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According to the VIA Strengths Assessment, the greatest strengths that I would bring to a position are Hope, Perspective, Leadership, Zest, and Fairness. I kept the background of my strengths collage the same as I previously had it, with stock images from Google that I felt reflected what my strengths are all about. However, this time I added some photos of myself in situations where I felt I was reflecting these various strengths. I am hopeful and have a good sense of perspective in that I always do my best to evaluate situations to the fullest extent and find the good even in tough times. The photo I have to represent this is from my 2020 high school graduation. We graduated two months late and had to wear masks, but I was grateful we were able to have any type of ceremony at all. I included a photo from my varsity soccer team where I was a captain for three years to demonstrate my leadership and ability to inspire a team to success. I included a photo from when I ran the Chicago Marathon to show my zest for trying new things and pursuing the things I am passionate about. Finally, I feel that my strength of fairness lends itself to me being a very accepting and inclusive person. For this I added a headshot I took for Ross. At Ross people come from all over the country and world and I need to use my strength of fairness to be an accepting person and embrace learning new ideas from all different types of people I’ll meet.

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"Maximizing My Own Moments of Positivity"

Over this past year especially, I have found so much purpose in appreciating small moments of triumph, support, and beauty that I feel often go unnoticed in my day-to-day life. While grand gestures of course stand out the most, I have found so much happiness in finding the good in my daily actions and really taking the time to notice what I am surrounded by. Something that I have continually struggled with is comparing myself to both my peers around me and the influencers that highlight their amazing lives all over Instagram and Tik Tok (the parts that look “amazing,” anyways). Maximizing my own pockets of positivity has allowed me to come to understand that I am my own person and living my own wonderful life in my own way and at my own pace, and that should be the only thing I am placing my focus on. I realize I said “own” five times in that previous sentence, but straying away from comparison has been immensely beneficial to my overall well-being lately. Daily practices like 30-second celebrations or going on re-centering walks have reinforced just how important finding small tokens of positivity everyday can be. I hope to inspire those around me to always have a glass half-full outlook on life and take the time to notice all that is good in the world, even if it doesn't seem too big at the moment.

https://padlet.com/kempfa1/umq7g34n54qgmcgr

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COMPOSE AND ADD #1: GENERATIVE QUESTIONS THAT SPARK HIGH QUALITY CONNECTIONS

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COMPOSE AND ADD #1: GENERATIVE QUESTIONS THAT SPARK HIGH QUALITY CONNECTIONS

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COMPOSE AND ADD #2: SMALL SHIFTS FOR BIG IMPACT & Your Tiny Habit for Thriving

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COMPOSE AND ADD #2: SMALL SHIFTS FOR BIG IMPACT & Your Tiny Habit for Thriving

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Something I have learned in Magnify is simply how much content there is to absorb about positivity and thriving. In order to continue my learning, I want to prioritize getting off of social media more and taking the time to keep learning. I have browsed through the Magnify Media Recommendations Padlet and decided to purchase the book “Maybe You Should Talk to Someone” by Lori Gottleib. It’s crazy how much less intimidating it feels to finish an entire book when it’s broken into “tiny” ten-page chunks. Additionally, the celebration aspect of the tiny habit recipe is a great way to make me feel accomplished from the very beginning of my day. I am able to take my positive emotions with me throughout the rest of whatever I have planned that day.

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COMPOSE AND ADD #3: REFLECTED BEST SELF EXERCISE & Who Are You at Your Best?

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COMPOSE AND ADD #3: REFLECTED BEST SELF EXERCISE & Who Are You at Your Best?

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A theme that showed up in each one of the stories written for my best self-report was that of frequent goal setting, as well as coming up with a way to follow through on the goal. While some people chose to write about my experiences in my student organizations or on my soccer teams, the most common story told by far was that of me setting the goal to run the Chicago Marathon at seventeen years old. People wrote about how not only were they impressed that I even came up with this lofty goal in the first place, but also about how I made a detailed training plan for myself and thoroughly tracked my progress throughout the entire process in order to continuously try to make improvements. As a summation of the greatest overall theme throughout everything written, I think my mom put it best, writing: “You think in the long term which has always struck me as unusual for a young person and you have done that for many years. You visualize what you would like your life to be like in the future and then you develop plans on how to achieve your goals.” At my best I know what I want, but I think that even more importantly, at my absolute best I am taking the steps necessary to get what I want. The RSBE has reaffirmed that I need to continue this mindset as I continue to pursue new opportunities and take on even tougher challenges. Lofty goals are rare for a reason – they aren’t easy to achieve and lots of work has to be done. However, I know that I am someone who finds great reward in pushing past preconceived boundaries, and with my best mindset I know I have the ability to keep setting goals and, even better, take the necessary steps to achieve them.

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COMPOSE AND ADD #4: ACTION LEARNING & Thriving in the Wild

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COMPOSE AND ADD #4: ACTION LEARNING & Thriving in the Wild

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The image from our field research that sparks pride for me is a screen shot of a chat comment life to us by a recruiter for OneMagnify named Ally Petrossi. During the Discovery Sessions our group made it a big priority to ask lots of follow-up questions, and also make sure that the questions we were asking were very generative. Before each session we each collaborated on a Google Doc to make sure we were well prepared to ask the questions that would be the most impactful for both us and OneMagnify. An example would be, “Tell us about a time where you felt a sense of meaning or purpose in the work you were doing and how that sense of meaning impacted your overall performance.” Well, it turns out that our hard work paid off because Ally wrote to us, “not trying to be too extreme but these are some of the best questions I’ve ever heard.” I felt really proud that we were able to effectively implement what we had been learning about asking generative questions into our Discovery Sessions. It was awesome getting that feedback from someone who’s actual job is asking interview questions to get to know someone on a deeper level. Magnify taught me one of the best ways to form a High Quality Connection with someone is by knowing how to ask the right questions, and I truly believe that these generative questions are what allowed us to get the best possible understanding of what life is like at OneMagnify so that we could offer both our praise and our suggestions in our final deliverable to the company.

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COMPOSE AND ADD #5: REPLENISHING & Managing Your Energy

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COMPOSE AND ADD #5: REPLENISHING & Managing Your Energy

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My top 2 replenishing practices are Mindful Grounding and writing a Love Letter to Myself. These two were my favorite because they were the most unfamiliar to me. Prior to learning about these practices, I often found myself so fixated on the future and what I needed to do next. My life is filled with goals and to-do-lists, and while this isn’t necessarily a bad thing, staying present with myself and appreciating the moment is just as important. Taking the time to slow down, ground myself, and appreciate what is around me is so beneficial to achieve focus and center myself. The day after we learned about Mindful Grounding in Magnify, I was taking an instructor-led walk around my neighborhood (similar to listening to a podcast). Suddenly, the instructor told me to look for 5 things I see, 4 things I feel, 3 things I hear, 2 things I smell, and 1 thing I taste. I remember thinking, “Oh my Gosh, that’s a Magnify thing!” I felt very present in that moment, and I was filled with so much positive emotion to kickstart my day. Writing a Love Letter to Myself allowed me to appreciate my strengths in a new way. Usually I am so focused on self-improvement, so it was really refreshing to take a step back and think, “Wow Abby, you really are doing a great job.” So many times I compare myself to what others are doing, so a moment to hype my own self up for once really gave me a sense of pride and confidence that I sometimes struggle with. These are both such simple practices that don’t take much time at all, but their impact is really immeasurable and I will keep them as frequent routines in my life.