Page 115 - Keys To Community College Success

Use this exercise to synthesize what you’ve learned about yourself into one comprehensive
portrait. Design it as a “think link” or mind map, using words and visual shapes to describe
your: (1) dominant Multiple Intelligences, (2) Personality Spectrum dimensions, (3) values,
(4) abilities and interests, (5) personal characteristics, and (6) anything else that you have
discovered through self-exploration. Key 3.9 shows an example. You can create it freehand
or use a graphics program.
A think link is a visual presentation of related ideas, similar to a map or web, that repre-
sents your thought process. Put your ideas inside geometric shapes (boxes or circles) and attach
related ideas and facts to those shapes using lines (you may find additional information on note
taking elsewhere in your text).
To get started, try using the style shown in Key 3.9. Put your main idea (“Me”) in a shape
in the center and then create a wheel of related ideas coming off that central shape. Spreading
out from each of those related ideas (interests, values, and so forth), draw lines connecting the
thoughts that go along with each idea. For example, you might connect singing, stock market,
and history with the “interests” idea.
Let your design reflect who you are, just as what you write does. You may want to look back
at it at the end of the term to see how your self-image has changed and grown.

Learning How You Learn

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