Having different skills is very important in life. Whether it’s in a job, at school or in everyday life, being strong in many different skills makes you a much more effective person. After having done three tests to explore my skills, I now know a lot more about myself. Before I had done these tests, I knew that I had many skills and others that I needed to work on, but these tests helped tell me exactly how much of each skill I had. There are many skills that I have and that I am confident using. One of these that I possess strongly is that of leadership and working in groups. I can help guide and direct people in my group to do tasks, demonstrating and supporting whenever needed. I make sure that our group achieves the specifications of the project and even if those requirements change, I can adapt to meet them. I am also strong in thinking and problem solving, identifying problems and implementing solutions. Another of my strong suits is organisation, whether if I’m working with a group in a complicated project, or am by myself and need to be organised. While I have many strong skills, I also have many that can be improved. Communication is one such skill. I need to work on and improve my ability to explain and teach ideas and theories, using the correct terminology and jargon. The more I can learn to communicate in a precise fashion, the better I will be at transmitting ideas. I also need to improve my interpersonal skills. Communication is important for these skills, but being empathetic and emotionally intelligent will come very much in handy. I need to be able to put myself in other people’s shoes and see what their opinions are. If I do that, I will be able to synergize and create the best solution possible. There are a few ways I can develop these skills to become a more effective person. I first and most important is to practice. To improve my communication, I should properly understand the words related to the specific task I am doing, and therefore be the most precise and understandable possible. I should practice talking to people, using as little amount of “likes” and “justs” in my speech as possible. To practice my interpersonal skills, whenever I see that someone has a problem, I should try to see it from their point of view. The more I understand the person, the more I will be able to help them. In addition to practicing those skills, I also need to study an expert. This can be anyone who is good at either communication or interpersonal skill. By copying how they do things, I will improve my own skills. In conclusion, skills are very important to be an effective and successful person. Although each individual skill is important, it is also important to be good at a variety of things. This is why is important to always practice skills that we are good at and improve the ones that need improvement. Practicing is the best way to improve those skills, but learning from someone who is better than you at those skills is also a good way to improve. I hope that I will be able to always add to my skills, and in consequence, learn to be a more effective person. Excellent essay, D.K! You were clear about which skills you already had and the skills that you need to develop. You also outlined the possible ways to further develop these skills very well. I would suggest that you also take a look back at the list of Transferable Skills. This could help you add more skills to your list of skills that you already posses and those that you could work on. Overall, very good work! 29/30 4+
7 Skills Students need for the futur• Critical thinking and problem-solving • Collaboration across networks and leading by influence • Agility and adaptability • Initiative and entrepreneurialism • Effective oral and written communication • Accessing and analyzing information • Curiosity and imagination In order to become an innovator, I need to always be curious. Instead of being narrow minded, I need to think out of the box, be adaptable. It is also important to employ critical thinking and properly analyze information. I have to have excellent and effective oral and written communication, and finally always take initiative. If I can combine these things, I will be a great innovator. Tony Wagner earned a M.A.T. and an Ed.D. at the Harvard University Graduate School of Education.
He used to work for twelve years at as a K-8 principal, a teacher and a professor. He now works as an Expert In Residence at Harvard University’s new Innovation Lab and has published multiple works and five books. What Are Your Career Dreams and Aspirations?My name is D. K., and I am 14 years old. I am currently in grade eleven, having skipped both Senior Kindergarten and grade 8. I have gone to my school, Académie de la Capitale, since I was about 4 years old. I live an unusual lifestyle, traveling to a Cree village for a week every month because my parents work as doctors there. I also travel a lot during the summer, having visited over 15 countries in my life. Other things that describe me are that I love playing hockey, reading and exploring technology. I also enjoy learning and doing math.
I believe it is important for me to plan my career development so I can have a direction to go in. Although I should keep many possibilities in mind, it is important to always have dreams and a destination in mind. When I was younger, I was not sure what I wanted to be when I grew up, and that made me feel uncertain. Now that I have an idea, it makes it easier to plan which school classes to take. The career I am aspiring to is a computer engineer. I am not sure which type, but I would like to do something along those lines. I might work on computer or webpage design, working on the code for programs or even the design of more substantial objects, like airplanes. I would work on computers most of the time, coding using programming languages like Java or C++, and maybe also working on computer hardware. Because the work would be on a computer, it would a lot easier to work in different places, so I would still be able to travel. Since I was little, people have always told me that math was one of my strong suits. I also enjoy using technology and learning as much as I can. All of these talents will help me learn more to become a computer engineer, and then enjoy my job. I have already taken a computer programming course, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Enjoying your work is just as if not more important than being good at it, and I think I will be challenged enough to love it. The classes I am taking this semester will help on my way to my dream job. First of all, I have computer programming 12. It is already three years ahead of what people my age are doing, so I have a lot more time to add to the knowledge I will gain this semester. Another course that will help me is Physics, which is important for everyday life, but will also help explain how computers work. In addition to my schoolwork, I always try to explore the different aspects of computers. I try to learn as much as I can, and ask friends of my parents who have that type of job what they do. During one of my summer trips, when I was in California, I visited the Googleplex. This showed a type of environment where I would work, and I really liked the look of it. I will try to continue my career journey, and see where it takes me. |