Discussion Prompt Quesiton:

Of which part of your personality are you the most proud? Why does this personality trait bring you pride?

One of the personalities that I exhibited from a very young age is my extreme focus and attention to detail. However, this trait was only made distinct when I stepped into the workplace. Over the past eight years of my work life, this attention to detail aspect of me has helped me garner a lot of praise from my colleagues and superiors, as it translates directly into my incredibly reliable work ethic. There were many spotlights in my career that attest to this trait, but one in particular that made a huge impression was an incident that happened a couple of years ago at my work in the real estate sector as an assistant compliance officer overseeing the legality of contracts and enforcement of regulations. In fact, I detailed this incident in one of the personal insight questions I wrote for my UC transfer application last November. I will include a copy of my PIQ responses below if anyone is interested in reading them. But to put it short, it was an incident in which I took proactive actions on a potentially adverse situation that I foresaw was going to happen, and it happened exactly as how I had anticipated it. In the end, I was able to save a couple of millions of dollars of our client’s money by staying away from this commercial transaction.

Link to PIQ

Responses to the professor or other students:

Response One: Cheerful

Being a bright and cheerful person is a critical trait to have, especially in the age of an ongoing public health crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic and the unfolding misfortunes around us, such as the Russo-Ukrainian war or our extremely divided and polarized political and legislative bodies. As a student or a working individual, having a cheerful personality is the absolute key to preserving a positive and can-do attitude, which is crucial in stressful situations. As a matter of fact, I believe this is precisely what college admission staff wants to see in a college application. To me personally, this is evidenced by one of the UC PIQ’s prompt questions that states, “Describe the most significant challenge you have faced and the steps you have taken to overcome this challenge. How has this challenge affected your academic achievement?” Keep it up; you’ll do great in both your academics and, eventually, as you step into the workforce, in life.

Response Two: Witty (Humor)

I admire your ability to turn potentially cynical situations or adverse events into a comedy with a bit of added touch of humor. Speaking from experience, although I also exhibit this trait, it is by far a trait that is easier said than done. Especially when the adverse situations or negativity pertains to you and your future. In fact, it is incredibly hard to look beyond the surfaces of the negativity and find positives in those situations, and sometimes you feel like the end of the world is unfolding before your eyes. To be able to look past that barrier with humor and find that light at the end of the tunnel by cheering yourself up is one of the best pieces of advice for anyone going through hardships, but most people would require a loved one to hear them out, but unfortunately, no elixir beats the power of self-healing and motivation.

Response Three: Self Confidence

Self-confidence definitely goes a long way in our efforts and journey to self-perfection. However, I do also believe that self-confidence originates or springs out from one’s inner competency and abilities. Using myself as an example, I used to be a very shy and introverted person when I was around your age. In fact, I was introverted to the point that my hands would shake simply by picking up the phone and calling potential employers and asking for a job interview. Although my introverted personality back then had a bit to do with the school bullying that I was encountering in grade school. But despite that, I was able to pick myself up over the past couple of years out of that emotional torture from school and the self-secludedness aspect of my personality and regain my confidence by developing new skillsets on the job and growing to become a vastly more independent and mature person. As I assumed leadership roles in my past jobs, this further enhanced my self-motivation and significantly boosted my inner confidence. At the end of the day, strength relies on knowledge, and confidence relies on strength.

Response Four: Empathy

In my opinion, empathy is what keeps our society going and is the most critical driving force of correction that moves our community forward into a better and safer place. Speaking from history, all of the critical movements, whether it’s legislative victories or social reforms, all of which has a critical stronghold and foundation in human empathy. In fact, the best example here is the Holocaust. Although Nazi Germany, during WWII, issued a decree to eradicate the Jewish race from the face of this planet, there were still a lot of people that had inner empathy that despised and openly defied that decree, with some of them, quite frankly, even being direct beneficiaries of enslaving the Jewish people, such as Oskar Schindler and other people listed among the “Righteous Among the Nations” in the Jewish state. In fact, one of Nazi Germany’s highest-ranking military officials, General Dietrich von Choltitz, even defied a direct order from Hitler himself to burn and destroy the city of Paris into ashes and instead chose to surrender to the Free French and allied forces when they entered the city of Paris to liberate. Personally, although I do have immense empathy myself, when compared to these heroes that were able to save an entire race from being killed, cities from turmoils, and was able to preserve some of the riches and most valuable artifacts, I have to say, I still have much to learn and grow. And let’s do that together. May God forever bless these named and unnamed heroes.