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Meagan L. Hardy

Dr. Ybarra

CPD 110

2 March 2017

Personal Essay 1: Who Am I?

In the following pages, I will explain who I am. Taking information from my workbook,

Career Choices and Changes, and three online personal assessments. I will expand on the test

results and give my interpretation of them. This will allow me to analyze myself and what I hope

to accomplish in life on a deeper level. By the end of this paper, you will have a better

understanding of who I am.

My adult life has gone a bit backwards from tradition. For the last 10 years, I have

happily put who I am on hold for the needs of my family. Now I am finding who I am all over

again. Learning to find myself; as a new person, an adult woman who is secure in herself, and no

longer afraid of what life can offer. Throughout the life of one person, the definition of success

can change many times. Each person has their own goals, and what will instill feelings of

achievement. For me, success isnt a destination like a time and place its a feeling of peace and

of accomplishment. Its also peace of mind, security, happiness, and personal contentment.

Success is strength. A journey. Overcoming and persevering through trials and hardships,

achieving improvement in its many forms.

The online assessments I took were each a bit different. Tests ranging from eighteen

questions to the longest at 259. While some of the questions were easy, knowing immediately

what my answer should be, I found others difficult to answer. The workbook, Career Choices,

and Changes has also given me a lot to think about. Some of the questions are very thought
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provoking, while others have been less challenging because I have a bit of life experience as an

adult.

I feel the results of the longest test are not very accurate. I can see why the Career and

Personality Aptitude Test from queendom.com would zero in on my ability to be a good listener

and help others. However, I really doubt that I will end up being a counselor or psychologist. For

a short time, I did want to be a psychologist, now I do not. With that being said, I do like some of

the areas that were pinpointed to support some of my personality traits. Those areas are:

customer and personal service, sociology and anthropology, English language, Philosophy and

theology, and Law and government.

The shortest online assessment I took was from testq.com. I took this quiz to answer,

What should you be when you grow up? Although I didnt get an actual career to aim towards,

it did get a few of my personality traits and needs in a career correct. Having a career test tell me

that Im responsible, kind-hearted and that I should have a job where I am helping other people,

was nice to hear. I was surprised to be told that I dont have to sacrifice my own happiness or

personal finances to do a job where I can help others. This is very true, and something I am

hoping to accomplish in life. I am a person who likes to help, who will go out of their way to

make life easier and better for others.

According to the Kiersey Temperament Sorter-II I am a Guardian. In most ways, the

description of a Guardian is right on the money for me. Ive always found it hard to describe a lot

of what I feel in a generalized way because I have deep feelings, and they span across many

different subjects. These results explain:

Guardians take pride in being dependable and trustworthy; if theres a job to

be done, they can be counted on to put their shoulder to the wheel. Guardians also believe
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in law and order, and sometimes worry that respect for authority, even a fundamental

sense of right and wrong, is being lost (Keirsey par. 6).

When describing myself in the Career Choices and Changes workbook I used similar

terms: leader, traditional, giver, volunteer, hard-working, caring, independent, altruistic. (pg. 27)

However, I would have preferred to see something included about my need for excitement,

adventure, a creative outlet and a bit of diversity in my daily routine.

It is interesting to see your thoughts and feelings being analyzed by someone/something.

On the same note, its good to know that I am at least somewhat self-aware and learning to

accurately identify my needs and who I am as a person. Even though I dont feel like I

completely identify with everything these tests say, I can agree that using the workbook is

helping me to be more cognizant of who I am and what I want from life. So, who am I? Im an

ever-changing story. A mother, a wife, a sister, a daughter, an aunt, and a best friend. A giver of

self, a teacher to others, a leader for some to follow. A friend to those in need, a follower to who

is worth following, a woman of faith and a student of life. Im a human, writing the pages of an

unfinished story that is the favorite of any Ive read. Flawed, growing, changing, and most

beautiful of all, unfinished. I am: an endless work in progress. For better or for worse, this is me.
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Works Cited

(still working on this)

Bingham, Mindy and Stryker, Sandy. Career Choices and Changes Fifth Edition, Academic

Innovations, 2013.
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