Saint Mary's students and parents will get to learn about each other's strengths at the third annual StrengthsQuest workshop tomorrow as part of Sophomore Parent's Weekend.
The workshop, hosted by Saint Mary's Cross Currents program, is based on positive psychology techniques developed by the Gallup Organization.
Stacie Jeffirs, director of the Career Crossings Office (CCO), said the workshop is an enjoyable way for parents and their daughters to discover more about one another.
"We have different activities that they go through such as assessing their own strengths and then sharing their results with their family," Jeffirs said. "We then have a scavenger hunt where participants look for others with the same strengths as theirs and then learn how others use those similar strengths."
Jeffirs said 34 possible strengths exist and range from "achiever" to "strategic." The strengths are combinations of a participant's talent, knowledge and skills.
"You go through a series of questions and pick words or phrases that best describe you," Jeffirs said. "At the end, you are then given your top five strengths with descriptions and activities to help validate and better understand your results."
Participants also learn how to apply their strengths after the event ends, Jeffirs said.
"StrengthsQuest is great for sophomore students to help them in looking for internships, career planning and networking," Jeffirs said.
Though this weekend's workshop is only offered to sophomores and their parents, Jeffirs encouraged other students to contact the CCO to take the StrengthsQuest assessment.
"Ideally, we would love to get first years and sophomores to take the assessment because learning about yourself early on in your college career is really beneficial," Jeffirs said. "However, I even see seniors who take the assessment more as a validation of the direction they are heading in or when they are beginning to have doubts."
The StrengthsQuest workshop will be held in conference rooms D, E and F in the lower level of the Student Center tomorrow from 1:30 to 2:30 p.m.
Sophomores interested in the StrengthsQuest workshop who did not register can e-mail Sandy Zielinski at zielinski@saintmarys.edu by 4 p.m. today.
