Reflective Essay Example on Individuality

When I think of my childhood and who I have become as a 17-year-old girl I cannot help but think about how much my interests, desires, and personality have changed. Personality refers to individual differences in characteristic patterns of thinking, feeling, and behaving. When I was younger, I was always told my smile was just enough to bring happiness to others. I never fully understood why my smile held such significance, up until now when the only thing I look forward to is smiling even on my unfortunate days. Understanding one's personality is important when making life decisions because it gives insight into one's own decision-making processes. Personalities all differ, we are not all the same. That is what makes every one of us unique. My personality is mine, it is what people perceive me as, and it is what truly defines who I am.  

According to the H.R. Personality Test, my applied communications results were 48 points on a scale of 41-50. People such as me in that category are amusing, charming, and lively. In the same category, they are kind, considerate, and try their uppermost to cheer people up especially in relationships. I have always loved helping people. No matter how bad my day was, I would make my friends and families emotions my priority. The time my friend suffered the loss of a relative, I was there to help her pull through a challenging time. I shared my sympathy with her and gave her the best advice I could. In the end she was grateful I stood by her side, and I was pleased to be of help.   

According to the True Colors Personality Test, my true color is Blue. Those with Blue color personality strengths tend to be enthusiastic, communicative, and compassionate. Blue people care and want to contribute to everything they are part of. Relationships are essential to blue people. I am in color guard; I love it so much, and I am enthusiastic enough to be willing to be the first in line in the parade on May 20th. When I first joined Color guard, I was encouraged to do the best I can. I enjoyed every minute of it and my passion for Color Guard grew each day. The first time I performed was such an exhilarating feeling. I found myself loving it even more. Now that I teach new beginners, I have an ardent desire to influence them so they can have the same passionate will to do their best.   

According to the test “Multiple Intelligence Inventory” my intelligence is linguistic. Linguistic people like to talk, read, and write. Linguistic people learn best by reading, writing, and listening. My delightful pleasure is wandering around a library filled with a strong aroma of books and pages waiting to be absorbed by my eyes. Even as a child I spent most of my time reading and fantasizing in my small middle school library. I would always communicate with others by sharing my passion for books. I have a fond memory of always avoiding recess to sneak in the bathroom just to read Harry Potter. I would rather listen and read than wonder aimlessly on my phone. Reading still and will always be my favorite passion.   

According to the test “Work Behavior Style” my work behavior is steadiness. Those with steadiness work style focus more on cooperating with others. They're careful and considerate when making decisions and like tasks with well-defined procedures. When I work with others, I enjoy being steady. I focus on the pros and cons of my projects, and I make decisions purely based on what I think is best for my grade and my partners. I've always enjoyed labs in my chemistry class because the labs were assigned always have precise procedures. A lab I had involved boiling pennies and placing them on a hot surface. I paid attention to every small detail of the lab to do every step correctly and I thoroughly enjoyed burning four pennies to see a before and after of the dirty pennies. 

According to the “Leadership Surveys,” my leadership style is heart and innovative. Heart leaders understand how others are feeling and make decisions from the heart for what is best for people. Innovative leaders seek many possible solutions and examine the overall design to see how the parts fit together. Being placed in a group almost always has me positioned as a leader and as the leader I inevitably listen to my group's ideas and thoughts. I always assign each member work cut out for them or work they want to do. By assigning the right work to the right people I take notes and understand their perspectives. When I was working with my group in a class, I pointed out that our project could be about the effects of patriarchy on modern society. We all came to an agreement, and I helped each member with their own role in our project. I was proud of the outcome, we even retained information we had never learned before. I did the best I could to keep my group happy and the outcome was worth it.   

According to Keirsey Bates, my temperament type is ENFP, which means I am energetic, warm, and passionate. ENFP’s are people centered creators with a focus on possibilities and a contagious enthusiasm for new ideas, people, and activities. ENFP’s are imaginative and artistic. They are drawn to art because of its ability to enunciate innovative ideas and create a deeper understanding of human experience. I've always been drawn to meet new people and make new friends and I certainly look forward to traveling once I get older. I want to be able to see different ideas, people, and possibilities. I admire artwork and museums.  On my free time I let my creativity flow on canvases or on clay and enjoy the after math. When I used to play with barbies, I would let my imagination run wild. I would imagine my barbies in a Harry Potter franchise and make them wear wizard hats my mom would make for me out of cheap fabric. My imagination and creative ideas help me focus and realize what truly matters to me.  

According to the true values survey my true value is creativity, which means I am open-minded, curious, and intuitive.  Creative people enjoy learning new things and partake in many adventures. Creative people are willing to be different and unique in their own way and they may even take risks to feel peculiar. I have always wanted to stand out and feel different than everyone else. I never wanted to follow or copy one's likes or dislikes. Standing out and wearing dissimilar clothes always comforts me. I love taking different outfits and accessories to school, I adore my strawberry backpack, and my colorful closet. Sticking to one hoodie or pair of jeans never fascinated me. Even as a kid I preferred standing out in bright colors. But due to the bullying I had to face in middle school, I closed myself and didn’t allow any sort of weirdness to come out of me. Now, I take risks and have the determination to feel comfortable within myself.  

To conclude, each test has helped me come into many realizations about myself. Upon taking each test, I now understand how and why people perceive me as I am. The personality tests explained in depth my results which include my likes and dislikes, interests, and characteristics. I have learned that I am careful and considerate when making decisions and I pay attention to every little detail. A thing I like about myself is how much effort I put into something I love. No matter how draining and rough something I thoroughly enjoy is, I willingly put in as much effort to complete it. I wish to improve on my overthinking. Overthinking absolutely ruins my aspects and assumptions of people when my words are better than putting meaningless thoughts in my head. A rational career choice I have reflected on based on multiple personality results is a writer. A writer and my results have numerous things in common. Being a writer will have me spending my time with my imagination, creativity, and passion for books. The results from each test helped me realize that my personality is mine, it is what people perceive me as, and it is what truly defines who I am.