MBTI

The Myers-Briggs Type Indicator evaluation is something that I had done in the past, but it was a very long time ago in middle school. It was awesome to have the opportunity to re-do the evaluation and see how my personality has changed since I was younger. My type was Extraversion, Sensing, Feeling, and Judging, or ESFJ. I liked how we got the statistics of each type so I was able to see that I am similar to 12.3% of the total population and 16.9% of the female population. My personality type is also fairly common when compared to the other 2012 Hixson Scholars. 14 of us are ESFJ’s!

The first letter in my personality type combination is the one that surprised me the most. I am a self-determined Introversion for the sole reason that I love to be alone because that is when I do my best work and get the most done. However, as I thought about it, I think I am more of an Extraversion when I am around others. I’ve always been the type of person who starts conversations with strangers and is the leader of a group. This trait is something that I must have been developing throughout these years and has definitely emerged more now that I am interacting with new people every day.

The Sensing and Feeling types did not surprise me as much because I have always been methodical and considerate. I’m happier with learning facts in chronological order rather than hearing ideas that are just thrown out. I can think of a particular example of this. In high school, my chemistry teacher would lecture for most of the class period on stuff that we had never worked with before and that was very advanced. Then, he would always end the class by saying, it’s okay if you don’t understand this because it’s very abstract and it will all come together in the end. I hated that class. I would rather learn key facts first and build off of that so that I always feel like I know what is going on. As for the way I make decisions, it has always been the Feeling type for me. I care a lot about other people and how I affect them, so even though they may not be the most logical decisions sometimes, I would rather sacrifice the “smart” decision for the more thoughtful one.

Finally, I am a Judging person, but according to the Preference Clarity Index, I am not a very strong Judging person. However, I would say I am. I love making to-do lists and getting stuff done. I plan out my days and know what I will get done each day. I guess I could see how I am sometimes a more Perceiving person because while I know what I am doing tomorrow or the day after that, I am terrible at making plans for the weekend or month ahead. Sometimes going with the flow is more convenient for me.

Overall, I think my ESFJ type is accurate. The snapshot that we received for our types said that I am helpful, personable, loyal and stable, organized, and focused on the present. It’s almost scary how well that fits me. I know a lot of all people have said it scares them, but I think it’s amazing how someone came up with this. It’s very helpful because it gives you a sense of what your strengths and weaknesses are so you are able to improve yourself and in our case, our learning abilities while we are at Iowa State.