Emily Pena Strengths

Choose work that will challenge you intellectually.

Look at careers in which you can interact with colleagues and have philosophical debates.

Try to meet people who share the same interests, and create intellectual conversations with them.

Surround yourself with intellectually stimulating people, and confidently converse with them. You can contribute to their lives as well as they can to yours.

Read and collect books that pique your curiosity.

Choose a career in which you can help others envision their future and define their goals to reach it.

Dream big. Write down your dreams, and continue to make progress toward your biggest dreams.

Write a description of your desired future, and post it where you will notice it frequently. Look at it often, and connect what you are learning to where you want to go.

Associate with others who enjoy philosophizing about the future.

Take risks to gain new insights, even if they are out of your comfort zone. Set academic goals to project yourself into a successful future.

Interview individuals who work in organizations where the work is experimental or discovery-oriented. Ask how each day assumes its own life. Take notes. Afterwards, look for recurring themes and behaviors these people share.

Identify three to four occupations that reward those with an ability to live in the moment. Avoid professions that require rigid adherence to rules, operating procedures, and time controls.

Surround yourself with individuals who, like you, pause to take in the world’s loveliness as it appears. Identify people who automatically put aside what they are doing to watch a sunset, listen to rustling leaves, or enjoy the arts.

Designate places to which you can retreat when you need to give your full attention to your studies. Choose venues where the potential for interruptions and extraneous noise is significantly reduced.

Live in the moment. Calm yourself before an exam with positive self-talk. Recall your personal history of dealing with surprises on tests.

Identify three to four occupations that reward those with an ability to live in the moment. Avoid professions that require rigid adherence to rules, operating procedures, and time controls.

Gain part-time or seasonal employment in organizations where the demand for flexibility exists hour-by-hour and day-by-day. Record three to five ways your Adaptability talent benefits you in these settings.

Live in the moment. Calm yourself before an exam with positive self-talk. Recall your personal history of dealing with surprises on tests.

Leverage your ability not to feel overwhelmed by multifaceted assignments. Document three to five instances during the day when you successfully juggled competing tasks.

Surround yourself with individuals who, like you, pause to take in the world’s loveliness as it appears. Identify people who automatically put aside what they are doing to watch a sunset, listen to rustling leaves, or enjoy the arts.

Choose jobs that will encourage you to conduct or delve into research.

You will want to work in an environment that expects you to be continuously engaged in learning.

Start a filing system for interesting and potentially useful articles you have read.

Give yourself research deadlines within your overall timelines for completing papers. Without them, you might continue to read and read, never feeling like you have enough information.

Schedule time for seeking information that goes beyond what is required for your classes. The library and the Internet will be valuable in your search.