I'm technically a "Jersey-Girl", but I try to avoid most of the stereotypes. I'm from North Jersey and we're nothing like what someone who'd watched "The Jersey Shore" would expect. Our little town is only eight square miles and my graduating class was about three hundred kids. Yes, we were all kids at that point. Many of us think we're invincible, but our town inadvertently shelters us immensely. Poverty is

always talked about, but almost never seen.Because of our demographic,

we're all expected to have the fancy cars and the expensive clothes.

Our town is full of commuters, people coming and going from the

bustling city every morning and night. After nine at night though?

It's normally quiet as can be and I'll rarely pass more than a handful

of cars on my way home from friends houses late at night. Given our

demographic, some of us still stand out. I come from a household where

both parents have had to work to keep us from moving. With the shift in

economy, it was ruff for a little but it brought my family closer together than

we had been since I was extremely little. Friends and family are 

everything to me.

     Poverty isn't seen regularly in my town. It's not talked about when

a family moves away due to financial constraints. It's just that kind of

town and it's awful. As a result of this kind of downplay of the less

fortunate, my youth minister at home works to have the youth group

exposed to as much of it as possible, as close to home as he can find it. He

found a temporary homeless shelter housing a couple families about a ten

minute drive from my home. It shocked most of the younger children

who wouldn't have thought there were homeless people living so close

to us. To be able to go and help serve dinner before spending a night

playing games and making children laugh, showed me how much a

small effort can make. I didn't do anything massive that night; I helped

fill taco shells and sat with parents to talk before going to play basketball

and later scooping ice cream. None of that took any effort at all, but the smile

on these children's faces was priceless. I made a difference to these children, if

only for a night.

     My five strengths are: input, strategic, learner, relator, and achiever. This means that I'm a whole, big 'ol jumble of stuff. It shows that I am an inquisitive person who can get creative with my solutions to the problems I face. It means I love to learn while also valuing close personal relationships. Given me love for people, I put all I have into my work and my relationships. I leave no stone un-turned in the search for an answer.