make it a point to be there for everyone. This is one of my best traits because it shows who I care for and my commitment to making sure they are always okay. My best characteristic is how I treat others.
I have always had the responsibility to make sure I get stuff done. I am a pretty organized person so if there is an event that needs to happen I will be part of helping that all our bases are covered. When it comes to school work it is hard to say I am responsible because I get distracted but I am pretty good at getting thing important things done. But I am responsible in terms of how I take care of my siblings. I am always the point of contact before my parents are. I like to think that I raised them because I paved the way for them. To ensure they have what I did not.
I am also glad that throughout college I have stayed authentically me. I have not changed myself to fit in. If anything I have grown to be a better person but I have stayed true to myself and what I believe in. I think that is a great characteristic because it means that I do not let other people influence my decisions.
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Post by abigailrubtsova on May 13, 2022 0:44:38 GMT
I believe my best character traits are positivity and perseverance. It is not a pity seeking sentence to say that I haven’t lived through the best of experiences. No matter what I have gone through, I tend to focus on what I gain from it rather than what I lose from it. I believe I developed this trait in my youth as a means for survival. The only way to get yourself through some of your most difficult experiences is to think about the situation positively. Reflecting back on my time in foster care, I recognize the many faults within the system. It is horrible what aI and thousands of other children go through in their youth. However, I am extremely glad I went through this experience, as I learned so much and was presented many opportunities others weren’t. Foster care allowed me to be culturally aware, having experienced so many different people, cultures, and perspectives. I am now able to understand people on a deeper level and have improved empathy because I experienced it myself. Foster care gave me the opportunity to be multilingual. I can fluently speak English, Spanish, Russian, and bits and pieces of many other languages as well. This is an extremely useful skill, which has and will continue to benefit me throughout my life. Not only that but learning languages has become very easy for me with each new one I learn. I was exposed to so many religions. Studying religion is one of my favorite things to do now, and I can do so further than most because I lived in those religions and know what it looks like from the inside. It has also confirmed my strong belief in Judaism. Judaism is the only religion I have felt like myself in and deeply connected to. Having experienced those other religions was almost like a process of elimination. It gave me room to question whether Judaism is really what I believe in, and created my faith even stronger. I got to meet so many people throughout my childhood, and created a strong support system. I met so many people that became significant parts of my life that wouldn’t have been otherwise. I currently live with an amazing family, with family members that I wouldn’t have had if I wasn't adopted. If I would have stayed with my biological family, I would be a weird white trash racist hillbilly drug addict homophobe that carries a gun and hates women. Safe to say I am not any of those things, and thankfully so. Even in my most vulnerable moments, I use my ability to see everything positively to my benefit. These past few weeks, I have been struggling with something very personal and impactful. However, yesterday I finally reported it. I have never reported this situation, despite the many times it has happened to me. I grew up living in fear of how people would react to me reporting it, and no one believed me. The fact that I am now able to do something for myself and speak up for myself truly makes me happy.
I have cultivated this skill a lot, especially in recent years. For me, it has been through my religion, but it could easily be explained in a secular way. I believe that everything happens for a reason. Though, even if they didn’t, why wouldn't you want to manipulate a negative situation to your benefit. It’s okay to wallow in your sadness sometimes. But for the most part, you must learn to put the better things on a pedestal. Cherish what you have and don’t pity yourself for what you don’t. Your life can be amazing, or horrid, all depending on how you look at it. You are the sole determining factor in how your life will go. You cannot control a situation, but you can control how you react to it.
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Post by julianaabraham on May 13, 2022 0:58:43 GMT
I think my best characteristic is my high morals that I hold myself to. Ever since I started college, I have become dedicated to ethics. Morals is something that has and continues to shape my life as I view things in a much more serious context. I have had a lot of people commend me for my dedication to ethics, so I hold my efforts in morality as my best characteristic. I think shaping/working myself towards these morals has pushed me into becoming a better person and more conscious of others around me. While I think I have grown over the past few years, I think I can cultivate myself a lot more. Considering that there is no end to the moral decisions and implications you will make and assess in life, it requires a lot of attention and care. Though I try my best to keep this in mind, it can be time-consuming. If I was to cultivate it more, I would like to give back to my community a lot more. Since coming to LA, I feel like I have stopped this aspect of my moral code. The things I have been previously involved with back home, all required some type of car (to which I do not possess) or some political alignment (to which I cannot affiliate with as I am a part of a newspaper). Therefore, I have tried to consider aspects of giving back that require less of an effort. Giving back to my community is something that I am passionate about as I hold to Socrates view on our duty to society-- in which there are things we have been afforded because of our society and community, thus we should give back to it. Further, I think having high morals has allowed me to refrain from putting bad energy out towards others. I think it's incredibly easy to wish bad on someone who has done you wrong, however I feel like it's always best to just wish them the best. I think it coincides a lot with karma, don’t wish bad if you don’t want to receive bad. Moreover, nobody’s perfect and I will never be able to perfectly cultivate the morals I have dedicated myself to. Instead, my aim is to just always improve as a person. I can only be the best version of me and that comes with a lot of work. We will all be constantly put into situations that test us and it is in those situations that a person’s true character is shown. Therefore, I want to be able to cultivate my morals so that I can always be the best version of me. It always feels so much better knowing that you tried to do what is right for you and others-- rather than responding out of emotion. I think thinking logically is something I have cultivated in response to upholding this moral standard as emotions tend to get people into trouble a lot more easily.
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Post by vedantmehra on May 13, 2022 1:00:58 GMT
This week’s themed essay is slightly trickier than last week’s one, not because it is more difficult to conjure up good characteristics as opposed to bad ones, but because it is harder to articulate them. I hope I don’t come off as arrogant writing this. However, it must be done. For starters, I believe one of my best characteristics is that I have a high self esteem. In general, I don’t tend to ever instinctively doubt myself, and I always feel like my skills, aptitude, abilities, and talent are strong enough to accomplish things or be successful - while rushing Kappa Alpha Pi, I was fairly confident that I would get a bid. In a more social sense, I usually don’t second guess myself in group scenarios or get nervous around new people or making good first impressions. Of course, I’m not oblivious to my shortcomings as a person, but I feel fortunate to not have to suffer from anxiety or stress the same way I know many of my peers do. Having a high self esteem has sort of led me to be a pretty ambitious person. I know that I want to do well for myself in life and I genuinely believe that I will be able to do that. Honestly speaking, I rarely think that I’m not good enough for something. Another one of my better characteristics is that I am able to stay calm under pressure. Throughout the pledging process when we’ve been faced with stressful situations, I think I’ve been able to look at the circumstances objectively and not take them to heart. I believe that this is probably my best characteristic because everyone is bound to face difficult situations multiple times in their lives and it's how they respond to those situations that can determine much of their future. I wish to cultivate this characteristic of mine even further - I think that working on improving my composure in stressful situations beyond what it currently is will make me significantly more self aware as an individual. Moving on, I think another one of my best characteristics is that I’m able to enjoy living in the moment. I think the ability to just appreciate the present, without getting too hung up on the past, or too stressed out about the future, is pretty underrated. I wouldn’t say that this makes me a positive person, but it makes me a content one. Of course, I do look to the future because I have some serious expectations of myself and some big goals too, but I like to ground myself in the present so that I can work on who I am now to become the person I want to be in the future. Speaking about expectations, this probably ties back into being ambitious, but I like that I can balance my self-expectations without putting too much pressure on myself - this is probably one of the most important characteristics I wish to cultivate. I also pride myself on being loyal to the people I'm close to. I don't like dishonesty. Last, but certainly not least, I think I’m a pretty good looking guy.
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Post by korrale on May 13, 2022 4:44:34 GMT
I believe that one of my best characteristics is that I'm a generally open-minded person and I love to learn from others. At UCLA especially, I see being open-minded as a really good thing. At this school, there are people from every imaginable background and being open-minded to their experiences and opinions allows me to evolve my perspective on everything. This trait also allows me to listen to others and help them feel comfortable. I’m always open to hearing others out and I try my best to not judge or to shut them down the minute I see that they have a different opinion from mine. Being open-minded has also helped me to step out of my comfort zone a bit more, which is something I really struggle with. I’m working on expanding my open-mindedness from just listening to others to also opening myself up for new experiences. One of my worst traits, which I previously mentioned in my last journal, is often my unwillingness to step outside of my comfort zone. I would really like to expand my open-mindedness for the sake of countering this trait and so I can simply experience more fun things during this unique time in my life.
I think another good trait that I have is that I am easy-going. I am not really that strict on how things should be done and I try my best to get along with everyone around me. I think this helps the people around me relax and it helps me accept events in my life for what they are instead of stressing too much about things I can’t change. Being easy-going helps with reducing stress in my life and lets me enjoy things, even when they may be unexpected or slightly out of my comfort zone. I would like to continue cultivating this characteristic because at the moment, I do still often feel stressed about things out my control. I would like to become a person that can go with the flow all the time and react aptly to the events around me instead of wishing they had happened differently. I would like to cultivate this trait to avoid unnecessary stress in my life and to help me feel present in my life instead of like I’m always living in the past or like I’m always regretting something. No one can control everything in their lives so I believe that accepting things as they come is a really important life skill.
Another good trait that I think I have is that whenever I truly care for something or feel passionate about a subject, I do my best in it. I don’t like to do things half-way or to finish them simply for the sake of finishing them. I really like to put in my best effort and make my projects as perfect as possible. This does clash with my other trait, being easygoing, sometimes. However, I think I can usually balance these two traits well so that I don't feel too uptight about things when I don't need to be.
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Post by rainajain on May 13, 2022 4:47:40 GMT
I believe that one of my best characteristics is my empathy. I am a very empathetic person, and I will take the time to understand where people are coming from. Even when someone hurts me, I try to remember that people often hurt others when they are hurting. Growing up with a sister who struggled with mental health, I have seen first hand how people take out their emotions on others. Even though this doesn’t excuse a person’s behavior, I feel like my empathy allows me to recognize how more often than not, there is a reason for a person’s actions. Another one of my best characteristics would be that I am dedicated. I put in my full effort into everything I do, and I never leave things for others to do. I also have been able to keep up with my schoolwork thus far, which I believe to be because of my time management skills. I plan out my days down to the half hour intervals, and even though this seems extreme, it allows me to effectively balance my commitments. I think that this is a really good skill to have, especially during a time like pledging. I also think that I have a really strong desire for knowledge. I always try and pick up new skills and habits, and I feel like this makes me more of a well rounded person. I have taught myself bits and pieces of French and Dutch, and I am actively trying to learn more languages. I taught myself how to sew and make clothing in order to be more sustainable. Every time I want to do something, I do it. Because of this, I never really feel bored. I am never content with sitting in one place and doing nothing. Even though this sometimes becomes annoying, I am proud of the way that I have been able to pick up so many skills and hobbies. I know that when I put my mind to something, I will be able to do it. I attribute this to my strong willpower as well, which has been a theme throughout my entire life. My senior year of high school, I realized that as a result of my poor eating habits and lockdown, I had reached an unhealthy body mass and I lost all of my muscle mass. I felt really weak and I was irritable often, mainly because I would not eat. I slowly began working out, and eventually completely shifted my diet to really focus on putting good foods (and good amounts of food) into my body. I am really proud of myself for doing this. Especially moving to L.A, I was surrounded by fitness culture and the freedom to let working out and not eating consume my life. I admit I struggle with this still, but I actively try to get better now. Disordered eating is something that I have struggled with for my entire life, so I am immensely proud of myself for recognizing my issue and then, against my own desires, having the willpower to take steps to fight my eating disorder.
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Post by coltonharrison on May 13, 2022 5:08:46 GMT
I think that my best characteristic is how high of a standard I hold myself to. My parents have never been the type of people to put academic pressure on me. I have always held myself to my own standards of excellence. It definitely puts unnecessary stress on me because I am extremely hard on myself. At the same time though I know that the only person who I have to impress is myself. If I put in 100% of my effort I know that I will be satisfied without the outcome, unfortunately I do not always put in as much effort as I should. Another one of my best characteristics is my level head. While I also wrote about this being one of my worst characteristics, I believe that it can also be beneficial. I do get overcome by emotions, but for the most part I evaluate situations very logically. I can become emotional but I do not often hold grudges and am fairly quick to forgive especially because I know that people have to forgive me often. When conflict arises I try to observe first and then act second. For example, during our first pledge meeting I attempted to establish some form of organization, but it quickly fell apart into an unnecessary shouting match. I tried to sit back and observe all of my pledge brothers and determine who has dominant personalities and who are more likely to shrink into the background during large decision making processes. As we have continued the pledge quarter, I do my best to ensure that the meetings are well organized and everyone has a chance to provide any input. This leads me into my next best characteristic, which is my ability to lead. I have been a part of student government for my entire life, just like every other person at this school. I can step up and lead group discussions and delegate tasks, to ensure that meetings run smoothly. I also know when it is important to allow myself to be led, and follow the leader for the sake of meeting organization. This can sometimes become a weakness however when combined with the high standards I hold for myself. I can become a control freak in group situations and pick up other people's work. I know that it is not fair to do so, but I can sometimes expect the same standard of work from people I work with. Thus I will take over their job or do it for them because I do not trust them to complete it to my standard. I am conscientious about my reputation and I know that the work that group puts forward can reflect poorly on me. With that being said, I am doing my best to trust others, and allow them to prove that they are capable of doing quality group work. No one wants to see just my work presented every time, because I do it for others. I recognize that while I may not have done the project the way others have, it does not mean that it is the wrong way.
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Post by jackcarleton on May 13, 2022 5:12:03 GMT
This journal is a bit harder to write than the worst characteristics one. I don't really like talking about things that I like about myself because I feel like it comes across as cocky or arrogant. I also think that I'm my own worst critic so it is pretty easy to criticize aspects about myself that I don't like. With that being said the first characteristic about myself that I think is good is that I'm a good listener. I'm not talking about in an academic setting, as I feel like I've made it pretty clear on many occasions that I am a really lazy student. I am a good listener, however, when it comes to my personal relationships. I remember little details that people tell me about themselves, and I genuinely really like to get to know people better. I'm also pretty quiet in a lot of social situations, and although part of that is social anxiety, I do also like to just listen to what other people have to say. I feel like it's a lot easier to learn about a person's nature when you're not too busy worrying about what you yourself are going to say next. My next characteristic that I take pride in, although it might shock some of you to hear, is my intelligence. I don't like to apply myself most of the time, mostly stemming from a general feeling of laziness, but when I do try I feel like I'm pretty smart. Another one of my good characteristics is that I am a pretty athletic person. I've played sports pretty much my entire life, and although I no longer play any competitively, I still really enjoy almost any recreational sports. Soccer and basketball and definitely my favorite to play now. I would say I'm pretty average for both of those sports compared to the average pickup soccer or basketball player at UCLA. I didn't play either in high school, but I played club soccer for years growing up and I've been playing pickup basketball since I was in high school. I used to take a lot of pride in my running ability, because I was one of the best runners at my school. People have also clowned me for my skinny frame my entire life but distance running was one sport that rewarded my time of build so that was another pro. Another characteristic I like about myself is my ability to "go with the flow" and just adapt as situations change. I know a lot of people make fun of me, saying I'm trying to be a chill skater dude who doesn't give a fuck about anything, but I think it's a pretty good trait to have. I have a pretty serious problem with overthinking social situations, and my way for kind of coping with that is just to not think too deeply on anything. I just like to have the mentality that everything that happens right now isn't that deep, and eventually stuff will probably be fine. I think leaving high school has only further cemented this outlook in my mind because of how much I cared about stuff that happened then, and looking back how little influence any of it has on my life now is crazy. All that really matters now is how all of those different relationships and situations changed me as a person, because that influences how I behave moving forward. At the end of the day I can only really control that. How I am affected by these different things, and how I can respond. Outside of that I try not to worry too much, although it is definitely still a work in progress.
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Post by lesliehernandez on May 13, 2022 5:26:23 GMT
I believe some of my best characteristics are my communication and social skills. Ever since I can remember I’ve been such a social butterfly. One of my favorite parts of life is meeting new people and getting to learn about their culture and way of expressing themselves. Which is why I was so happy when classes went back in person, because I love making new friends and meeting new people on campus. I’ve been really comfortable going up to people and starting casual conversation and slowly building on that. I think my professional life would flourish if I were to cultivate these skills in a professional way. Because I am already comfortable meeting new people and interacting with them, I feel that if I could cultivate these skills in a professional way it would allow my networking skills to flourish and open up my pool or sources and opportunities to be able to work with others. Another one of my best characteristics is my communication skills. Because it’s one thing to be social but it’s a whole other thing to be able to have good communication skills. I believe I have great communication skills because I’m not afraid to let people know how I feel, and I always communicate it in a calm, professional manner. Whether I have a question at my job that I’m unsure about, or a fellow peer made me feel a certain type of way, I’m fully comfortable expressing them and communicating it with them. My communication skills go hand in hand as well with my confrontational skills. Because I’m comfortable speaking up about how things make me feel, it allows me to be confrontational when necessary. Like always I evaluate the situation and make sure that I’d appropriate to speak up and I always try to make sure that I do it in the appropriate manner and tone of voice because I recognize that not everyone's the same, not everyone is comfortable with confrontation or comfortable openly speaking-up about these things which is another great quality of mine. That I am able to assess certain situations and recognize when things are appropriate or not. I feel that these skills come from the fact that I’m such an extrovert. It really is the social aspect of my day that gets me through it, especially when I have back to back meetings, I sometimes come home at 2-3am and if my friends are still up, I’ll stay up an extra 30 minutes with them just chatting it up because it’s interactions like those that keep me going throughout the day. Another one of my good characteristics is my organizational skills. This is definitely something I picked up from my sister. She is the most organized person I have ever met to this day. Because of this I feel like I’m really good at organizing not just my personal belongings in my bedroom but also my school assignments. I feel like if I were to cultivate this skill then my time management skills would excel in this process.
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Post by cyacoleman on May 13, 2022 5:50:33 GMT
My best quality is that I am an empathetic person. Empathy is simply the ability to recognize, understand, and share the feelings of others. Essentially being empathetic allows one to experience another person’s point of view, rather than just one’s own, and enables prosocial or helping behaviors that come from within, rather than being forced. Empathy is a crucial factor in establishing relationships and behaving compassionately. Empathy is so important because it enables us to establish rapport with another person, make them feel that they are being heard, and, through words and body language, mimic their emotions. Perspective-taking, or the empathic ability to assume the cognitive state of another person and see a problem through their eyes, can further cement a connection. I think my ability to display Empathy has been beneficial to my life in so many ways, whether it be personal growth or developing relations or relationships with others. I think cultivating this trait would allow me to understand and help others deeper than I do now.
Empathy is a skill that has been beneficial to my personal development in so many ways. I feel as though being empathetic has allowed me to treat people with more compassion, understanding, and care. While these qualities may seem like ordinary skills that most people have but are pretty shocking how many people in today’s society lack Empathy. Honestly, it is deplorable that so many individuals cannot develop deeper relationships with the people in their lives. It must be so difficult not to be able to genuinely connect with people and understand why they feel the way they do, and put one’s self into their shoes. I could not imagine not being able to feel and understand where people are coming from. Empathy is a crucial part of our lives, and I think society would function so much better if we could understand each other and feel for them.
Allowing ourselves to feel for and understand each other would alleviate so many complications that our society experiences. As stated in the previous paragraph, understanding people’s experiences and why they feel the way they do about situations would improve social awareness. I feel like my ability to be empathetic stems from being a member of so many marginalized communities. Being a member of marginalized communities allows me to understand people better in ways that few can. Growing up in a low-income neighborhood as a person of color connects me to several communities to that I am connected.
Another good trait that I have is my optimism. Being an optimist has been beneficial to me in so many ways. Optimism is a mindset. It is the ability to see the bright side in situations. Being hopeful and confident about the success of the future is what I live by it helps alleviate some of the stressors that come with life. Rather than giving up and or thinking negatively about situations, I use optimism to get me through these situations. For me, optimism looks like always finding a positive outlook on situations and confidently moving through life is what keeps me afloat.
Over the years, I have discovered that having an optimistic mindset helps me keep a positive outlook on life and helps decrease the amount of stress that I often experience. This specifically helps me because I with the rigor of school and the stressful environments that I often find myself in. Before, I would allow my stress to consume me. With focus and anxieties together, I was always so very overwhelmed. However, now that I have developed the skill of optimism, I feel like I can see things in a positive light, and I don’t allow things that won’t matter in the grand scheme of things to affect my mental, physical or emotional wellbeing. Adopting this mindset not only helps me to alleviate stress but also gives me hope for the future. Just being able to know that my future is bright gives me a scene of peace. This also allows me to be hopeful for others as well.
My best qualities are very similar to each other in a way. Being optimistic and seeing the brighter side of situations and my ability to be empathetic affect how I treat others. Both have a positive impact on how I see, treat, feel, and understand others, which are essential characteristics to have in our society.
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