Welcome to Virginia Tech: Gabby Bomberg
Written by Gabby Bomberg.
A few weeks before school began, I remember anxiously logging onto Hokie SPA with my sister. We decided that we would look at our housing assignments at the same time—“One, two, three…PRITCHARD!” Immediately we started laughing. Of course twins would be randomly assigned to the same hallway! At the time, I felt excited and also ambivalent, unsure of whether I would branch out with my best friend just steps away. As inseparable as my sister and I are, I wanted the opportunity to be myself. I didn’t want to be known as the twin on the hall closer to the Drillfield, the one with the shorter hair, or the more serious sister. I just wanted to be whole, even if I wasn’t around my better half.
Early into the year my sister and I learned about the CliftonStrengths assessment. I was pretty skeptical about the idea of strengths. I am a perfectionist, so the idea of simply embracing my top talents seemed as though I was settling. Why would I focus on what I was inherently good at, when I could improve upon my weaknesses? My sister, who is extremely competitive, agreed. After encouragement by the RAs, we took the assessment anyway.
Here were our results:
Gabby
- Learner
- Restorative
- Developer
- Achiever
- Intellection
Melanie
- Competition
- Positivity
- Learner
- Belief
- Consistency
We only share Learner in our Top 5! Melanie’s dominant strength, Competition, is 26th in my sequence. Identifying our strengths was one of the first times our individual qualities were recognized and embraced, rather than evaluated within comparison.
Around this time our differences became really apparent. We got involved in a couple of different organizations and spent less time together. Mel’s Positivity helped her discover a friend group and create weekly plans. I spent my first year dedicated to developing a path to create the future life I want to live. Mel introduced me to her new friends and always found ways to bring joy and laughter into my new life at Virginia Tech.
Mel taught me that in order to improve upon my weaknesses, I needed my strengths and others to support me. I have found that, by focusing on what I am inherently good at, I can not only manage my challenges, but improve upon my shortcomings. Embracing strengths has become anything but settling. It has given me a new perspective and allowed me to grow as an individual. In just over a week I will start my third year at Virginia Tech on the same floor of Pritchard as my first year. This time without my other half down the hall—but somehow feeling just a little more whole.
Are you a student or employee at Virginia Tech? You can take the CliftonStrengths assessment for free! Visit vt.gallup.com to get started.
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