1. Ellie Schafer
February 4, 2015
StrenghtsQuest Paper
StrengthsQuest is something that everyone should take at some point in their life. It is a
great resource for future employers to look at and find out your strengths, but it also causes you
to find out a lot about yourself. My strengths are Communication, Includer, Woo, Belief, and
Connectedness.
The first moment I saw my StrengthsQuest results it sort of freaked me out a little
because all five totally describe my personality but also my mother’s. I have always known that I
am my mother’s daughter, but when I saw the results and read the descriptions I was really
shocked to actually see how much alike we are. I completely agree that all my individually
picked strengths would be in the top five out of 34. I have each and every one of those strengths
and I am proud of it. Although they all describe me, I do not necessarily think that they should be
in the order they were put in. If I had to put them in order I would say that Belief is my strongest
strength, Includer, Woo, and Connectedness would be in the middle, and I would put
Communication last. Even though that is the order I would have, I can see why StrengthsQuest
would give me the order they did.
Starting in elementary school I was very shy and didn’t have many friends but now I am
totally opposite of that. Starting in high school I really stepped out of my comfort zone and
started to communicate more and more with all different ages of people. I was friends will
almost everyone in high school because my high school was so little, I worked in the elementary
with young children, and I knew a lot of the community members around town that I would go
and talk with. I can see where my strength of communication comes in because of how I am able
to talk to almost everyone. I can also see it because one of my favorite hobbies is just simply
talking to people. I am totally an includer which isn’t always a good thing. I like to make people
feel a part of a friend group and then I feel absolutely terrible when I forgot to invite someone to
something. I love having Includer as a strength because I love being friends with or knowing so
many people. I respect anyone that has different views in life than I do but that is what gives me
joy. I love being friends and including so many people. Being an includer does weaken me
sometimes because since I am an includer I have a lot of friends and it is hard to give them all
the same amount of attention. This connects to my strength of Woo. I love meeting new people
which usually end up leading to someday having a friendship. I am person that does not just ask
a question and then forgot or not care about the answer. I am really good at remember things and
truly care about anyone that I meet. I personally don’t think that because I have the strength of
Woo I like to win people over. I would hope that that isn’t who I am, but it is very possible that it
is and I just don’t notice it but other people do. My next strength is Belief and this one really fits
me. I have a strong belief that God sent his son, Jesus, to earth to die on the cross and save us all
from our sins. Because I have this belief and know this truth, I have a core set of values and
morals that I choose to live by. Connectedness is my last strength but also describes who I am. I
believe everything happens for a reason. I may not know what the reason is right now or may
never know but I believe that everything does happen for a reason. I am also a bridge builder and

2. not burner. I enjoy connecting people in ways that may not be obvious and it makes me happy
when I can be the start of a friendship of two other people. Each of these strengths describes me
to a T, but I can see where they are used in my personal relationships as well as schoolwork.
Relationships that I have with friends, family, acquaintances, and peers are really
important to me but there are two specific personal relationships that I have that really bring out
both the strengths and weaknesses of my StrengthsQuest results. The relationship I have with my
mother is the first one that popped into my head and really sticks out to me. We have the same
strengths and that can help but hurt our relationship. We build off of each other when it comes to
our strengths because I have learned everything I know from her and my dad. We both believe in
God and we have a Christ centered relationship to begin with. Our communication with each
other is beneficial because we don’t hide what we are feeling. We both love meeting new people,
not matter who they are, and making them apart of one of our friend circles. We are so much a
like that it is crazy. Even though we get along so well and my mom is one of my best friends we
do argue like every mother, daughter relationship does. I believe that we argue because we are so
much alike. Even though we do fight and disagree sometimes, I love the strengths we both have.
Another personal relationship that I have is with a friend that I just met this year at UNI. The
relationship that we have is sometimes challenged because of the strengths that I have. I think
that we both have the strengths of belief and communication but when it comes to includer, woo,
and connectedness that can hurt our relationship. I love meeting new people and love being
friends with as many people as I can and that really hurt that relationship that I have with this
friend. She approached me and told me that she doesn’t feel included in one of my friend circles.
That hurt my heart so much. I have tried to go out of my way now to make her feel included in
lots of stuff that she wasn’t included in before. My strengths can help or hurt relationships I have
and can do the same thing to my academic life.
I like to think of myself as a good student who doesn’t procrastinate, gives 100% in
everything I do, and studies all the time. Even though I like to think that about myself I know
that none of it is true. My strengths can really hurt me when it comes to my academic life for a
couple reasons. Communication, Woo, and Includer are what makes me struggle with doing my
school work because they all include talking to people. I really love talking a lot and sometimes I
talk too much. I talk so much and socialize so much during the day that I am stuck doing my
homework at night and then tired in the morning. These ‘strengths’ actually can make me weaker
if I use them in a negative way like this. They can benefit me though also. I can communicate in
group projects really well and I like to plan a time to meet or some up with a clever project. I can
use the strength of includer to my advantage when it comes to group projects also. I make sure I
am not doing all the work but assign someone who doesn’t have a lot of motivation to do
something. Those two strengths stick out to me when I think of how my academic life is
revolved around them.
StrengthsQuest is a really cool thing and I am happy that I am able to notice how my
strengths can work with me in a positive way or how they can be negative. I hope that I can
continue to use my strengths and remember how each strength is connecting to what I do and
how I live my everyday life.