What are your Strenghts and Weaknessess?

 “What Defines Me” 

 September 11, 2013

Everyone has a series of traits that’s defines who they are. These traits can be both positive and negative, but I believe such things can build a person to be stronger. It’s funny how weaknesses are viewed as something one should be ashamed of and try their best to hide, however if you ask me it’s something that should be embraced, taken then used to your advantage. Use that advantage to help redefine your positive traits and make them even stronger.

What makes me unique is my interesting set of skills. My personal set of strengths includes art and design knowledge, presentation skills, and being observant and cultivated. Whereas my weaknesses include how I tend to judge myself and others, my tendency to procrastinate when doing assignments of any difficulty, and stacking high expectations amongst others and lastly  piling loads of it on myself.

Art and Design has become something that really defines me as a person, it’s an escape from the pressures of society as a high school student. Designing is like problem solving, I can express myself while meeting the needs as others. I use art and design to my advantage every day. I’ve been involved in various programs to heighten these skills (College for Creative Studies’ Pre-College Summer Experience; The American Institute of Graphic Arts’ SHOUT Program; and CE City, an advertising competitive program funded by the Campbell Ewald Ad Agency and CCS)

 Coupled with possessing the skills of art and design, the real world requires presenting a product or an idea to an audience, it all has to do with the quality and how it is presented. Additionally it’s something I really enjoy. I love the idea of selling, marketing, and campaigning my designing to a consumer audience. At Henry Ford Academy: School for Creative Studies, giving presentations is an inevitable process. I’ve learned to embrace this since day one and it quickly became something I deeply enjoy.

Overtime, I’ve noticed as a child I would always be the quiet one in the corner who would observe the students, teacher, and environment in action. Being exposed to other cultures helps to develop intelligence and an open minded state of being. I’m always involved in activities going on in my city, traveling and networking with people from different cultural backgrounds as well. Staying observant and cultivated is very beneficial to the development of a person.

Moreover, I’ve always been a nitpicker when it comes to reputation, always thinking with my future in mind. I’ve noticed that I tend to unintentionally look down on people who don’t have the same standards, as far as taking education seriously, and self-image and reputation. In a city where statistics show that the illiteracy rate is 47%, meaning on average one out of two people that you meet amongst the city streets are functionally illiterate, I’m highly surprise that I feel that I’m one of few trying to squash such a negative statistic.

Unfortunately, procrastination is yet a common trait that fazes a large number of youth today. Whilst, technology is very beneficial in today’s new day and age it can also be very distracting as well. Although waiting until the last minute is a negative habit when one being successful.  I view it as a strength disguised as a weakness. Sometimes doing things last minute allows me to stay on my toes. I’m able to quickly come up with solutions in real time situations, I’m able to brainstorm new ideas and concepts and present them in a timely fashion.

Furthermore, I’ve always wanted to achieve greatness. This ideal is something that was drilled into my mind from the very start. I dreamed of attending Ivy League colleges and universities and going to conferences around the world. Keeping in mind the amount of hard work that would go into achieving these goals I knew that pushing myself would keep me on the right track. This may not seem like a weakness, but in reality I had been stacking responsibilities upon responsibilities, and overall drowning myself in expectations that were simply unrealistic for the day and age. This is something that constantly bothers me as I feel like I missed out on the exciting memories and opportunities others experienced in their childhood.

For the most part, my weaknesses and strengths balance one another and make them stronger. For example, when presenting a design ideas they should be articulated quickly but thoroughly, having high expectations of myself and others will make sure that what I’m saying makes sense, and procrastination allows me to come up with ideas on the fly. Although I can be judgmental of others and myself at times, being cultivated and observant allows me to overlook the flaws of another and focus on how their differences can educates me.

In conclusion, I’d say that way someone views their strengths and weaknesses can build or cripple them. I believe that it is simply about how you use what you have to your advantage, just like in life. On many occasions I’ve learned that the person with the better idea isn’t always the most successful when trying to persuade or gather the attention of an audience, but when you can synthesize the strengths and weaknesses together and use the weaknesses to define your strengths and make them stronger that what you originally thought they were, you bring to the table, a confidence that inspires others to have an interest in who you are and what you have to say.