16A –What’s Your Secret Sauce?
1. What makes me special:
- Attitude- I have a really calm and steady personality. I think most people think of me as hard to shake and easygoing. Most of the time this is a really good thing, but deciding that something is not worth thinking about it if it bothers you has caused problems for me before. This is the hardest skill on this list to make sound unique, but I am fairly sure that if you knew me you would point this out as one of my key features and not something most people have.
- Communication Skills- I have well practiced communication skills and have always enjoyed speaking to people whether it is in front of a group/crowd or a single person. I think the thing about my communication skills that is special is that I wouldn't call myself outgoing but that I am comfortable speaking with almost anyone and can find a way to have a good conversation or make an impression. I have enjoyed the interviews for this class and keep being surprised by how many people are willing to answer questions.
- Teaching Experience- The last 2 years I was teaching environmental curriculum to 3rd, 5th, 7th, and 11/12th graders through a volunteer position and became really good at it. After that I was hired to edit and create the next years curriculum and teach it to the next batch of instructors for the Grasses in Classes program. Other than that, I have taught swim lessons and coached swimming since I was in high school. It is hard to nail down a specific set of skills I have from this experience, but it taught me to solve problems, explain information in ways everyone can understand, and be flexible.
- Humor- I am pretty sarcastic and keep myself, if not always other people, amused. I will argue that no one can copy my exact sense of humor and that makes it unique.
- Board Game Knowledge- My biggest hobby is tabletop boardgames. I am very good at them and have spent days figuring out the rules and teaching people new games. My goal for a future job is to capitalize on a recent trend in the industry and design an educational boardgame for use in classrooms and by parents so hopefully this will be an important skill in the future. This skill is probably pretty unique unless you go searching for someone else that can list off all the rules for dozens of games, argue about the workings of resource and action economy for a turn, and has drawn a serial killer web (you know the thing in the movies with all the data pints connected by tangled lines) to try and describe the similarities and synergies between different factions of a strategy game from memory while bored at work.
Interviews:
Helen- My sister, two years younger than I
- Helen said I was focused and could tolerate almost anything without getting bothered. She said that I was really good at finding and going after things that interest me, and gave the example of politics which I have really gotten hooked on in the last six months. She said I can explain information and have lots of teaching experience. After the recording stopped she said she wanted to add that I was ambitious in the pursuit of knowledge.
Tess- Younger Sister by four years
- Tess said I was a good reader (I bet everyone will) and tried to understand and explain my thoughts about books. She also said I was a good person to go to for political discussions, and opinions on harder topics. She commented on my writing and artistic skills and my ability to talk and get people to listen. She confirmed all the five things I said about myself, so I might not be delusional or bragging. She added that I could be judgmental as a thing I do poorly sometimes.
Emily- Older sister by two years
- Emily agreed with what I had said about myself and stressed my reading and cool headed temperament. She is probably the sibling I am the most similar to, so it might have sounded like we were repeating ourselves. She thought I was good at analyzing situations and solving problems especially because I am so even headed. She added that I could be dismissive of others opinions from time to time.
Mathilda- Family friend and someone who knew me since I was a baby
- Mathilda agreed with all previous interviews and stressed the reading as helping me view different perspectives and solutions to problems. She also prioritized my communication skills to explain and interact with people of all ages and backgrounds.
Wesley- Girlfriend of three years
- Wesley agreed on the temperament, said I was good at breaking problems down and looking at them in manageable chunks, and agreed with my assessment of myself. She said I cared too much, which was a good enough complaint so I didn't press her for more. She mentioned the same thing as Helen that I am good at committing to something I'm interested in and trying to find out everything about.
Reflection:
Everyone I interviewed said almost the exact same things and agreed largely with my assessment of myself. I was expecting this because I am a really consistent (read as boring) person. Several of them said things in ways I had not thought about before but were still similar to my self description. These were probably the most awkward interviews I've done so far for this class simply because I didn't like asking for complements. I went back and asked if there were any negative traits or things I could work on, but didn't get many actionable responses. I still stand by my list of unique traits, and would say that even if some of theme seem like something others have I am confident that my brand is different and my own.
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