The Protagonist

Prompt: Write an intellectual autobiography then take a (condensed) version of the Myers-Briggs personality test (https://www.16personalities.com/free-personality-test). And make note of your results. Do you agree or disagree with them? Does this test offer you any insight into your own personal preferences, processes, and necessities?

My earliest memories of doing an intellectually stimulating activity was when I was five years old and would read Aseop’s Fables with my mother. I recall trying to understand the moral that my mom would explain that would ultimately be about being kind, nurturing, smart, and humble. I had a love for reading from a very early age but my love for education really skyrocketed in the 2nd grade. I had a first year teacher that absolutely loved her job and her students. She let us explore with using hand on materials and responsibilities within the class. Throughout elementary, intermediate, and jr. high I always scored at the top of the class and held a great pride in doing so. In high school I was humbled a bit by the addition of “college level courses” but still maintained the top 5% of my class. I constantly pushed myself to achieve more academically by being a part of the National Honor Society, National Science Honor Society and by leading peer tutoring.

ENFJ – Extroverted Intuitive Feeling Judging

The results of this Myers- Briggs test come as no surprise to me. I have taken this test twice before over the span of the last 5 years and the results have always been the same. People who know me for any length of time know that I absolutely thrive off of social interaction. I find that my cup is most filled when I get to have deep meaningful connections both with people who I care about deeply and those who I might have just met. This is often why I thrive in jobs that have 1:1 customer interaction.

As for intuitive I have always had a keen “gut feeling.” I often find that I listen to my conscience when I have tough or difficult choices to make and it often serves me really well. Just this past week while I was at a gas station I found $100 bill on the ground outside the front door. Without hesitation I immediately went in and asked the cashier if any one had lost any money. This story isn’t to brag about being a good person but to say that this characteristic of my personality is absolutely my default. I often over calculate exactly how circumstances can play out on any given decision I make and ultimately go with my first instinct.

When it comes to empathetic feeling it is often one of my biggest downfalls. I am highly sensitive to any kind of feedback from people. Working in retail it is not uncommon to see rude or unhappy customers and I often took a lot of these matters to be personal. Even in my own marriage it is often hard for me to separate a bad mood or attitude my husband might have after a long day from work from myself. I often find that I embody the feelings that he brings home and have a hard time separating his attitude from work with feelings of self doubt about my own actions as if they were the problem. On the flip side I believe this empathetic nature also deeply helps when connecting with others. I am often a great judge of what people might need when they are suffering or if someone is needing a hug or word of encouragement. This empathy allows me to be a good listener and friend to those who need it.

Judging. Working hand in hand with my intuitive side I often find that I weigh out several outcomes of every decision I make. For instance I base my outfit choices on the weather, physical activity, possible social interaction and looks every single day. While this may seem logical and normal for most it is a checklist that I will run through with every individual item in my closet that I would potentially wear that day. When it comes to things that are practical I often judge them based upon the value they could potentially add to my life. I would say that this characteristic is also very accurate.

While most of my categories are not too far tipped in one direction there is one that has a stark difference between the two. I scored 88% extroverted which does not come as a surprise to me at all. My form of literal hell would be eternal isolation. Knowing this about myself I would never want a career that required me to be isolated or have limited social interaction because I know I would not flourish. Overall I believe this assessment is pretty accurate and somewhat describes how I operate as a whole. When looking up a break down of ENFJ’s the first line of an article was “(ENFJs) are natural teachers, often found organizing people to take part in some educational activity” which would explain why I feel called to teach.