HAYLEE MATECKO

Erica Jong once said, “Everyone has talent. What is rare is the courage to follow the talent to the place where it leads.” – This idea of following and capitalizing upon the strengths of people was one that author Tom Rath probably didn’t realize would be so influential, yet it has helped millions find what they are talented at. Instead of finding people’s flaws and trying to fix them, Rath found a revolutionary approach that not only creates an increase in self-esteem, but allows people to manage their time much more effectively by flourishing in their strengths, as opposed to struggling to correct their weaknesses. After taking Rath’s StrengthsFinder test, I have discovered that my top four talent themes include Restorative, Discipline, Developer, and Empathy.

 

The Restorative talent theme is one that describes people who are skilled at handling problems by finding the root issue, figuring out different ways to fix the problem, and choosing the best solution for that situation. As my former Gifted and Talented coordinator Roxanne Brown described, when I was a part of my high school’s team for the Junior Duel in Ol’ San Antonio competition (a personal finance case study competition among high school students in the San Antonio area), I “executed very advanced problem solving skills”. Brown went on to explain how the entire goal of this competition was to find a financially sound solution for a family struggling to make ends meet, and I demonstrated the skills necessary to create a financial plan that was worthy of submitting and being judged for the competition. I realized that as a high school freshman, critically considering the financial status of this fictional family (as well as the decisions they made in order to get to that status), creating a number of possible solutions, and then choosing one solution and building off of it requires serious talent in the problem-solving area. After that competition, I ended up deciding that I wanted to become a Financial Planner because I loved all the aspects of the competition. I loved the idea of being able to solve a problem in someone else’s life that was a serious issue for them, as well as the challenge of the problem in the first place. My practical and realistic thinking allowed me to see what exactly was a possibility in the circumstances we were given- it was much more likely that the wife could get a part time job than it was to have the couple sell their house. (I digress; this is a fairly obvious example, as the challenges we were faced with were more complex, but it gets my point across.) Determining what had to be compromised and what was non-negotiable was a challenge, but that was a part of what increased the intensity of the problem solving process. Additionally, my father Lee Matecko said in his affirmation of my Restorative talent theme, “You are very observant of the broader elements of an issue or circumstance. You see how things relate and thus you are able to find the root cause of an issue. You then solve that problem in a way that will keep the related areas in balance.” He then gave an example of a moment when the computer wasn’t working – something along the lines of one of the files being accidentally deleted, or something of that sort – and because I am aware of how things work in conjunction with each other, I looked for what might have been the core issue and was persistent in finding and solving that without disrupting all the other components. I ended up being able to restore the file, which was great because it was the first in my list of possible solutions. In other instances, it may take longer to find a solution for a computer problem, however as my father has said, I am persistent in finding the cause and a solution. This ability upholds my Restorative talent theme because in addition, when something goes wrong with the computer, I am very calm about fixing it. When others might become frazzled or “freak out” at the idea of something being irreversible on a computer, I often take a more cool and composed stance on the problem – because of my determination to find a solution to a problem, my mentality is “I will find a solution to this problem,” as opposed to “I hope a solution exists for this issue!”. My thought process is more definitive and secure. In addition, whenever someone else has caused the computer issue, after finding the solution to the problem, I share with them ways they can improve their technology skills – I show them how to fix the problem they ran into, as well as how to avoid causing that problem in the first place.

 

The Discipline talent theme is one that describes people who enjoy routine and structure, as well as self-created order. Olyvia Bailey, a fellow guard member, talked about how I enjoy structure by planning and writing down reminders of the things I have to do, as well as helping others maintain order by reminding them of what they have to do. As the head captain of the color guard, maintaining structure was extremely important. I had to create calendars in order to let the members know when everything was happening, as well as keep my own “to-do” list of guard responsibilities updated as the instructor demanded more of my time for what he felt was necessary for the program. In addition, I created and delivered a presentation for the parents of the guard members in order to give them information about what color guard is, what is expected of their children, and the dates for everything throughout the year from competitions to weekly practices to football games. My self-discipline also helped to me to triple check this speech and practice before I talked to the parents, so I would be prepared and not make any mistakes when speaking to them. I have a broad memory of big and little details that gives me the capability to have control of what I’m required to do, which is a very helpful skill in having discipline. My memory allows me to not only remember things such as dates, but I also retain patterns more easily, which allows me to go through routines with ease and familiarity. In addition, I enjoy being organized – I like things clean and tidy so I am aware of where everything is and can access it easily, in order to increase efficiency and productivity. My mother, Sandra Matecko, discussed how when the family pantry is a mess or when the CD’s are out of order, she knows to call on me to organize it because I will create a new system for people to follow that is easy to understand and makes it easier to perform repetitious activities, such as finding a CD to listen to music. This is an extremely helpful skill when it comes to

 

Discipline, because in order to have routine and structure, one must be able to easily access information (such as in a planner or organized reading notes) to increase efficiency, as well as decrease the possibility of people trying to do things a different way. Streamlining processes is key for me!

Discipline could actually be a weakness if discipline is interpreted less as placing routine and structure in life, but more as disciplining oneself.  If I were to capitalize on my Discipline talent theme and focus on making everything more efficient and controlling myself by not allowing myself to do anything but schoolwork, I would miss out on a lot of the social aspects of life. Sure, I might be successful based off of the efficiency of my productivity, or based off the very high grade point average I would achieve due to my self-discipline. But even if I were giving presentations in class or something of that nature, I wouldn’t be interacting with other students (and potentially coworkers) as often as I should. Making friends is an integral part of life, simply because it allows us to thrive as human beings who feel a need to be accepted into some sort of community. If I oust myself by focusing too much and working too hard, I won’t make friends and it will be harder to have fun – by a certain point, I will have dug myself into a hole.

 

The Developer talent theme is one that describes people who recognize and cultivate the potential in other people by capitalizing on the small improvements they notice in each person. My senior year of high school I was a part of a student-led retreat team in which I led the Community subcommittee. After much deliberation, we decided to make our forty minute skit a High School Musical themed skit, which involved singing. As my former Core Member (Young Adult Leader) Michael Veliz said, I really “persevered in teaching the parts to everyone, especially when we couldn’t get them the first time. Or the second, for that matter!” He went on to say that I kept encouraging everyone, finding the little good things they did here and there and making a point to congratulate them for that. I realize that while I was trying to teach them all of their parts, there were a few kids who really didn’t get it. So not only was I congratulating and encouraging everyone, but I was also focusing on those who were behind and helping them to catch up, as well as boosting their moral with extra optimism. I really cared about each individual in our group because I didn’t want to see anyone fail. I wanted them to know that they had worked hard and were definitely worth being praised, which is a big part of the Developer talent theme. Getting to know each of these kids as I encouraged them was also amazing, because I really enjoyed being able to find out more about them and find even more ways to encourage them. My older sister, Holly Matecko, agrees that I can see the potential in others because she experienced it for most of her life. Holly is generally more of an English person and less of a math person, so she often needed my help with her math homework (math is my strong suit). We would work through numerous problems together, but I continually encouraged her every time she even got a part of the problem right. “Your inspiration helped me to keep going and not give up, especially when I was working so hard.” I often find the people who do not always get something right on their first try but are working extremely hard to achieve success, because these are the people I want to see inspired. These are the people that might be on the brink of giving up and just need a little extra boost. My talent theme of Developer drives me to see the uniqueness in each person, and to make the most out of each person’s own abilities. I know that if I am encouraging someone, whether it is in their weakness or in their strengths, they will be more confident and more excited to attack a challenge they are facing than they might otherwise be. The simple idea of being able to make such a difference in someone’s life warms my heart and is very near and dear to me, because I know that I personally did not always hear the encouragement I needed to be confident. Often in color guard I was talked down to, yelled at, and called various things like stupid and mediocre. For me, this was a tough experience and although it made me a tougher person, sometimes I needed a bit of a confidence boost in order to keep me going. As a Developer, that is what I aim to do for others.

 

In order to make my Developer talent theme into a strength, I will encourage at least one person two to three times per week for the rest of the semester. Over the break, I will assess my progress in creating a strength out of the Developer talent theme, and if I feel I am ready I will move forward in my encouragement by focusing on two people per week. If not, I will stay at one until I feel that I am ready to move forward. Throughout my college career, I will reassess my progress at the end of each semester and move forward (adding one person each semester) until I graduate. At that point, I will hopefully feel strong enough in my ability as a developer to encourage many, if not all, of the people I work with.

 

The Empathy talent theme is one that describes people who imagine themselves in others’ lives or situations and can sense a person’s feelings based off of this idea. Luisa Mader, a fellow Community retreat subcommittee member, said in her affirmation of my Empathy talent theme, “You’re great at listening when problems arise. In general, you’ve always been an amazing friend in your level of listening. It’s easy to see that you really care about the struggles of others – so much that you put yourself in their shoes and then offer up advice. You are a great person to go to if I need to work out a problem or just need someone to listen and understand where I’m coming from.”  She then detailed an instance in which a couple mutual friends of ours got into an argument about whether or not a confidentiality agreement had been broken. It became a very heated disagreement, so I spoke to each of them separately, and then put myself in each of their shoes and brought them together to explain what exactly happened and how they can come back to common ground. I realized from that affirmation that I often do put myself in other people’s shoes and offer advice to them that tends to I also did this many times when I was the captain of the color guard and members of the program would have issues with each other. Denise Murphy, a fellow guard captain, said that the times when she saw my empathizing strength the most were the times when she confessed her stresses about guard to me, as our “captain-to-captain” talk. It was then that I was able to step into her shoes and think about how she had to handle what our instructor required of her (some of which were very ridiculous and/or difficult demands), and I could offer her advice this way. She told me she was very grateful for our talks because I was there to listen to her, she could get her stresses off her chest, and then I was able to help her by stepping into her shoes. I was able to lift her spirit based off of how I inspired her with my words, and I increased her self-confidence based on my advice. I really benefitted from hearing this, because although I give advice, often times I wonder if it gets put into practice. I really enjoy listening to others because I want to help other people in any way that I can, and often people just need someone to listen to them. If they want advice I am able to offer that as well, thanks to my ability to empathize and put myself in their situation.

 

Overall, my top four talent themes of Restorative, Discipline, Developer, and Empathy have all been exemplified throughout my life experiences, and will continue to do so as I develop them into strengths.