1. Katherine Rinken
Corner Stone
Strengths Quest
January 30th, 2015
Connectedness, Includer, Context, Strategic, Positivity
I thought that the strengths quest results were pretty accurate until we went through all of
the choices in class. While positivity is a trait I would say I have, I think that I am more of a
developer. While it is true that I do like to be positive, I would say its not just for my health, it is
mostly so I can get others to reach their full potential when I want them to. I encourage them to
do their best and be the best they can be but usually it is more for my teams benefit. Not just for
fun. Even so I think that positivity is a good trait and I should try to start using it to its fullest
potential. I would absolutely agree with being an includer. I always want everyone to feel
welcome and I physically feel ill when I think someone is being left out. I would say that I am
very strategic and getting along with those who are adapters is sometimes a hard thing for me to
do. I think I might be connectedness just for the fact that I have grown up going to catholic
schools all of my life and we are taught that we are “all brothers and sisters in God’s eyes and
everything that happens is God's plan for us”. That mentality has been instilled in me and I
wouldn’t say that is a bad thing, because there is comfort in believing that when something bad
happens. But I just wonder what I could have been if I didn’t go to St. Anthony and then
Dowling. Context is a huge thing for me. Whenever I met someone I always want to learn about
their family and their relationship and I think it helps me understand better who they are.

2. In May after graduation, my senior class played this squirt gun assassination game
and we had to go around and shoot our “targets” and avoid being shot until the round was over.
The rounds got smaller and smaller while I stayed in the game. I had to carefully plan how I was
going to get each person and had backup plans incase something went wrong. 46 days later, I
won the game and got all of my targets while staying in the game longer than 123 other people.
My strength of being strategic came in handy here very well and even proved to be a $1,000
talent!
When I was a freshmen in highschool I met a boy named Greyson who had to be my
partner for a school project. We really didn't get along and I just thought he was arrogant and
mean and I couldn't stand him. I found it really challenging to work with him on a project that
was like 1/3rd of our final grade. The more time we spent, the more I got to know him and
realized that he didn’t have the best home life. After that we became closer and ended up being
really good friends. We had a better understanding of each other and I am glad that I learned
about that because it helped me better understand who he was and relate to him better. I used my
strength of context to learn about his past and got to know and understand him more.
Last year I was driving home from my friend’s house and it was a really nice day. I had
just gotten my car and thought I knew where I was going. As soon as I got onto the interstate it
started raining really hard and my phone died.All of a sudden I was hydroplaning off the road
into a ditch and almost flipped my car. I was completely lost and didn't know what to do. I think
that being strategic didn’t help me here. As soon as I was thrown off track and my plan of
knowing where I was going was thrown off course, I had no idea what in the heck to do. I didn't
plan for any of that, especially not my phone dying. I literally had no idea what to do. I think that
If I was more of an adapter, not strategic, I would have been able to react quicker. I got out and

3. just started walking and thankfully a really nice women pulled over and let me use her phone. I
think I was so lost because as soon as all of my plans were clear they weren't going to work, I
started panicking. I absolutely hate it when I am out of control and out of plans.
In high school I worked in a bakery that had no air conditioning for 2 years for minimum
wage. It was a small family owned business and for the first year I loved it. After more time
passed, the owners daughter grew to not really like me and I could never understand why. I know
they rest of the family liked me but for some reason she really didn’t. I don’t know if I reminded
her of someone she doesn’t like or if I did something but she really really started to not like me.
She would talk about me and talk down to me and I really didn’t like it. She was a negative
person and the bakery was extremely hot in the summer and before we could be done for the day
we had to meet all of the goals. I would always would try my best to have a really good attitude
and do my best to keep everyone’s mood up. Amy really really didn’t like that and I think ti
really furthered her dislike of me. A few months later she stopped scheduling me and I quit. I
would say that even though my positivity is a good thing, here working for Big Sky Bread it
didn’t help me.
I think that this was a good assignment for us to do not only because it reminds me of
things I do well and can use and work on, but going through everyone else’s made me really
think about how I relate to others. While I may think that the “woo” people might be fake, they
really do just like to talk and get to know people and like having friends. And while I think
people with positivity can be annoying, some of them may be just like me and just want
everyone to do their best. I should think about others and their strengths before I judge them a
certain way. I feel bad and I have definitely been thinking about that this whole week.