The United States Naval Academy builds, molds, and shapes its candidates into the midshipmen and future officers it hopes to commission. Through this process the Academy has a tendency to build the same type of individuals. As future naval officers, midshipmen have to be well rounded in all aspects, but every candidate that comes to the Academy, no matter the selection process, fits the mold of the Academy differently. Due to this, the Academy requires that each midshipman be pushed to his or her limits, by using their strengths and building on their weaknesses to create a future officer of good character. During the last six weeks of Plebe leadership, we have been learning not only what our strengths and weaknesses are, but what our personality is. For this class, …show more content…
The Clifton Strength assessment taught me the most about myself, and personally, I felt it gave the most accurate description of who I am. As we have discussed in class, these assessments are only models. Although all models are ultimately incorrect, what one learns from them can be valuable. What I learned from the Clifton Strength assessment is that my five strength areas include: Achiever, Competition, Focus, Futuristic, and Significance, and that I may not know myself as well as I thought. As I read my character traits, which I did not think fit my personality, to my girlfriend, she began to laugh at me. She later said that what I was reading described my exact personality. Of these five traits, I feel that Achiever and Competition truly describe who I am. I chose Achiever and Competition because they encompass not only how I act, but how I feel. At the Academy you are told everyday what you’re not good at. Never before had I constantly been aware of my weaknesses, and my need to fix them. I knew what I struggled with before coming to the Academy, but until I got here I did not understand how much I struggled in these areas. In high school,