Personal awareness and responsibility

Strengths

• Self-determinations
o The way a person treats themselves will be reflected in their work and day-to-day
activity. The ability to be self-motivated is extremely important especially when reaching
adulthood. My self-motivation and sub-par self advocation is most prominently
apparent when it comes to schoolwork. Writing this piece now is proof of my
motivation. Technically I could have waited until the last moment to complete this
assignment but instead I am spending my weekend trying and getting ahead of the
workload. This motivation that I carry with me in multiple activities comes from my
desire to do things I enjoy without having work on the mind. I usually do not feel the
desire to express my needs but if ever the work becomes unbearable, I will reach out
sometimes, but I handle everything myself as my own drive will push me to success. This
is a strength because I rarely fall behind in work or life. I am like a constant running
machine that needs very little to keep sustaining.
• Self-regulation
o I suppose that I passively set goals that I work hard on but never have a specific set-in-
stone date. My ability to hold myself responsible for my own actions and be my own
source of motivation allows me to accomplish things in non-traditional ways. These
accomplishments can be seen in my academics, extracurricular activities, and personal
life. I have a love hate things going on with my ability to understand patience and time
as I know that for the best work to be done no one should be rushed but also
understanding that there is not really a thing as “enough” or “the right” time. I suppose
this statement could also show how I need to work on regulating my emotions as I am
mediocre at doing so but so far, they have not gotten in the way of progress. Knowing
where I have come from to where I am now is a prevalent example of my ability to
preserver through tough times. This is a strength because not very many things will
bother me or get in the way of my success, and if it does, I have a way to deal with it.

Weaknesses

• Well-being
o I do not really know how to take care of myself, I do not trust myself enough to if I even
knew how to. I focus too much on other things like school, extracurriculars, and other
people like family and friends that when I comes to myself, I am just too tried to do
anything. I suppose if my discipline were better or some other things about myself were
changed I could do better but there was never enough time to work on that. I do not
usually realize my actions affect me until it is too late, and I have already entered a point
where I cannot get out of. I do not have any strategies to manage my well-being, or I do
not have any that work, the best that I have gotten right now is the “who cares”
mindset. This is a disadvantage because when I do fall, I fall hard. This makes it harder to
get up and keep on going, it is almost paralyzing. This can affect my work as it can make
it sloppy.
Social responsibility

Strengths

• Valuing diversity
o As a minority I feel like it goes without question that I value diversity on all levels. Back
in middle school I was very die hard on human rights and respecting my peers in their
identity, I almost forgot that I lived in Alberta which is known for not being as
comfortable with certain type of people. I value diversity and human rights. Advocating
for others and acting ethically in all my actions. I stood out too much and I was saying
things that people did not enjoy, thus I received lots of hate. After learning my lesson, I
keep my mouth shut unless necessary. Just because I am not out there publicly putting
my private opinions out there does not mean that I am not still carrying my morals and
ethical values in my everyday actions. This is an advantage as it grants me an
opportunity to make friends with like-minded people.
• Contributing to community
o I will be honest, my contribution to the community is not sourced from some sort of
savor complex. I am currently volunteering at LAPS (Langley animal protection services),
and I did not do it for some reason like “loving the community” or “wanting to give back
to the community,” I am volunteering there because I require veterinarian volunteer
hours and animal volunteer hours to go down the career path I have chosen. I also love
animals, which is why I enjoy my time there, but I am not too concerned about helping
people. I am aware of opportunities to volunteer in my community, and I am willing to
take opportunities that will benefit me in the future. This is a strength because it shows
that I am determined to my interest and that I'm not just lying around waiting for things
to come to me. I am actively looking for advantages.

Weaknesses

• Buidling relationships
o There are many reasons that I could list why people should not be friends with me, yet I
still have friends. I need to get better and nicer with people around me. I should show
my appreciation for the friends and family I do have right now but it always seems so
hard for me. I would like to be nicer and more genuine with those around me, but I do
not know how to. Many I do not get to choose whether they are close to me or not
which results in me not wanting to be genuine with them. It is hard to meet new people
because I am either too shy or too much. This is a personal disadvantage. I don't want to
continue being so negative, especially if it seems like it's for no reason. There might be a
reason but not one that I can share. This has a negative impact on my peace which is all
that anyone wants.

Critical thinking

Strengths

• Analyze and critique

 o Based on my grades it is prevalent that I have gotten good at using evidence to validate
my answers. School has helped sharpen my ability to analyze and make defensible
judgments on evidence gathered. I would like to think that I am a critical thinker and
usually weigh my actions by the “knowns.” I base a lot of my life on logical things
instead of emotions. Because of the people I am surrounded with I always must gather
evidence to prove any points I make in case of signs of disagreement. This is an
advantage because this is what educational spaces and workspaces want to see. Makes
it seem like you know what you are doing.
• Develop and design
o I learn through trial and error. Because of this I guess I have gotten good at exploring
ways to express things that I have learned. This can also be proven by my grades as this
is a thing that gets measured in the school curriculum. This skill was focused on in
multiple classes. I have learned to express things I have learned in presentation, written
form, illustrations, and verbal form. This is an advantage as it shows that you have
variety, and it keeps the audience interested.

Weaknesses

• Questions and investigation

o I do not ask questions about anything, mostly they will come to me when I jump into the
task. Even if I have questions, the last thing I will do is reach out to ask, usually ask
classmates or look online for my answer. If none of those help, I am still hesitant in
asking questions because I usually do not know enough about the topic that I am
working on to know what questions that I am supposed to ask. Sometimes I also just
don't have questions. This is a disadvantage because it prevents me from gaining a
deeper understanding of any topic that I am in.

Creative thinking

Strengths

• Generating ideas
o Ideas can be hard to formulate, which is why I can brainstorm ideas based on previous
things that I have experienced, been surrounded with, and prior knowledge that I have
gained throughout my life. This this proven by my capstone brainstorm chart. I had
many ideas that came from things that I have already talked about, thought about and
experienced. This is an advantage because it grants different solutions or entry points
when it comes to assignments or problems that may occur.
• Developing new ideas
o Trial and error are a part of life. I can sometimes learn from my trial and error and
because of this it grants me the skills to explore new ways to create. This duality of
creation can cause me to have a variety of ways to represent my learning around
problems, events, issues, and needs that I face. As I am given feedback by my teachers it
helps me better understand the purpose of my projects though I have trouble
considering my audience. With feedback that I receive from my teachers it also helps
me understand my progress in a project. This is an advantage because it offers many
 opportunities to do something interesting and never done before. Makes you look like
you know what you're doing and can do it well.

Weaknesses

• Novelty and value

o When I am working on a project, I am never focused on how my work should affect
other people. If it happens to affect a person's thinking I suppose it could be a bonus,
but it was never my goal. I do not even think anything that I have made has effectively
changed someone's perspective or influenced a community. I do not really want it to. I
am more focused on getting an assignment done than any of that extra stuff. I suppose
this could be seen as a weakness because it could prevent me from excelling constantly
but it does not prevent me from getting work done so I am not that worried about it.

Communications

Strengths

• Connect and engage with others

o When in a group project I always make it my duty to get everyone involved, even
outside of work I always try my best to make sure my peers' ideas or contributions are
included in whatever topic I may be talking about. I am good at contributing and
including other people's ideas in projects. Just last semester in my EFP 12 class I was
partnered up with a person I have never talked to before, we were supposed to
brainstorm about a book we just read. This inclusion of others stems from me being too
afraid to express any independent thought I have in case I end up being wrong. This is
an advantage because it can help me build off other people's ideas, this also shows that
I can work with others well, which is what employers wish to see.
• Acquire, interoperate, and presents information
o This skill is focused and worked on in the school curriculum. It should be without
mention that this is something that people have become decent at. The ability to share
information in different forms and creative ways, or I could at least say that I try to
make interesting ways to portray information. This is a skill that has been strengthened
recently and more prominently in my EFP class and my careers 10 class. This is an
advantage because it shows variety, keeps audiences interested, and allows different
and potentially more effective ways to get information out there.

Weaknesses

• Explain/recount and reflect on experiences and accomplishments

o It is a bit useless to share reflections with others. It is not like I cannot reflect but I just
find it boring and tedious. I could write or do nothing about my reflection, and it would
not really make a difference. I know that personal reflection on yourself can be helpful
as it keeps oneself humble and grateful for what has happened, but school reflections is
annoying as it is about someone writing whatever the curriculum wants to hear. I do not
really like sharing reflections on things that I have learned. This can be seen as a
 disadvantage because it can make reviewing sloppy which isn't useful to whomever is
receiving the reflection.

Personal and cultural identity

Strengths

• Relationship and cultural identity

o As a human being I can acknowledge other people's culture. I understand that culture is
a broad concept that has diverse ways of viewing the world. It takes some time to
understand the multitude of culture and all their own broad beliefs that can affect their
approach to certain topics like race, sexuality, etc... I wish that I could make a bit more
effort to gain a deeper understanding of my friend's culture because it does interest me,
and I enjoy it when they share parts of it with me, but I am afraid that I may say or do
the wrong thing. This is an advantage because it allows me to work and potentially
befriend people without having a huge blockage in the way.
• Personal strengths and abilities
o Each person is complex, and these complexities are what makes everyone different. I
know that what makes me different and unique is based on the obstacles that I have
faced in my life, and I know my strengths make me unique. I learned to use these
complexities as my strengths to give me certain advantages. My boldness can be seen as
something that makes me annoying and should be changed but instead is use it to my
advantage, my boldness has put me in fortunate positions and try new things. This is
one example of how I can use my strengths to my advantage. This is an advantage
because it prevents myself or what other people think about myself getting in the way
of what I want to do. It shows that I know myself and that I know how to use my skills
and weaknesses.

weaknesses

• Personal values and choices

o I am not too worried about what is important to me because in the grand scheme of
things it will not really matter. Even if I did worry about that, what is important to me is
not really mine. Because of this, it makes it difficult to understand what is important to
me. It is just a reflection of what others told me was important; money, blood family,
sacrifices, etc... I see how these values have changed me, but I do not like it. My values
are empty or non-existent. This is a disadvantage because I lack true longstanding
motivation. Aside from my own self-determination I don't really have any other major
value to help push me. I'm just aimlessly going through life because of other people's
wants and issues.