I believe that one of my greatest strengths is being able to be fair and diplomatic with people. This was supported in the results of my Pairin survey as well.
I am a very sensitive person, which gives me the ability to be sympathetic with others. I also know how to listen, take in and consider what everyone is wanting, not just what I want. I know this is a strength I have because I've been asked by my friends and family to be a voice of reason, when they need advice.
I work best when I work on my own, I tend to be a very independent person. I grew up in an environment where being being self-sufficient was expected. As an adult I have often had to get use to asking for help from others, because I don't want to inconvenience other people. Being independent has enabled me accomplish a lot on my own, but has maybe also prevented me from doing better with the support of other. I want to be able to work by myself and with others successfully.
My greatest area of improvement is by far my own confidence. I am extremely confident in certain areas of my life but I tend to second guess myself a lot. This can sometimes effect how I interact with others. It's effected my ability to have certain opportunities and live more fulfilled. I will often shut down in social situations when I'm unable to have more confidence. I have improved a lot in the last couple years with this, but still have a long way to go!
I think I will be able to maximize my strengths by being a good listener, being supportive to the people I work with, and also eager to learn and improve my abilities. I have a drive to be very committed to my work and carry it out fully to the best of my ability. I'm able to take criticism well and adapt to whatever is needed from me. It takes a lot to really get me upset, so I think I will do well in a stressful environment where failure happens often.
It's interesting to see the Pairin survey spell out certain things that I might not think about on a daily basis. I think it's very beneficial to be self-aware so I can improve weaker areas. Knowing my strengths might help me to place myself in the right areas in my career as a software developer. I think knowing them could help me capitalize on being more of a leader with those strengths.
What efforts do you make to manage your learning process? Are these efforts successful? What challenges have inhibited your ability to manage your learning process effectively?
I think for me to manage my learning process well I need to see my progress, whether it be recorded or tangible in some way. I often find that discouragement is what prevents me from making the progress I hope to see. Much like Ta-Nehisi Coates writes in the article 'A Quick Note on Getting Better at Difficult Things' I am motivated by looking back at where I've came from.
I have had a history of procrastination. This is something that has done me no favors when it comes to accomplishing tasks. When I started my own business I was able to stop this cycle, because procrastination simply wasn't an option. When I don't procrastinate I get more done and the more I get done the better I feel, and the better I feel the more I can accomplish. However I find that time, or lack there of, to be a big challenge for me. Sometimes putting too much on my plate is easy to do and ends up stressing me out and results in me taking a step back from important things.
I was really interested in Sierra's presentation because I did speak to how I've been feeling a lot recently. I have worked long hours the last couple weeks and used up all my spare time for mod 0 and capstone. I get very burnt out after a couple hours, since I'm already exhausted from work. I have learned that breaking things up into smaller increments and scheduling in time for myself makes all the difference. Burning myself to the ground with work, just results in sloppy work and missing things.
What role does your emotional state of mind play in your learning? How do your successes and failures at learning affect your emotional state?
I would say that I’m generally very good at managing my emotions. However, they can still play a role in how well I learn, or even my motivation to learn. I struggle often with anxiety which makes taking in information and preforming well very difficult at times. I think this is something I do very well at managing, but sometimes is a struggle. On the other hand I do have a good attitude about failure typically, but if feel like I'm the only one not understanding something well I get discouraged. It's good to have a reminder that everyone learns differently and comparing my progress to another person isn't always beneficial.
I plan to be my best at Turing by applying myself 100%. I think I have a good understanding of the time and commitment needed to succeed at Turing and I've been mentally preparing myself for that. I plan to have little distractions and to organize my work by priority and cognitive resources needed to do a task/assignment. I also plan to have time to myself to do other things that give me a metal break, like exercise and hang out with family/friends.
