final blog

I received 81 out of 100 on my emotional intelligence assessment. It stated I do quite well in identifying, expressing and perceiving my emotions as well as others. It states I can easily read others. I completely agree with this because I can usually easily put myself in other people’s shoes. I have found it is much easier said than done. This really comes into perspective when helping others. It is easy to tell them what is best, but seeing it from their perspective also gives them two perspectives that help them out in facing a decision. For example, my friend is dating someone who I dislike and isn’t the greatest guy for herself. She sees she shouldn’t stay with him, but she has deep feeling for him and can’t leave him. I explained to her she needs to break it off with him for them better, but she can only do that when she sees it is for the best and she is ready.

Right now my largest amount of stress is school. This has been my first semester online and it has been a transition. Although it was not to rough, it was still hard to get into the flow of online homework and due dates. These last three weeks have especially been stressful because of the larger workloads from both classes. The best way to manage my stress is to make time throughout the week to do my homework. It is hard on me when I wait to the last minute, because that is usually the time something else comes up I need to do.

JOURNAL ENTRY

1.       A specific time when I experienced flow was when I used to make hair bows. I would get so involved in making them I would lose track of time. I remember one time my friend and I stayed up all night making bows and didn’t get any sleep because that morning we went to sell them at the swap meet. I unfortunately do not have the time to make the bows anymore because of work and school, but it is great to look back and see the passion I had for making all different types of hair bows.

2.       I currently work at the Veterans Hospital as a work study. This gives me the experience I need for when I graduate to begin my career. I currently work in Human resources at a front desk. I absolutely love it here and I see this as my starting point in my career. I would love to get hired as a permanent employee at the front desk. After this, I see it as my gateway to move up in Human Resources to possibly staffing, or in processing and records, or maybe even payroll. I see this as my flow career because I absolutely love going to work and being able to help all the Veterans that come into the office.        

itunes

One tip I learned from the iTunes study tips was about reading. I have tried reading out loud before and it was easier to retain the information but I never realized it was a proven way to read better. I also thought it was interesting to emphasize the punctuations to uncover the authors meaning. Countless times I have read a book and it has made no sense to me. I would offer these study tips to a friend because they aren’t boring to listen to and they have really good ideas to help in studying. Plus, they are easy to access considering most people do have iTunes on their computer.

When I did the learning styles questionnaire I was fairly balanced in all areas except for visual/ verbal. I was a visual learner and this I knew. I can always picture things easily in my head and occasionally when someone is explaining something I have them pause and I close my eyes so I can picture it. Also, when I lose something I can always picture where it is at for example on a counter next to a water bottle. It isn’t always as helpful as it seems but it helps me find it quicker than if I couldn’t think of where it was at all.

Week 4

Vital Friends
1. My builder is my Fiance Taylor. He is constantly motivating me to do my homework and push through school. There has been several times that I have gotten burnt out from college and wanted to quit or at least take a break. He pushed me to stay in and get out of the 'rut' I was in. He realizes that sometimes I do not have the full motivation I need, but also understands how much I want to accomplish a degree.
2. I have two Champions, first my friend Bree and second my fiance. Bree is very proud of who I have become and what I am doing with my life. I believe in a way she is living her dreams through what I am doing. She doesn't have the same blessings i have gotten in my life. She is the one that tells me how proud she is I have gotten to this point and it truly inspires me. My fiance of course stand up for me at all times, even when he doesn't agree with me. For example, one night I met someone and we got on the conversation of theology. This was his major and he was telling me things from my faith I had never heard. My fiance Taylor misunderstood the guy's tone and thought he was disrespecting my faith. Although Taylor does not have the same religion as me, he stood up for what I believe. This showed me how much he truly cares about me because although he didn't have the same outlook, he was willing to back me up if need be.
3. My collaborator is Danielle. She is one of my closest friends and I have known her since I was fifteen. We have a lot of the same shared interests, one of them being babies. When we first met, we surprisingly both wanted to become nurse practitioners in labor and delivery. Although that career has changed for both of us, we still have this passion. When she became pregnant with her first daughter, we saw this as not only exciting but a time for learning. In her nine months of pregnancy we looked up almost everything we could learn about pregnancy and delivery. Although I do not yet have any children, I am very knowledgeable in the journey, and it was an amazing experience being able to watch her give birth.
4. My companion would once again be my fiance Taylor. As stated in the champions, he is always there for me no matter the situation. He is my best friend, and my companion. He is the one I cannot keep a secret from. When my girlfriends tell me a secret I can't help but share it with him. If I have a bad day, I can call him up and rant about what happened and although it probably isn't fun listening to, he will just so I can get it out of my system.
5. My natural net worker is my co worker Chris. I work at the Veterans Hospital in Loma Linda and he is the one I work under. He is a very sociable person and introduced me to many people. He is very knowledgeable in human resources and helps me a lot at work. I now know so many people that work as well as visit the hospital. I am in a work study program, so having this network helps me to work  toward getting a full time job in my future.
6. My energizer is my dog kiki. She is always making me laugh and can turn my day around. Since I do not have any children, she is like me baby. I am very close to her, so I can have the worst day and she could turn it around. Just the little things she does can put a smile on my face.
7. My father is my mind opener. I am usually pretty good at putting myself in other people's shoes and seeing a different perspective which I most likely learned from my dad. When I am to caught up to see a different side to something he is there to change my thinking. Another positive thing about my father is he is very religious, so he not only helps me see another side he also can turn it in to a christian lesson.
8. My sister is my navigator. We are nine years apart, so growing up I always wanted to be like her. Now that we are older we are very close and we are there for each other. Although we are both adults, are parents can sometimes still be a little overbearing at times. It is easiest to talk to her about situations that I know my parents wouldn't be able to understand. She gives great advice, and is also a huge motivator in my life because of what she has accomplished. She graduated at twenty two with her masters degree. She is not only smart, she is also an amazing mother and wife.

All of my strengths made sense to me. I understood why I received each of them and I feel as though all five fit me like a glove. It actually amazed me how accurate the strengths were, because the assessment was so long that towards the end I started not fully reading the questions before answering them. In the end though, I could not agree more with the outcome.