16A –My Secret Sauce

Five Things That Make Me Different:
Here are several things that distinguish me from other people around me.

• I am someone who embraces uniqueness.
• Many people seem to want to be just like everyone else. This includes comparing our success in the world to what others around us have accomplished. I believe this is deceiving because every single person is different; it also leads to insecurities and anxiety. What others accomplish might not be what I should accomplish.
• I have been nurtured in an entrepreneurial environment.
• Like I shared in assignment 3A, my father is a successful entrepreneur. Growing up learning about how to manage a company and grow a business is invaluable learning that not many people are able to obtain at a young age. My father has taught me many things about what it means to be a leader, businessman, and a risk-taker. This is something very special that I am beginning to value more throughout the course of this class.
• I'm independent: I make decisions for my own reasons.
• Over the last four years, I have learned to not be programmed into doing things just because others tell me to. Making informed decisions based on facts and reasoning is more appealing to me than taking action without considering all the options. 
• I am beyond passionate.
• I am someone who is all in all the time, no matter what the context is. I sometimes see various tasks as contests that can be won, pushing me to work hard to succeed. When I decide to do something, I do it with everything I have. I seek to never be half-hearted in anything that I do because I find that I am being ineffective when I am not fully invested in a particular action/process.
• I am outgoing and confident. 
• I believe these two traits/skills of mine go hand in hand. I love talking to people and am learning to be more confident in approaching various people in any setting to talk to them. I love starting conversations with strangers and my friends think I'm crazy for it. I find a genuine interest in the lives and perspectives of others, thus I am able to go and talk with many people unfazed when those around me wouldn't dare go.

Interviews:

Here are my interview audio recordings.

• #1 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YQfodpsjNFpOxk9-yQPLg6VT1nnEzsia/view?usp=sharing
• My Grandpa on my Mom's side says that the thing that separates me from most people is my emotional capabilities, for example, being able to look to help people all the time. He said being confident yet not arrogant makes me different than many others. 
• #2 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1j3aCALbFGMhUTVE3YvoWHbtD_krHOOwA/view?usp=sharing
• My Grandma says that what separates me from others is my listening abilities. She says that the type of person I am enables me to communicate with people both young and old.
• #3 https://drive.google.com/open?id=1H2cOa8LpSWowhJFYqjqAr9omcOn-B-2D
• My best friend, Aaron, says that what makes me different is my personality. He says that I am self-motivated and very driven which enables me to be successful in unique situations.
• #4 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1XKWdW4Bp81oYNUN6qNdnhVtogAxHI_yM/view?usp=sharing
• My mom says that what makes me different from many people is that I have very high character and live life with integrity. She says that I am very driven, often working late into the night to get jobs done.
• #5 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qicZ_ueCyFtrGr1etbxAb1bAqTKWLpkI/view?usp=sharing
• My Grandpa on my Dad's side says that the thing that separates me from most people is that I am able to read other personalities well and that I am very kind to others. He says that I am very determined and motivated.

Reflection:

After my interviews, I found that most people see me as someone who is extremely outgoing and motivated while being kind and sensitive to others. I believe that these things make me unique, however, I didn't necessarily include them in my list in Part 1. I found that many people assess me the same way as I assess myself which was interesting to learn. Because of this, I am very confident that these interviews are an accurate look into who I am and what makes me different. If I were to change anything from my list in Part 1, I would add that I am super motivated; I am passionate but I would switch that out with "I am motivated beyond most people." This would be the only change I would make.