Personal Inventory (Essay Sample)

Personal Inventory
Student’s Name
Institutional Affiliation
Personal Inventory
A personal inventory is an important tool for mapping out educational and career progression. It enables streamlining of the learning curve facilitating speeding up of career progression. This essay details my personal inventory delineating characteristics, strengths, and personal traits. It will also detail the collective lessons learned so far with regards to technology and its influence on learning capabilities. Finally, it spells out the learning path meant to empower my educational and professional life. Analysis indicates that while appropriation of technology in learning is both advantageous and disadvantageous, the pros outweigh the cons by far.
Personal Traits, Strengths, and Characteristics
One of my defining characteristics is that I am highly motivated and goal-oriented. I am also very ambitious. My dream is that in the near future, after the completion of my bachelor's, I will work in one of the high-end accountancy firms in Dubai. I had to relinquish my well-established business in Dubai to chase this dream by prioritizing my studies over career advancement. I reckon not many people would have made that kind of a sacrifice. My determination to strengthen my educational background for better career advancement in the future is what propels me and keeps me highly motivated. My goals are well stated in my personal statement that I keep and refer to every once in a while. I also have a strong business and work ethics. I am hard working and believe in fair competition. My running of the business inculcated and strengthened these traits. Crucially, it afforded me an opportunity to relate theoretical knowledge and practical experience. Hence, I believe that I am better placed and have the necessary know-how to succeed in a competitive business environment.
I reckon that I am also initiative-taking and experimental as exemplified by my setting up of a business venture even while still pursuing my studies. I believe in my capabilities. I fancy myself as a person who can multi-task since I possess leadership and managerial skills. I only relinquished my business because I needed the finances to facilitate my transition and educational progression and not because it was flailing. Another of my core strengths is that I am well versed in accountancy. I am also interested in accountancy as a profession. This makes learning easy for me and, I believe, it is the reason I excel in the accountancy program. Due to this academic prowess I am considering doing my masters and doctorate degrees in the foreseeable future and even pursuing academia.
Collective Lessons Learnt
During the program, we were tasked with posting and participating in online discussions on the effects of technology on learning and learning capabilities. From the debates, I learned that while technology enhances and inhibits our learning, it does not do so proportionately. In most instances, it enhances learning more than it inhibits (Hill et al., 2014). I learned that technology is vital to enhancing the learning experience as it affords students countless resources from which to derive knowledge and information. There are hundreds of research databases from which one can get quality, peer-reviewed online articles. Technology makes sourcing for information easier and cheaper (Hill et al., 2014). Additionally, technology improves learning experience as it makes accessing of information instantaneous. It also enhances connectivity. Through social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter and other online forums, students, and their instructors can engage in formal and informal contexts. Furthermore, technology enables automation of services and learning of life skills such as socializing and netiquette that would otherwise not have been taught in class (Hill et al., 2014).
I also learned that technology can adversely affect learning. Its major undoing is that it may distract learning especially when students appropriate it for other uses other that academic during academic learning sessions. A student may be tweeting and using Facebook while the lecturer is teaching. The other forms of inhibitions include facilitating disconnect between real and fancy lifestyles, encouraging academic dishonesty during tests and availing lots of alternative, poor quality sources of information (Hill et al., 2014).
Learning Path and Influence from Technology and Digital Information
As is evident, my academic and career progression is hugely reliant on technology. My learning priorities at the moment are to acquire as much theoretical and practical knowledge as I can. The academic qualifications will enable me to land a lucrative job opportunity. I intend to proceed with higher education later on. I am keen to generate knowledge in the field of accountancy...