My Secret Sauce

My Assessment of myself:

1. I tend to "collect" ideas, activities, and people. I fixate on one thing and throw my full self into learning everything I possibly can about that person or idea or activity, and I become slightly obsessed with learning about it (I don't obsess over people, don't worry). When I have learned as much as I can, I back off and keep that thing in my mental storage in case of necessary recall.
2. That being said, I also have a hard time focusing on one thing or person or idea for the long haul. I bounce around from exciting new thing to exciting new thing as I learn about everything in my grasp. Sometimes I spend 2 years on a topic, other times it's 2 days. This made choosing a college major very tough, and also makes relationships difficult for me.
3. I am very, very stubborn. If someone tells me that I can't or shouldn't do something, then I will make sure I do that. And if someone tells me to do something, I refuse to. I only do something if it is my own idea and of my own volition. (My poor mother).
4. I really, really, really, enjoy learning and education. I consume research articles for fun, on multiple very different topics. I love going to classes and I love going to office hours to talk about extra material outside of class.
5. I have a great work ethic. I will always go above and beyond whatever my job calls for, not because I am thinking about promotions (although I do end up getting promotions because of this trait), but because I enjoy the results of putting all my effort into something. It does not make sense to me why someone would show up to a job just to try to get out of working as much as possible the whole day, there is no pride in that.
6. As a bonus trait, I am very prideful. I don't see this trait a a good one, but it isn't all bad, either. I think that pride, when directed in the right manner, can help a person grow.

Others' Assessments of Me:

1. Jareb Mendez: https://soundcloud.com/sbrinkerhoff/my-secret-sauce-jareb-mendez
1. Determined
2. Happy-go-lucky/positive
3. Gets irritated easily
4. Likes to argue
5. Caring
2. Amy Brinkerhoff: https://soundcloud.com/sbrinkerhoff/my-secret-sauce-amy
1. Dedicated
2. Perservere
3. Integrity
4. Compassionate
5. Patient (or I appear to be)
3. John Brinkerhoff: https://soundcloud.com/sbrinkerhoff/my-secret-sauce-john
1. Love of horses
2. I can lift heavy (lol thanks dad)
3. I budget my finances and stick to it
4. I am a planner, not a spontaneous person
5. I am comfortable striking conversation with and talking to people I don't know
4. Alan Williams: https://soundcloud.com/sbrinkerhoff/my-secret-sauce-alan-williams
1. Ambitious/determined
2. Stubborn in accepting outcomes outside my control
3. Good people skills
4. Reliant on social feedback/social confirmation
5. Trustworthy with professional work and with relationships
5. Jessica Brinkerhoff: https://soundcloud.com/sbrinkerhoff/my-secret-sauce-jessica
1. Stubborn
2. Determined
3. Able to separate emotion from logic/good under pressure
4. Witty/dry humor & intelligent
5. Forgetful

The Differences:

     I was definitely more critical of myself than others were of me. I also noticed that some traits that my friends and family picked - such as "ambitious/dedicated/determined" and "caring/compassionate" were traits that, though I notice about myself, I didn't write down because I didn't believe that I was any more of those traits than the next person. Based on these responses, I show those traits more strongly than I knew.

     I also got responses about my"integrity", "trustworthy with work", and I myself mentioned my work ethic. This is a trait that I do strive to exemplify, because I am very proud of honest work. I am glad that it does not go unnoticed.

     Three out of five people mentioned my people skills, or ability to talk to and relate to people I don't know. Again, this is a trait that I never really noticed in myself - I just know that I like to talk, probably a little too much. This trait does help me immensely with my current job and future career in research on older adults; I am constantly meeting new participants and spending hours with them in the lab, and it is imperative that we keep our participants smiling and happy - this can be hard to do with some 65+ adults. However, I do not think that my people skill/positivity make me unique. Many people have just as good or better people skills than I do.
     I took my sister's interview to heart the most, because she knows me best out of anyone in my life. I thought all of her traits about me were very on-point, and more accurate and knowing than the others. She also mentioned how I fixate on thing for short periods of time, which were my first and second points about myself.

     I think I would change my first note about myself to "dedicated", because it is a better description of what I was trying to explain about myself. I would not change any other points, because I still believe that they are my most defining points.