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The Roles & Identities Exercise

 

In addition to more “normal” ways of conceptualizing identity-such as race/ethnicity, gender/sex, religion, etc-we’ve found that thinking about ways they explore and express the roles/identities listed below can be a great way for students to brainstorm ideas for a personal statement (such as an identities-threaded montage), or to add depth to a personal statement or supplemental essay draft (see: Hiking essay example).

Instructions:

  • Bold the top 10 roles you identify with most right now.

  • Next, underline the Top 5.

  • Italicize 3 values that you are “calling in” (wanting to be/experience more).

  • Finally, write 2-3 sentences or bullet points describing how/where you play these roles in life, or would like to.

 

  • Adventurer

  • Advocate

  • Ally

  • Ambassador

  • Amplifier

  • Anticipator

  • Architect

  • Artist

  • Attuner

  • Author

  • Big picture thinker

  • Bookworm

  • Builder

  • Catalyst

  • Challenger

  • Champion

  • Change-maker

  • Cheerleader 

  • Coach

  • Collaborator

  • Comedian

  • Composer

  • Connector

  • Contrarian

  • Coordinator

  • Counselor

  • Creator

  • C0-Creator

  • Critical thinker

  • Culture-creator

  • Curator

  • Decision-maker

  • Delegator

  • Details person

  • Diplomat

  • Doer

  • Dreamer

  • Empathizer

  • Energizer 

  • Engager

  • Engine

  • Enthusiast

  • Environmentalist

  • Executor

  • Expert

  • Experimenter

  • Explorer

  • Facilitator

  • Fighter

  • Fixer

  • Founder

  • Friend

  • Giver

  • Guide

  • Harmonizer

  • Helper

  • Human calculator

  • Hustler

  • Idealist

  • Improviser

  • Innovator

  • Integrator

  • Interest hopper

  • Interpreter

  • Intuitive

  • Inventor

  • Investigator

  • Leader

  • Learner

  • Listener

  • Maker

  • Mediator

  • Mentor

  • Mess-maker

  • Nature-lover

  • Nerd

  • Nurturer

  • Observer

  • Organizer

  • Party-bringer

  • Peacemaker

  • Pessimist

  • Philosopher

  • Planner

  • Playmate

  • Producer

  • Problem-solver

  • Protector

  • Prophet

  • Question-asker

  • Reader

  • Realist

  • Recommender

  • Refiner

  • Researcher

  • Risk-taker

  • Scientist

  • Seeker

  • Seer

  • Self-starter

  • Shape-shifter

  • Storyteller

  • Strategist

  • Synthesizer

  • Systems-maker 

  • Teacher

  • Team player

  • Telepath

  • Thinker

  • Tinkerer

  • Troubleshooter

  • Truth-teller

  • Unifier

  • Validator

  • Visionary

  • Wanderer

  • Weaver

  • World-builder

  • Writer

  • ___________

  • ___________

  • ___________

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