Sydney Harrison

Core Competencies

Personal Awareness & Responsibility

Strengths

1. I am learning to take care of myself.

Taking care of myself has been a huge part of my life in the past year, I’d say. I’ve been focusing
on making sure that I’m easy on myself in terms of day-to-day goals being completed. For example, if I
have the intention of going to the gym that day and I don’t end up going because my body or mind
doesn’t feel up to it; I try not to beat myself up over it. I make sure to take time out of my days to
regulate my emotions. I do this by journaling and taking note of different emotions I’m feeling
throughout the day because I’m a very emotional and sensitive person, and I feel a lot very deeply.
Therefore, I must ensure my emotions are not overwhelming me. Taking care of my body as well as my
mind has been important as well. I try to prioritize movement in the day; by going to the gym, or
walking, or hiking. I make sure that I’m eating right and healthy for me and my gut because I have some
underlying health issues anyways. I feel very confident in how I’m taking care of myself lately.

2. I can set goals, regulate my emotions and persevere in difficult situations.

I set different goals all the time. I constantly make different notes of different goals and
aspirations I want to accomplish. Every month I go through what I want to achieve for that month, for
example. I set new goals frequently. I regulate my emotions the same way as my examples above. I
journal and analyze my emotions to see exactly how I’m feeling and why. I’m a naturally very self-aware
person, so regulating and understanding my emotions is not hard for me. I persevere in difficult
situations always. Every difficult situation I have ever been in, I have gotten through it. It has always
turned out okay, and that’s what I have to remember in every difficult or challenging situation.

Weaknesses

1. I understand learning takes patience and time.

When it comes to being a patient person, I’d say that’s one of my weaknesses. I am a patient
person when it comes to reactions to things and situations, but when it comes to something that I want
to happen, I usually want it to happen quickly, and I don’t allow myself to be patient. I usually just want
things to happen here and now. I need to realize that patience and time are required with almost every
situation.

Social Responsibility
Strengths

1. I have positive peer and intergenerational relationships.

I am a very positive person and I believe that people around me notice that. I have many friends,
and I am friendly with everyone. When it comes to my personal and family relationships, I am very close
to many people, and I am usually always laughing and smiling in my life. Mostly all of my relationships
are positive and every relationship I have is very important to me and I make sure to put time and focus
into my relationships.

2. I am aware of my community and environment and work independently and collaboratively for
the benefit of others.

I’d say this is one of my strengths because I’m a good communicator when working
collaboratively and I still produce great work when working independently as well. If there is a project, I
can almost always work either independently or collaboratively. For example, when working with others
I can discuss roles and communicate about the work, as well as get feedback or constructive criticism
from others, and when I am working independently, I can still produce quality work.

Weaknesses

1. I can identify and appreciate different perspectives on issues and use and evaluate strategies to
resolve problems.

I actually wouldn’t say I have a weakness in the Social Responsibility category because I am very
aware of my social responsibility as a student and human being. The reason why I chose this statement
as a weakness is solely because it would be my weakest out of the four statements. I wouldn’t say I have
a weakness in that statement though. I have confidence that I solve issues and problems in a peaceful
and respectful way that allows all people to be seen and heard from their point of view.

Critical Thinking

Strengths

1. I can analyze and critique my work and my learning.

This is a strength of mine because when I look at all my work, I ask questions and analyze how I
can make it better or if I am okay with that being my final product. For example, recently I wrote a poem
for my creative writing class, and I was constantly analyzing my emotions and the poetry in the piece of
writing to make sure I was conveying the message I wanted to convey. I wanted to make sure it made
sense to an outside audience, and I wanted to make sure that the words and emotions were as
authentic as possible and I believe that from my ability to do so, the writing showed exactly that.
 2. I can assess my progress.

This is true in many ways because I am constantly looking at my final goals and seeing if where I
am at now and where I am going can line up with those goals. For example, for my progress to make it
to university, I had to make sure I got above a C+ in English Studies in order to make it into a specific
program at a specific institution. I was constantly checking and evaluating my progress to make sure I
was always fitting the criteria. I ended up fitting the criteria, but this was a good example of how
constantly assessing my progress helped me succeed later down the road.

Weaknesses

1. I can explore and create new ways to represent my learning around a variety of problems,
events, issues, and needs.

I need to improve on this core competency because I find it hard to navigate after I’ve hit a wall.
Being resilient for something I may not have a passion for is tricky for me. For example, in math class I
always struggled whenever I hit a wall or couldn’t understand something. I would pretty much
automatically give up. I never really got better at making sure to create new ways for my learning to
succeed, I just always did nothing once I found that I couldn’t do it and I never tried to make it better.
That’s one of my regrets with my high school education.

Creative Thinking

Strengths

1. I can use the environment around me, including others, and my unconscious mind to generate
new ideas.

In my everyday life I do use the environment around me to generate new ideas. I use my
environment in different ways and showcase that through social media, or my writing in English classes.
I am constantly using my environment and experiences around me to generate ideas all the time. An
example of this would be how I’m constantly writing poems about where I live, or my life experiences;
and that is always generating new ideas.

2. I can create new and unique ideas that may provide new perspectives that influence how people
think about topics.

When I share my ideas with others, or my passions with others, it most likely always changes
their perspective on that topic. When I talk about books, for example, with friends and family, and I’m
passionately talking about how books and reading about different people and places constantly changes
my view on the world, people tell me that they’ve never thought of reading that way and that I changed
their perspective on how they’ve perceived reading.

Weaknesses

1. I can persevere, and understand that failure can be productive.

As I’ve stated above, failure is really hard for me to grapple with. I don’t take failure lightly. When I fail
at something, I usually put myself down about it (which I’m trying not to do, as stated above in my first
paragraph), sometimes it’s hard not to. For example, when I didn’t get a very good mark in my
Philosophy class on a certain project, I didn’t redo it when given the opportunity because I felt as though
since I already failed at it, there was no point in trying again. That’s something I need to get better at.

Communication

Strengths

1. I can engage in deep and meaningful inquiry for a variety of purposes and audiences.

This is true for me because I crave meaningful connections and conversations with everyone. I’d
rather have a meaningful conversation than a casual one. When it comes to conversation topics, and
experiences in life, I try to find the deeper meaning in all areas and subjects.

2. I can work with other students to plan, inquire, and solve problems.

This is true for me because I work very well in group settings, and I collaborate and communicate with
other students and peers well. For example, when I am communicating with my table group in
Psychology, I make sure everyone is heard and we all inquire about other people's ideas when solving a
problem of which of the Seven Perspectives of Psychology are used to describe a certain behavior.

Weaknesses

1. I can listen, learn to contribute meaningfully to discussion and debate, consider different
perspectives, and build consensus.

Same as above, I feel as though I didn’t have a weakness for this core competency so this would
be my weakest in this category.

Personal & Cultural Identity

Strengths
 1. I understand what is important to me

I feel as though I have very set values and morals and I have a very developed understanding of
what is important to me and my character. I constantly remember my values and morals every day
because they are what shape my life and how I react to different situations and how I treat others.

2. I understand that culture is a broad concept that includes things like my geographic region,
nationality, sex/gender, age, ethnicity, sexuality, language, and religion.

I feel as though I have a developed understanding that all of these things listed are what make
up everyone’s different cultures. I understand that all cultures are different and beautiful. For example,
in my Social Studies class a couple years ago, we did a project on intersectionality and how there are
many aspects of us and our cultures that intersect and make us who we are and how we appear to the
world. That project made me understand different cultures, and how they exist in the world and how we
should all be appreciative and educated about different cultures different from our own.

Weaknesses

1. I understand how to use my strengths and abilities to my advantage, and I can explain how I use
them to contribute to my community.

Again, this is an area that I feel like I have strengths in all areas so this would be my weakest
one. I’d say it is my weakest one because I have trouble explaining my strengths and how I can use my
abilities to my advantage, and it’s hard to express that to a community of people.