At West Texas A&M University, we believe that your student has the potential to do well. We know they can succeed. Our job is to help them identify their talents, develop those talents into strengths, and direct those strengths towards activities and experiences that will help them succeed. One thing they can do to help better understand their own talents and strengths is to take the StrengthsFinder™ assessment. For information about how to take the StrengthsFinder™ assessment click here.
A strengths-based approach can be integrated into the student experience in academics, career, leadership, employment, and relationships. By understanding their strengths and capitalizing on resources and experiences, students can do what they do best in their personal and academic lives. And they will be better able to say what they are learning and achieving.
Talk to your student about their strengths and how they can find opportunities on campus that bring out their best every day. For information about how your student can use their strengths to improve all facets of their lives, please explore more of the resources offered from WTAMU's CliftonStrengths site.
How Families Can Help Students Use Their Strengths
As a family member of a WTAMU student, there are many ways you can encourage and support your student as he or she develops and applies their Strengths. One of the best ways to start is simply having a conversation with your student about his or her Top 5 Signature Talent Themes. Simple questions such as, "What do your talent themes mean to you" or "How have your previous successes demonstrated your themes at work" can be great conversation starters. Once you know your son's or daughter's talent themes, it can also be helpful for you to share examples of how you have seen the talents demonstrated in his/her life. Perhaps you want to take the Clifton StrengthsFinder® assessment as well. For information about taking the assessment, click here.
Below is some additional information and resources that can help you as you talk with your student about her or his Strengths development.
- StrengthsQuest™Website" Website
- Strengths Conversation Starters
- Strengths: Parents & Families Workbook
- Engagement Tools
Encourage your student to visit the StrengthsQuest™ website where they can find action items that are aimed at each of their talent themes.There are two different ways to access the action items.
Option A
To access general action items for each of the 34 talent themes follow the instructions below:
- Log into your StrengthsQuest™ account
- Click on the "My StrengthsQuest" tab in the upper left hand corner of the page
- Click on the "Apply" tab
Option B
To access action items that are specific to each of your top five themes follow the instructions below:
- Log into your StrengthsQuest™ account
- Click on the "My StrengthsQuest" tab in the upper left hand corner of the page (you should be brought to a page that allows you to choose different reports you can view and download. Each of the reports provides information about your top five talent themes.
- Click on the "download" button under the "Strengths Insight and Action-Planning Guide". This will allow you to download a report that provides action items that are specific to each of your top five talent themes. The action items listed in this report are different than the action items listed under the "Apply" tab described above.
Strengths Conversation Starters
This handout gives suggested questions and conversation starters for parents and family members. Download Resource File.
This WorkBook can be used to learn more about Strengths at WTAMU and ways in which you can support your student. Download Resource File.
In addition to succeeding academically, encourage your student to think about how he/she wants to explore his/her interests, identify his/her passions and develop his/her talents into strengths through on and off campus activities. The resources below can help your student find opportunities in areas including campus leadership, student employment, research, volunteering, study abroad, student groups, and internships.
Back to StrengthsQuest's Main Page
This page contains copyright content from Gallup, Inc. Used with permission. Gallup®, StrengthsQuest®, Clifton StrengthsFinder® and the 34 Clifton StrengthsFinder theme names and descriptions are trademarks of Gallup, Inc. All rights reserved.