As part of the ICT study at Fontys, we don't get graded with numbers or letters, but with smileys. Kind of. Because whenever we finish an assignment, challenge or task, we can ask teachers for feedback. When they're impressed, they can give you a really happy smiley, when you're just good on track you get a neutral-happy smiley, and when you're not really at the right level, you get a sad smiley.

I notice that in the beginning of this semester, I went almost two times per week for feedback, but all of a sudden I didn't really go to the teachers for Feedpulse checkpoints anymore. I can't really say that I have a reason for it, other than me just forgetting to ask for feedback. So I will definitely try to improve that in the rest fo the semester. But besides the point of improvement, I think that the feedback I get is overall pretty positive.

This semester, one of my teachers had me take a reputable personality test, and it turns out my personality type is INFP, known as the Mediator. Here's a summary of what this means for me:

INFPs, or Mediators, are introspective yet passionate individuals with rich inner worlds. They possess creativity, imagination, and a high degree of sensitivity, often experiencing strong emotional reactions to art, music, nature, and people. Sentimental and nostalgic, they treasure keepsakes and memories. Idealistic and empathetic, INFPs seek deep, meaningful relationships and strive to help others, often feeling out of place in a competitive society. Their empathy enables them to form deep connections, but it can be overwhelming without proper boundaries. INFPs value authenticity and creative self-expression, frequently finding themselves in artistic fields. They need a sense of purpose to feel fulfilled and are driven to make the world a better place, inspiring compassion and kindness through their idealism and creativity.

I largely agree with this assessment and would like to expand on it by summarizing my strengths and weaknesses as identified in the test.

INFP Strengths:
• Empathetic: INFPs deeply feel others' emotions, making them thoughtful and kindhearted individuals who dislike causing harm.
• Generous: They enjoy sharing their successes and uplifting others, striving to create a world where everyone is heard and cared for.
• Open-Minded: Tolerant and accepting, INFPs avoid judging others and often become trusted confidants due to their compassionate nature.
• Creative: They love exploring unconventional perspectives and often engage in creative pursuits like writing and art.
• Passionate: Driven by empathy and strong internal values, INFPs are deeply passionate about causes that resonate with their beliefs.
• Idealistic: They aim to live meaningful lives guided by their conscience, always striving to help others and make the world a better place.

INFP Weaknesses:
• Unrealistic: INFPs can be hopeless romantics, often disappointed when reality doesn't align with their idealized visions.
• Self-Isolating: Despite longing for connection, they may struggle to reach out and engage with new people, leading to feelings of loneliness.
• Unfocused: Their introspective nature can hinder productivity, as they may get lost in ideas and struggle to commit to a single course of action.
• Emotionally Vulnerable: Without boundaries, INFPs can absorb others negative emotions, impacting their peace and productivity.
• Too Eager to Please: They often go out of their way to avoid conflict and seek approval, sometimes to their own detriment.
• Self-Critical: INFPs set high expectations for themselves and can become discouraged when they fail to meet these ideals, leading to harsh self-criticism.

I have to say that these strengths and weaknesses feel familiar to me. I also recognize how they can affect me daily with the tasks I need to do. I am already trying to work on it so that I can use more of the strengths and less of the weaknesses.

When I went to the Career Day on TQ, I didn't have any idea what specialization I wanted to do. I really like a wide variety of things, as long as I can be creative. I am also interested in making apps and programs, so when I saw what Smart Mobile was, it looked interesting to me. However, when I saw that a really big part of it would be to research and document, my enthusiasm faded away. If there is one thing I don't like, it's researching and documenting. It also turned out that Smart Mobile wasn't as creative as I firstly anticipated. But when I hear that Game Design is way more creative, in many different ways, I began thinking how it could perhaps be better to do some more research in that direction.

After seeing the specialization routes, I wanted to also go to the actual career floors to see what kind of businesses and job possibilities could be waiting for me after Fontys. And then I saw that almost all the study specializations offered possibilities al almost all jobs. And I also got to hear that the specialization I would choose now doesn't determine my full study course, and that it's still a really broad thing So for as far as I now know, I think I will be choosing Game Design.

Talking about the Career Day, there was also a "job market". Even though the job market wasn't directly targeted to us, I still wanted to go there. I got a lot of information there as well, as I saw that for most of these jobs it wouldn't matter what specialization you chose. I saw some really interesting stuff in a very wide range of workfields. So although it didn't really give me an idea what kind of work I want to do after college, I do know that there are a lot of interesting possibilities that I can choose from.
Some examples of future jobs can be seen below:

Most of these jobs require experience, which is of course funny, as students are often most willing to get a job but most of the time don't have these required experiences yet.

On the other hand, I currently don't really know what direction I want to go in when it comes to a job. I still like a lot of things. This can of course be a good thing, as I will have a wider choice when it comes to selecting a job. On the other hand it can also have a slightly negative influence, as I currently still don't know what I want to focus on in my study. I will keep researching what the possibilities will be, and what interests me, in order to find out what I can best focus on during my study.

For my Passion Project, the video about the Self Driving Challenge, I had to ask for feedback a couple of times. I did this to ensure that my stakeholders are happy about the result. Even when I sometimes didn't fully agree with some points, after getting some more information from them, I understood their perspective and changed my work accordingly.

I feel like I have become more open to feedback, and about changing my work. Now I mainly ask for feedback because I have come to the understanding that this can greatly improve the work instead of just changing it. I get other perspectives that I don't have myself, which is really valuable.