Hartwick Students Find Their Strengths

A Hawks in Flight Feature

Are you Futuristic? A Maximizer? An Activator? Your CliftonStrengths Finder can tell you.

“I was surprised I got ‘Harmony’,” says Mikayla Mohan ‘24, a Sociology major and Social Work minor. “I never thought of myself as a person who brings people together, but the more I thought about it, I realized that if I’m at a table and no one is talking, I’ll start the conversation.”

“It’s great to get that different perspective,” says Alexis Bickel ‘24, a History/Political Science double-major with a legal studies minor. “I wouldn’t have thought of myself as a Futurist, but even planning ahead a week is thinking about the future.”

The CliftonStrengths Finder, part of students’ first year FlightPath, invites them to take the 177-question assessment to discover their top five “themes” – skills and talents that come naturally to them.

“The idea is that people are most successful when they develop their strengths,” says Amy Forster Rothbart, associate professor of political science and coordinator of the First-Year Experience.

The assessment, taken before students come to campus, asks them to answer questions on a sliding scale, such as, “Starting conversation is an effort to me,” and “I get a rush from starting a conversation with a stranger.”

“It’s like a Buzzfeed quiz,” says Mohan. “I had a lot of fun taking it.”

During Wick Wick, Orientation Leaders like Mohan and Bickel led students in workshops and ice breakers.

“Students will learn how strengths will help them choose and meet goals,” says Forster Rothbart. “For example, if a student has to get work done for a class, a Relator would do well in a group study, but someone whose strengths lie in a different area may choose a different approach.”

Students will continue to explore their themes in the First Year Seminar. “They’ll get to set goals, reflect on how things are going, and what they’d like to see change,” says Forster Rothbart. “They’ll revisit those strengths, to see if there are other themes they can use to overcome some of the challenges they’re having.”