I was born in the United States rust belt in 1991, growing up during an era of American indie hit movies, UNICEF commercials of children facing hunger in nations vulnerable from western development, an internet that still had dial-up buzzing & ad-free retail space, zoos showcasing WWF posters about the mass deforestation across the globe, and Encarta '95 as a primary source of education & recreation. After a hiatus away from Ambridge, PA as an adult, I returned to the void left by the steel industry filled by minimally regulated fracking and plastics production. I have tangent rants about all of these reflections.
I was fortunate to be in elementary school when curriculums included typing literacy, although I found this skill very difficult to master - my small hands lacking the coordination to navigate accurately across a landscape of buttons without looking. This was indeed the same time as when we could achieve free Pizza Hut pizzas for reading books, although I was also never very good at reading or focusing on what was in front of me due to undiagnosed ADHD. I can count my one free pizza on less than two fingers. We can't be good at everything though.
Where I lacked, I made up through three key qualities that I really appreciate about myself.
(1) Creative, visual thinking coupled with the courage to try, fail, & share regardless, which once, for example, rewarded me with an invitation to a poetry banquet as a third grader for my illustrated acrostic poem "MOTHER" and once, for example, punished me with subpar grades on my shoebox diorama of Montana due to my addition of "irrelevant" purple polka dots. (Purple Mountain Majesties - no?) I am often requested to help people make figures and improve their Powerpoint slides.
(2) A self-competitive drive & unmatched stubbornness, which has resulted in rapid memorization/recall of multiplication tables, my entire high school general chemistry textbook, the classic monologue "The Black Cat" by Edgar Allen Poe, in addition to many underdog upsets for unsuspecting peers. My CV is most reflective of this, too.
(3) Meticulous effort & care toward my interests & the people in my life, with evidence dating back to all-nighters as a preteen to prepare posterboards explaining concepts such as the rainshadow effect & Bohr atom model. As an adult, I have dedicated all-nighters to constructing 3'-diameter Grumpy Cat piñatas for my bosses' birthdays. My most radical example is leaving my $80K+ salary job as a chemical engineer to make next to nothing working in grassroots environmental conservation. I am now a 31-year-old Ph.D. student sacrificing a pretty high opportunity cost because I care so much about the vulnerabilities faced by ecosystems, water, & communities with little power over decisions made in the name of money and at the expense of environmental & human health.
I often throw celebrations for others and ask for nothing in return other than for everyone to prioritize showing each other a little bit of love. Just a little bit ago, I spent 35 minutes designing an envelope for my pen pal while I'm away doing fieldwork in Paraguay. Last week, I spent hours anal-retentively perfecting a slide deck (e.g., 1-pt borders on every image, matching font faces and sizes, debating color schemes) to present my proposed research to Paraguayan counterparts and solicit feedback.
For the interview question, "Tell me about your strengths & weaknesses," well, there you go. I give these anecdotes because these aspects of myself are so deeply rooted in me that they are unnegotiable. I have a whole archive of more recent examples & future ideas cataloged in my limbic system, available upon request.
