The level of emotional intelligence I possess constitutes one of my most valued skills. The Emotional Intelligence test by Psychology Today (n.d.), helped me identify and score 84, which indicates a high level of EI. As a course representative, a higher level of EI enables me to practice social awareness and exhibit empathy as part of my responsibility. I try to comprehend my colleagues' opinions and emotions. This helps me maintain my social awareness and remain resilient and gritty in times of uncertainty and allows me to bounce back from these setbacks and maintain my determination.

Through this, I can employ problem-solving strategies to find viable solutions, assess their efficacy, and carry out tasks even when confronted with stress. By refining these abilities, we strengthen our resilience and improve our ability to overcome challenges (Everyday Speech, n.d.).

While considering other strengths, self-awareness is one of the key strengths that helps me maintain and improve upon my strengths and weaknesses. It helps me identify what I am good at and what areas I clearly need improvement in. This helps me reflect on and improve upon my weaknesses while making sure the improvement is prioritized according to its importance in my progress personally and professionally.

Similarly, my tendency to be self-critical is something that needs to be addressed. As it creates a mindset that focuses on the flaws rather than the improvement and progress made even at times of assessments and handling grade reports. I find it to be something that needs to be improved as various studies claim that self-criticism can hinder the accomplishment of goals by decreasing motivation and self-esteem thereby encouraging procrastination (Maher, 2021).

Additionally, while my resilience and grittiness are strengths, it sometimes leads to overcommitment and burnout. I find this mindset to be not sustainable in the long run. It can be extremely stressful to feel the need to be incredibly resilient. The societal expectation that people should constantly "bounce back" can cause emotions of shame and inadequacy when faced with hardship (Dave, 2024).

According to me, one of the main root causes of most issues I face is the perfectionist mindset I often end up disguising as a certain discipline. This results in simple tasks being more time-consuming and becomes a barrier to self-satisfaction and the joy gained from task completion.

This causes me to have that sense of doubt as to how the future are to be shaped and how would one be able to develop the skills required to stay relevant in the future workplace.

Similarly, overexposure to social media is often seen to be a threat as it often creates a perspective or an illusion of how success should be which is often stressful and demotivating. Studies reveal it to be linked to increased anxiety and depression, especially among the younger generation (Houston Defender, 2024).

Along with this, I often feel that after the pandemic working alone is something I’m used to till point it poses a threat of isolation due to such over-independence which later makes it difficult to ask for help or sometimes just some feedback.

This is something I often look as a byproduct of the threat that burnout causes. As at times of deadlines, I find this as a threat to just ask for help due to the fear of judgement and vulnerability.

As a student I have been offered multiple opportunities to grow both personally and professionally. Career support by the university helped me to navigate my path and make the most out of my degree.

Through the CMI accreditation (Chartered Management Institute, n.d.), I may improve my management, leadership, and consulting professionalism skills.

Other than that, through the Student Futures Internship I am able to enhance my research skills as a research intern and learn more about the practical application of the theoretical concepts I learn.

The Brand Lab internship also similarly helped with research but also an opportunity to improve my communication skills and to analyze raw data into insights.

Apart from this, networking opportunities through LinkedIn is helpful to surround myself with people sharing similar aspirations and provide a platform for me to gain valuable insights.

Everyday Speech. (n.d.). The importance of problem-solving social skills: Enhancing relationships and building resilience. Everyday Speech [online]. Available at: https://everydayspeech.com/sel-implementation/the-importance-of-problem-solving-social-skills-enhancing-relationships-and-building-resilience/ [Accessed 23 March 2025].

Houston Defender. (2024). How to break free from the illusion of social media success. Word In Black [online]. 8 July. Available at: https://wordinblack.com/2024/07/how-to-break-free-from-the-illusion-of-social-media-sucess/ [Accessed 9 April 2025].

Maher, E. (2021). How I transformed my self-criticism into self-improvement. Medium [online]. 12 May. Available at: https://medium.com/invisible-illness/how-i-transformed-my-self-criticism-into-self-improvement-b8a45b6c7474 [Accessed 23 March 2025].

Perfect, M. and Proctor, A. (2020). Preparing graduates for jobs that don’t yet exist. Wonkhe [online]. 25 February. Available at: https://wonkhe.com/blogs/preparing-graduates-for-jobs-that-dont-yet-exist-2/ [Accessed 9 April 2025].

Psychology Today. (n.d.). Emotional Intelligence Test Results. Psychology Today [online]. Available at: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/tests/personality/emotional-intelligence-test/results [Accessed 20 March 2025].