1. Running head: STREGTHS QUEST 1
Strengths Quest
Sang Nguyen
Cornerstone Section 23
The University of Northern Iowa

2. STRENTHS QUEST 2
Strengths Quest
As stated in my strengths quest report, my top five strengths are restorative, relator,
responsibility, competition, and significance. I totally agreed with the result, it definitely
represents my strengths and talents as a whole, but when it breaks down to details, I disagreed
with some parts. Before taking strength quest, I did not notice these characteristics within
myself, I did not see any of these characteristics presence in me. Strength quest also allows me to
think and look at myself as a different person. I was little surprised by how accurate it describes
my personality as well as my strengths as a whole. Though there are still some agreements and
disagreements within the description of each talent.
First, my agreements on this theme report was unbelievable strong. I believed I had these
talents such that I am a responsible person who likes to solve problems and conflicts between
two persons. I am a competitive person, but I can also relate to other people. For instance, in my
group of friends, I am that competitive person who wants to win every bowling game we play.
The way my friends or family members talk to me when they have conflicts between one another
also makes me believe I am a relator. But what I agreed the most out of five theme is
significance, I wanted to be important to everyone. I personally believed this is who I am, I
easily get angry or jealous when my presence or absence does not matter to someone.
Nevertheless, there were several disagreements on this report. Pointed out by my managers at my
workplace, they said, “restorative speaks of you a little, but mostly you don’t like to solve
problems. If there is a problem at work, you tend to complain more than solving it.” I also
believe what managers said was true, I am a big complainer, but after complaining, I will have
the problems solved. Another disagreement was the way they describe myself within the theme

3. STRENTHS QUEST 3
competitive, I do not usually compete to outshine or to be better than my peers. I view others’
performances as a motivation for myself to do better and to grow.
Throughout my life there were a lot of situations where I felt really successful and was
able to apply my strengths toward them. First of all, my job at Hollister is a big example and
experience for me. I am the only person at work who knows everything from the front to the
back of the store. Because I am a responsibility person, my manager knows that I will get things
done when assigning a task to me, he often has me do it rather than someone else. However
because of my willingness to get things done, I usually end up doing more work than any of my
coworkers. Secondly, my relationship toward everyone is another amazing thing in my life. I can
relate to people, that is why many people find me when they are in their worst situation. They
know they can just talk everything out not worry about my judgment. I believe being a relator
does help me pulling everyone toward me which makes me happy. I was able to gain trust from
the beloved ones, and that also means the importance of my presence. I also enjoy making new
friends, but mostly, I enjoy being around my close friends. If I was having communication
strength in me, making new friends was much easier for me.
There were many times that I can utilize my strengths, but it does not mean that there
were not times I was not able to wisely use my strengths. For instance, I was the manager of the
school spirit store back in high school for two consecutive years. I was loving being the manager
because I felt like I was important, but in reality I was not. Being the manager, but I was not able
to made any decision within the store-wise. Even little things like how to decorate the store,
where to put the cash register, how many people I need each day and how long the store need to
be opened. Though I was responsible for the store operations and the revenues or the losses. In
two years of doing that job, I was not able to utilize my strengths to figure out how to recover

4. STRENTHS QUEST 4
from our losses from the previous years. But in the end, my involvement in school store got me
so much of an unforgettable experience. Another failure of applying my strengths was just in my
regular daily life. Although I am a relator which means I can relate to people’s problems and
conflicts, but I more than often question others’ actions or thoughts. I judge people without
making connection or thinking about their situations in this crazy world. I try to relate to people,
to be an understanding person, but it is too challenging.
Because of my strengths, my relationship with other people is just fantastically the way I
wanted it. As I mentioned above, relator pulls people closer to me. They trust me for my
responsibility. They believe me because of my competitive edge, I want everyone around me to
be better than any other group of friends. For instance, I met a Korean girl during my first week
at the University of Northern Iowa. I can relate to the feelings she had at the time, I knew she
was homesick, she had no friend, and all she wanted to do was returning home. Therefore, I took
her out to places with my group of friends; I talked to her to make her feel comfortable. But most
important, I shared the experience in going oversea and my tips in learning English with her.
And now, we are so closed, we share every moment together. And since then, it is just sad to
think about her returning home after this semester. Thus, I am applying for a study abroad
program in Korea next academic year to be around her.
However, my strengths are also my weaknesses. I am such a competitive person that
sometimes I make my friends do things that they did not want to do such as compete with each
other at the bowling games, at volleyball games, or even at lifting weights. I had lost a good
friend because I forced him to do many things. I wanted my best friend to be better than
everyone’s best friend. Consequently, I forced him to take more classes, study harder, and play
sports and practice video games, just about anything that will turn him into a better person.

5. STRENTHS QUEST 5
Overtime, he thought I was just using him to compete with other people, so our friendship was
ruined. I had the best of the best friends, but I did not appreciate him. I was too selfish.
Not much of a difference between my personally relationship and my academic life. I
believe these strengths help me do well in school. From first grade to my high school graduation,
I was in top ten of my graduating class. I was known to be a hardworking student and was also
expected to be going to medicine school after high school. However, these strengths helped me
figure out what I want to do with my life and which direction I should follow. I am a business
majored because I personally think with my top five strengths, I will be able to go far in this
career. It is all tied together, I am responsible to get my work done. For example, throughout my
first semester, I did not miss any class or any assignments. I finished my first semester with an
above average GPA. I was proud to have those strengths in myself.
I have not been identified my strengths and utilized them before, but merely those
strengths helped me get through every day of life. I believed one ought to recognize their
strengths and weaknesses will help them succeed in different parts of their lives. With the same
principle, I can conclude that with my strengths being found, I will utilize it and shape myself
into a consistent person. I also have confidence in my improvement in school and will have
better relationships with people around me. I cannot change in one moment, but I will take my
strengths as my stepping-stone and improve myself as I go. And from time to time, these
strengths will help me go far in my career.