Strengths in your Profession

After taking the VIA Signature Strengths assessment I was intrigued by my results. The assessment gave me great insight about my strengths. This allowed me to be able to reflect on how I can use my strengths to better help the students that I will be working with. This is particularly helpful since one of the most important aspect of choosing a career is to discover something that I have a passion about. By using the result of the assessment I will discuss how I can use my strengths better to serve the population of students that I will be working with.

My top strength was "Spirituality, sense of purpose, and faith". One of the most important things that I want to do, as a person, is to help others find the meaning of life and the purpose for their life. I think the best part of this strength is the "sense of purpose" that most people want to have. I also believe that the career we chooses has a lot to do with the sense of purpose one has about life. There is nothing worst than hating to wake up because you have to go to a job that you hate. I believe that many people live this way and unfortunately never find the meaning or the purpose of their careers. If a person is able to choose a career because it gives them pleasure and makes them feel whole, then they are more likely to stick to that job and be happier in it. I believe that I will be able to help students by sharing the importance of choosing a career that they have a passion about rather than choosing a career because they will make a lot of money. I believe that as a counselor I will work with students to take assessment and explore fields that they might enjoy or have a passion about. I believe my purpose in life is to help those that need direction. I can say that I am content with the choice of career that I have. My hope is to help others do the same, whether it is a career in counseling, engineering, medicine, landscaping, business etc.

My second strength was "Hope optimism, and future-mindedness". I believe this strength is particularly important in my career field. I believe that if we have a positive outlook about life, we have a better opportunity to succeed in whatever career we choose. One of the most important aspects of my career is that I expect the best in the future for myself and I expect the same for others. I would like to help students understand that they have a choice and that they have control over their lives. I believe there is nothing worst than to feel like you have no control over your life. This is especially important because I believe students cut themselves short a lot of the time. I have spoken to students that I know are very bright and they believe that they will not go far in life. For example, I asked a student what they wanted to do for a career. The student responded that they wanted to be a medical assistant. I asked them why a medical assistant and not a nurse or a doctor. The students said that it was just easier to become a medical assistant than a doctor or nurse. After talking to the student, she expressed that she wanted to become a nurse but that she thought it was too difficult. I discussed with her what the requirements for being an RN were and she was amazed that it was not what she expected. I believe this student was capable of becoming more than a medical assistant, but at the time they did not believe it. Once we talked the students realized that becoming a nurse was not very difficult. Making changes like this in student's life is what gives me hope for the future.

My third strength is "Gratitude". The more I reflected on my strengths the more I realize how choosing a career in counseling goes along with my personality and my sense of being. I believe this strength is very important because I am really grateful to have the opportunity to be able to work with students and guide them into becoming all they can be. I believe this strength is something that we can teach our students. I believe that students do not realize the opportunities that are out there for them. I also believe that in order to take advantage of those opportunities we need to be thankful for what we already have. Many students take shelter, food, and necessities for granted. What they don’t realize is that there are others that do not have these basic necessities. I believe that if students realized how blessed they are, they might be more likely to take advantage of what is out there for them.

My fourth strength is "Capacity to love and be loved". I believe this important when it comes to building a rapport with students. I believe that students can see right through you and see whether you really care about them or you are there only for the money. I believe that if we are able to build a rapport with students, we are more likely to influence them into making choices that would benefit them.

Some of the other strengths that came out will be very useful in my profession. For example, my fifth strength was "Fairness, equity, and justice". I believe all students should be treated equally and that they all should have a chance at choosing whatever career they feel strong about. My sixth strength was "Caution, prudence, and discretion". This helps me understand that at the end of the day we need to let the students make the choices rather than us making it for them. We can lead them, direct them, or counsel them, but the choices need to come from them. These strengths along with the others are great insight into making me a better counselor for the students.