Class Reflection
Last Thursday, our class took a personality test. I’ve taken it before — in high school, our guidance counselors gave us these tests in hopes that they would steer us toward a career as we applied for colleges. It’s funny to sit down and answer the same sort of questions four years later. In high school, I was an ENFP… and I wrote about what that meant for my philosophy class. The assignment was to write a two page paper entitled, “Who Am I?” I wrote,
“According to multiple personality tests, I am an ENFP, or in one word — an inspirer.
Striving to make the most of out life, I find wonder in the world’s simplest details. My enthusiasm for life and leadership abilities drive me to motivate and inspire others.
Overall, I would consider myself a hopeful, and possibly idealistic dreamer as I attempt to see good in every person and situation. I rarely get angry because I believe it is a waste of energy and problems are typically solved more efficiently when you can accept the circumstances and move on. I am also an observer. I look at the world in depth and long to see all the layers life has to offer. Finding it all so amazing, I then aspire to find some way to show others the wonders of the world and give them a glimpse of what it all looks like it my eyes.
…
While my love lies with singing, my parents and teachers convinced me that this was not a reliable career track to follow. In
search of another path, I joined the Student News Show and Newspaper, and discovered an interest in journalism. Just like a performer, a journalist’s job is to tell a story. Next year, for college, I will attend The University of Missouri in the journalism program, with the intention of studying to be either a reporter, documentarist, or correspondent. With this type of profession, I hope to reveal the goodness of the world — in contrast of the typical news stories about car crashes, kidnappings, and war. Actually, in everything I do, especially through my art, I try to capture the beauty of the world and remind people to appreciate the simple things in life.”
I am really glad that my professor asked us to write such a personal essay. It’s interesting to go back and see how I’ve changed or stayed the same. Am I still studying journalism for the same reasons? I think so. Do I still love to sing? Of course. Would my high school-self be proud of where I am today? I hope so.
In my paper, I wrote that an ENFP is an inspirer. I’ve also read that ENFPs are diplomats. In either case, I can see why my personality drew me to the field of journalism. People with the ENFP personality tend to be curious, idealistic and insightful. They see life as a big, complex puzzle where everything is connected. They are highly enthusiastic, especially when it comes to things that spark their imagination. They also have difficulties dealing with routine (this is so true).
I am drawn to the changing nature of a journalist’s work. My curiosity stirs me to ask a lot of questions. When I pick up a pen and paper, a camera or sit down at an editing lab, I embrace the opportunity to create an original work — an article, photo, video or graphic that will tell a story, inspire people or demonstrate how facts are interconnected.
Reading Response
In the excerpt of Small World, Orgo writes that Thomas Kuhn claims that “we are none of us neutral observers of the world, even at the level of everyday perception. Our various acts of making sense of the world (this white blur on the table in front of me is a cup of coffee, that tall blob over there is the Eiffel Tower) are unavoidable shaped by our prior beliefs and experiences.“
This idea reminds me of the infamous inkblot test. If we see images based on our prior beliefs and experiences, you can really tell a lot about a person by asking them what they see. I took the ink blot test, and based on my individual answers, I was told the following (I saw a lot of animals, people looking at each other, and natural elements such as water and fire):
* Sometimes you feel something washing over you that you can’t explain coupled with fear and a feeling of helplessness and you may be suffering from:
Generalized anxiety disorder.
* If given the chance to stop the pain and suffering of the grieving relatives of the victims of a past maritime disaster you would most likely choose to avert the disaster that had claimed a total of:
400 lives on the Reina Regenta (off Gibraltar, March 11th, 1895).
* If you were of a criminal mind you would most likely commit the following offense:
Weapons.
* When asked if you are a “glass is half-empty” or “glass if half-full” type of person you would most likely respond with:
Glass is half-empty.
* Someone whom you love deeply has decided to move on with their life without you and you:
Let them go and hope that they come back to you in time.
* One day you walk into the animal shelter and find yourself walking out with:
A bird of prey.
* If ever told that you had one week left to live you should seriously consider traveling here for your final days:
Puglia, Italy.
* Transported back in time you awake to the road manager of Lynyrd Skynyrd telling you that it’s time to get on a plane on October 20th, 1977 and you:
Board the plane and have one of the most amazing conversations with Ronnie Van Zant and then all goes black.
* With your wit and sense of humor you’re almost just as funny as:
Gabriel Iglesias.
Creative Idea
I tried creating some logos for my freelance photography business, and here are a few designs I came up with (they are very similar… I just can’t decide where to position the ‘photography’ text.)
Nicole Lunger 