I was originally planning to major in aeronautical engineering (AE), but there apears to be no program for that here at George Mason.  So instead, I am planning to take general or mechanical engineering courses until:

A) I graduate.

B) Something else catches my attention.

or

C) I transfer to a University with an Aeronautics Program.

But none of that actually answers the question.  I believe that a degree in mechanical engineering and membership in one or more of the various associations and societies would help me to my goal of being an AE.  I believe that this class will help me with my weakness in writing and I believe that various maths will aid in strengthening my strength.

If I would compare myself as an athlete, I see myself as a Go game (a Chinese strategy board game) player. As a warrior, I never give up until the game is over. I always keep trying, and I always think positive even though it shows on the board that I might lose for sure. As an explorer, I learn from my opponent. I observe tricks my opponent uses against me. As a judge, I use what I observe from my opponent to create my own style. I learn from my mistakes and become a better player. Even if I lose, I learn and think of ways of defeating my opponents. The key to success is thinking outside of the box.

My weaknesses are using computers and writing in English. When it comes to using the computer I only know how to do basic things such as using the internet and writing papers. I want to learn how to do something creative like using Photoshop. In my school in Thailand, we rarely needed to use computers for our work. I only really began to use the computer when I came to the U.S. two years ago. In order to overcome this weakness, I received help from my friends and teachers. I also read books and learned about how to use the computer programs. Another weakness is my ability to write in English. I think that my English has improved a lot in the past two years, but I still can’t seem to fill in the gaps. Spoken English and English vocabulary that I learned in Thailand only gave me the ability to survive in countries that use English. I can’t really express my own ideas or write what I really want to say in English. Those weaknesses limit my ability to turn my ideas into real things.

My strengths are that I always listen to everyone’s ideas and I try to integrate them into one new idea that represents all of us and creates a “happy medium”. All different, all unique!

Reading over all of the hats I easily decided that I naturally tend to be a “judge”.  When a problem is presented to me, my first thoughts are that of a typical judge.  Looking at a problem, or anything for that matter, with a fresh and clean perspective is always a thought going through my head.  To me, having a bias can hinder the ability to solve a problem or improve something too often.  I always try to put myself in the shoes of every type of person looking at a problem.  Without the ability to think for everyone instead of yourself individually will most likely benefit a limited amount of people depending on the particular problem you are solving.  Because of the values I personally hold, I definately fit into the judge category.

If I had to choose a hat that fits me the second most, the explorer would be that hat.  Like the judge, the explorer is looking out of the box for something.  The judge would be trying to look at a problem through others eyes, as the explorer would be looking for a solution that has not been looked at ever before.  I tend to seek out my own personal solution to a particular problem, and hopefully solve the problem with no outside help. For me, this is exploring because it is something I have never dealt with or seen before.  And out of this exploring, I learn and instill ideas that stay with me far longer than if I were to just go out and learn how to solve something for what others have already done.  This is not to say that exploring can not be learning for what others have done and simply taking it to the next step.

The next hat I would like to cover myself in is the warrior.  Actually putting all the work, judging, exploring, manipulating, all into action.  This is what is the fun step.  I enjoy being the warrior, although I wouldnt consider myself to be particularly better at being a warrior than a judge or and explorer.  I feel that I excel at judging and exploring far over being a warrior.  I feel that  this is the hat that I want to improve in the most.  Being an engineer involves wearing all of these hats, and especially this hat.

Last, there is the artist.  Manipulating theories, ideas, and solutions are all part of being an artist.  In the way most think of an artist, being creative and such, I would be quick to say that is not me.  But in the true aspect, I am definately an artist.  I do like to change things around, and create new things out of exsisting ones. I feel that being an artist is almost like being a smart explorer.  Like an explorer, with references.  The artist must create and find new things just like the explorer, yet he is doing these based on manipulations of the already exsisting.  I like to use the references to my advantage and be an artist, just making sure not to stay too close to what has already been done before.  Without making things my own, I tend to lose interest and not really invest myself into the problem.

I think the hat i wear most would be that of the explorer because I am constantly looking for the facts and don’t go off what people tell me. I also double check behind everything I do and try to be specific by not leaving out any important details. The only traits that I feel I don’t meet as an explorer would be my inability to break out of ruts and I also have yet to slay a dragon(I’m also bad at recognizing metaphors).

The hat I believe i wear second most would the artist. I’m very good at looking at things from different points of view and constantly try to manipulate problems to find an answer. I fool around a lot in almost anything I do and when I’m stuck on a particular part of a problem sometimes I’ll just “do nothing” and come back to it later only to see how simple the solution really was. My biggest weakness as an artist is that I’m not very good at connecting or joining together all of the facts that i have gathered and then comparing them to find the right answer.

The judge hat also fits my personality quite well because of my constant questioning of everything. I try to be as precise as possible when doing any type of assignment whether it be an individual or group effort. This can sometimes cause problems with my decision making because not only do i question everthing in the assignment, I also question my own thinking.

The warrior hat is my biggest weakness of all. I am a terrible motivator and decision maker which leads me putting off things until the last minute and eventually not doing it altogether. Although i will sometimes take the role as a leader in group activities, my indecisiveness will sometimes make the group suffer and lag behind. To become stronger in this area i would probably have to gain a lot of self confidence that will help me to not question my own decisions.

To go through one’s life one has to be able to wear many different “hats” of varying colors and sizes. One would have to be able to wear a courageous when they’re going through hard times and need to pull through. At other times one needs to wear a sensitive hat to deal with delicate matters. If you are good at wearing one hat but not so good at wearing others, you are less likely to be successful overall in life, so it is good to be able to wear well many different types of hats. The hat that I wear is the hat of an explorer. Sometimes, when time comes and one has to take charge I put on my warrior hat. I believe the hat of a judge also fits with the hat of a warrior. The hat that I wear least would have to be the hat of an artist.

I chose the hat of an explorer as my favorite one. Ever since I was a little kid I would always enjoy reading science books and watching shows on discovery and the history channel learning everything there is to learn about our planet, the solar system, and beyond. I enjoy reading about past civilizations and how great and different they were. I like learning about the new technology that people are inventing every day that I could one day perhaps improve. I want to research in parts of sciences that have never been explored before and find something new and radically different. When I face problems I look at the problem from many different angles and look beyond what is blatantly obvious to find the solution.

The next hat that I would best fit under would be the hat of a warrior. When I wear the hat of a warrior I am ready to make wise decisions and be persistent through what I do. If I am stuck on an assignment for school I finish it no matter what it takes. I don’t like to make up or hear excuses when something is hard to do. The next hat is some what a compliment of the warrior, it is the hat of a judge. When the going gets tough, the tough get smart. I like figuring the easiest and most efficient way of doing something so I don’t waste any time doing it. The hat that I am the least like is the hat of an artist. I don’t have very many creative idea’s that I could illustrate through different medians. When I do get a great idea I don’t always have the best method of showing it.

I feel confident with three of the four hats of my personality and I wouldn’t change them much. I would however like to change, the fourth hat, how much of an artist I am. I don’t know if it is too easy to affect how creative a person is except maybe by living different and exploring new things that I’m not familiar with. Optimally I would like to become the best at every of the four hats, but I would be happy living the way I am now.

I use many sources and methods to solve problems. With this being said, I lean toward being the “explorer”.  I know that gathering information from different perspectives helps me to finalize my decision. My philosophy is the better the understanding the better the results.   Using “facts, theories, concepts, rules, data, feelings, and impression,” makes one considerate all the possibilities to solving a problem. Although I am an open-minded person, I have to choose which method works. In order for me to make a decision, I choose a mathematical system, process of elimination.  I choose which one(s) are able to get the job done better.

My weakness is in being “artist.” I wish I was an artist because I want to be able to think outside of the box. I am not able to see beyond what I have or someone has already seen. I have the notion that everything has been done already, which I know is not true. I do not take the time out to think the impossible because I am busy thinking that it is still impossible. I ask the question “what if,”in my head. I sometimes second guess myself if I have never tried a new method. I like to know and not guess. There is a reason why I like math and not reading. In math there are rules that are followed. When reading one is open to interpret and not know, there is no right or wrong.

I am not the “warrior” because I do believe in trying. I believe that not trying is failing. There is no such thing as finding the right solution if one has not tried all others. I do not believe that if the solution is not pursued then the idea was worthless. I know that if the solution has not been pursued then the idea lacks information and is either missing or one is forgetting a valuable piece to the puzzle. I do believe that change is inevitable. Engineers prove that change is inevitable through there innovations.

I would have to say that my best “hat” would have to be an artist.    It can be hard for me to figure out the initial idea out, but once I have something to work with I can do a lot with it.  I try to figure out any way there is to look at an idea.  Then I’ll work on the one that I think other people might have missed.  If what I do doesn’t exactly work then it’s easy for me to just alter it until it does what I want or works the right way. 

If there is an idea that I enjoy or want to know more about then I’ll try to figure it out the best I can.  I also enjoy trying to get others interested and involved with things I find to be interesting. I’ll follow the idea until I can figure it out. The problem I can have is when I follow something to much or for to long and it doesn’t go anywhere.  That is the warrior personality in me.

The explorer is another trait I can have trouble with at times.  Once I have a good grasp of an idea I can run with it and manipulate it, but coming up with that original idea can be hard for me.  Every so often I’ll get something great but it’s not often.

Judging myself or anyone else’s work can be another problem for me to do as well.  For some reason rating myself I always feel like someone else could do a better job because they get an outside perspective of whatever I’m working on.  When people ask questions like “tell me a little bit about yourself” or “how would you rate your work” it’s hard for me to answer.  Rating a singular person or their work is hard because if I have nothing to rate against then it feels like I’m going to easy or hard on them.

The hardest part out off all of these personalities is when to use what,  there are times when i’ll just follow something to much or just plow through a project when it would have been much better if I was to slow down and think things over more.  Another thing I tend to do is try to be to creative and spend to much time trying to be original when it would be better to be practical.  The best thing for me to do is step back every once in a while to make sure I’m going in the direction I should be.

After reviewing the the rubric, I feel that I am best fit the role of an explorer,followed by the warrior, judge and artist in that order. I feel that I best fit the role of an explorer because I am always interested in new facts, rules, theories and any other data. This has always fascinated me, looking up charts and see how they resemble the subject. I am always interested in finding and learning new things. Also solving problems has always been one of my favorite traits.

Next, I would say that I best fit the warrior because when I start to do a project whether it be for school or something personal, I want to complete it the best that it can be done and the best way to do that is by pushing myself and getting rid of any excuses that might provoke me from lowering myself. But I would say that my weakness is when working in a group, I kinda lay back when working with another person and dont push myself as much.

After the explorer and the judge, I would say that I best fit the role of the judge. Mostly because, I have finished a project or a problem, I always ask myself if it is right and if their was any other way, a better way, of solving the problem. But after looking back and asking myself those questions I just leave the problem. That I would say is my weakness with the judge.

The artist is the hat that I least resemble, mostly due to the fact that I have very little imagination. I always look at problems straight forward, never finding another way to solve the problem or making up another one. But I dont think that thats a big weakness for me because if you know how to solve a problem one way that all you really need, there is no need for a second, more imaginative way.

I “wear” numerous hats throughout my life, depending on what task I’m doing or what problem I’m trying to solve. Four hats that I wear, or roles that I take on, while problem solving are those of an explorer, artist, judge, and warrior. Each role has different strengths and weaknesses when it comes to problem solving, and a good problem solver can fit into all four roles, plus whatever else the person needs to be.

My strongest role is that of the explorer. I love finding out about new technologies or products, and can spend hours learning as much as I can about whatever is holding my interest at the moment. This is closely related to the role of the artist, as often I take on this role while exploring. If I find something new, the artist part of me will start analyzing it, and give the explorer part of me more items to research. The role of the judge also plays a part in these two roles, as I also constantly think about the feasibility of ideas – if something doesn’t seem like it will work, the explorer part of me has to go back and either find out why it wouldn’t work or find a way to make it work.

My weakest role is that of the warrior. I have hundreds of ideas and projects in my head, but I rarely implement them. For me, the fun is figuring out how to make an idea work; once it’s designed the challenge isn’t nearly as much fun. Additionally, I lack the resources to build most of my projects, so I have a tendency to design something and then never trying to complete it. This is a weakness that I hope to fix while in college, as a plan is just a plan until it’s actually implemented.

The explorer, artist, and judge are my three strongest roles as a problem solver, and the warrior is my weakest. I hope to become a stronger “warrior” over the next four years, as I’ll have the resources to implement whatever the explorer, artist, and judge parts of me create.

Jonathan Asfour
Eng 101
Hats of the Problem Solver

Reading about the explorer, I think that this is the “hat” that comes most natural. I am a very curious person and love to learn. Learning about theories, facts, concepts, rules, and data interest and fascinate me. I enjoy it. As a problem solver, I think this would b one of my strongest traits.
Being an artist on the other hand can prove to sometimes be a hassle to me. In certain circumstances, I find it extremely easy to manipulate and put things together. On the other hand, in other circumstances I get stuck in a way of thinking and cannot seems to get out of it. I fail to open my mind and think outside the box at times. Taking my time and not pressuring myself to accomplish something fast would help me a lot. I sometimes try to get ahead of myself, but instead, I fall behind because I am thinking too fast. I think if I slow down sometimes, being an artist will not be as hard as I have it made out to be.
The judge seems like a very easy task for me. I pay good attention to little details and seem to be able to literally, “judge”, very well. Because of my attention to details, mixed with a little OCD that I have, I can usually easily look at something I have done and critique myself without being biased.
Last, but not least, the warrior I think would be another easily attainable trait. I am very good at pushing myself and being persistent. When I put my mind to something I accomplish it and accomplish it well. I try not to make excuses, and try to do it as best I can.