Friendships
Time and time again throughout my DBC work so far, I keep referring to my passion for the men's varsity hockey team and my friendship with the associated hockey cheer team since what got me into all of this was such a defining moment for me in my adult life. Early in my college years, I was going through a tough period where the strenuous workload added to social awkwardness I had at the time made it difficult to form new friendships after high school, friendships I needed to bounce ideas off of or at least escape from technical work periodically. Then I got a crush on one of the hockey cheerleaders at the time and decided to go to a game. Once there I not only got wrapped up in the sport, but the atmosphere as well and presented a whole ton of opportunities to learn how to form friendships in a not-so-confined environment. Even though nothing ever came of that crush, the resulting friendship I have with the cheer team has been a badge of honor for the battle I fought through to get there and I wear it proudly. Because Friendships are this important to me, I've valued it at 5/5.
The last time I was asked for advice was by a friend for academic advice on how to return to school. He suffered a life-altering injury that kept him out of college for a while and was looking to me for some guidance on fighting his way back.
My challenges may be with the level of communication I maintain when I'm not disciplined about it, but communication is what leads to friendships and friendships are what help you get through life's challenges, including stereotype threats.