My Secret Sauce

5 Ways That Make Me Unique:

1. In the summer of 2014, I traveled to Paris and lived there for six weeks as a missionary with a Christian organization, CRU. Also, I work with an organization called Bridges, that focuses on improving the quality of life for international students as they transition to the United States, allowing them to meet American students. The reason this makes me different from others is that I have seen the world and have been able to work with different types of people, than the typical, white student at the University of Florida. I had to overcome language barriers and meet an entire new type of person while I was in Paris.

2. I was born in a town in Florida called Lakeland and grew up in a poor area with plenty of homeless and poverty-ravished families. The majority of the population around the area were either Latino and African-American and most of those families were rather poor. We all went to the same schools and there was a large amounts of violence. This life experience has made me very unique because I grew up with different types of people and I was the minority. I had to communicate and live with diverse people and this is something, most of my colleagues in college have not had to live through.

3. I am a very emotional, passionate person because I grew up around friends and family who were very passionate. My mother is admirable because she is very passionate about the care of her patients in the mental/physical health clinic she manages and for this reason, I have wanted to replicate her passion for my desires.

4. I have been gifted with the ability to be a natural-born leader. I was the captain of two varsity teams, basketball and football. I was the vice-president of a club called Leaders Club and I was able to grow my ability to lead people, and this has changed my career choice moving forward because of the skills i learned through Leaders Club on how to be an authentic, honest leader.

5. I have been gifted with an incredible joy when it comes to working with people. I just enjoy being around new people and learning more about them.

Interviews:

The question I asked all of these people was: "What is one thing that makes me unique?"

Luke Cabrera - Luke is a sophomore, engineering student who is my roommate. The main thing he could think of was my leadership skills and how he sees me as a leader. The first thing he spoke of was how I lead our community group, which is a small group bible study. And the next thing was about how I lead a team with CRU, called the prayer team and help plan events for that.

Kate Webb - Kate is a sophomore, pre-med student who I met through mutual friends within CRU. The main thing that came to mind for her was that I am very welcoming and that I enjoy bringing people in to my community. She said that when she sees me at CRU, she notices that I am very open to meeting others and getting to know about their lives.

Rachel Mitts - Rachel is a senior, food sciences student who I am dating. When she thought about was unique about me was that I am so willing to help out with whatever needs someone has and that I always say yes to them. She said that this was a good quality and used an example that I would get a drink for someone if it was closer to them than it was to me without any grumbling.

Mark Mutz - Mark is from the same town as I am and is a senior, finance student who also runs track for the University of Florida. The one thing that he brings up is that I am humble enough to not be cocky. He believes this is unique because most people cannot walk in humility.

Savannah Benefield - Savannah is a senior, family, youth, and community sciences major at the University of Florida. She said something that is unique about me is that I always wear hats and that she thinks I "rock" them.

Reflection:

Most of the people that I interviewed seem to think the same things about me that I think about myself. I view myself as a leader, who is centered on other people. One thing they didn't mention was how diverse my personality is because of my cultural background. I think they didn't mention the diversity I grew up with because most of them are not from the hometown as me. Because they didn't include this, I may have wanted to change that part of my original self-assessment, even though I still believe that is a large part of who I am. One thing I disagree with is that I believe I am not humble and that it is hard for me to not want all the credit. Overall, I believe my interviewees were relatively correct in their assumptions about me.