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Module 1: Discussion
The Three Questions, Values,
Personal Identities, and Dreams

Preparation:

Before going any further in this assignment, be sure you have actively read and reviewed
all the materials in the Module One content areas. 

Also, be sure you have completed the Values Checklist and the Dreams & Desires
Worksheet (attached documents) prior to starting this discussion topic.

Formatting Instructions:

Please be sure to copy/paste the prompts (and not all the set-up information) into your
discussion topic thread, and then respond meaningfully to the prompts.  (Remember,
sometimes it’s better to do this offline, and then create a thread to paste your entire
discussion topic entry directly into.)

Some Tips for Doing Well on Discussion Topics:

Many times, each of these prompts have more than one question – be sure to read each prompt
carefully and respond to all aspects of each prompt.  Short answers (two or three sentences) are
NOT acceptable.  Remember, more is better in terms of thoughtful engagement and writing. 
Also be sure to meaningfully connect with the readings (as well as any assessments and other
course content that may be applicable).  Each discussion topic prompt warrants several well-
constructed paragraphs of content if you hope to earn a high score!

Be sure your writing shows evidence of having read all the assigned chapters from your textbook
(and other assigned readings, web links, assessments, etc., as applicable). Discussion topic
threads that don’t convey engagement in the various assessment instruments or integration of
course content do not score as well as those that do.

Also, remember that beyond what is asked for above, and for all written submissions, be sure it is
well-written, easy to understand, free of spelling and grammar errors, and that you follow the
formatting instructions (and include the prompts/questions prior to your responses). 

Remember to save a hard copy of all your work. You will need this in Module 4 where you
will be performing a qualitative thematic analysis. Save and print out your work. Also, you
will be adding your work here to your e-portfolio in a new “Self-Assessments & Reflective
Writing” section – See Module 3 Discussion Instructions for more information.

Since much of what you are doing these first few modules is building toward your qualitative
thematic self-analysis project in Module 6, you will want to have a good collection of qualitative
data to draw on, and here is where you start!

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There are four prompts associated with this discussion topic.  

Set-up for Three Questions Prompt (Prompt #1):

Review the three questions content under the Module 1 content area. This video is by Fr.
Michael Himes, a theologian at Boston College.

Prompt #1: Take a moment to respond meaningfully to the “three questions” that are discussed
as key to vocational discernment and provide any additional perspective you may feel is
necessary. Don’t just settle for short, one sentence answers. Try to be very specific, aiming for a
couple of cohesive, well-written paragraphs in response to each of the three questions. Also,
write vividly and descriptively – paint a “picture” with your words here. Your responses to these
prompts shouldn’t read like a resume or take the form of “bullet points” – use
analogies/metaphors, engage and inspire us by “painting a picture” with your words, and make
some connections to the Father Himes videos.

The Three Questions:

What gives me joy? (What kinds of things am I doing when I’m most naturally content and
happy?)

According to the lecture by Father Himes, “Happiness comes from moment to moment, day to

day. Joy, on the other hand, is much deeper and much more central, it comes from within, and

it’s a genuine rightness of how one lives one’s life.” Based on this assessment, what gives me joy

is seeing my two children content, happy, and striving. Everything I do, whether it be seeking

advancement opportunities within my organization or completing my degree, all of these things

are aiming to ensure I can provide my girls a better life. I want to put them in an environment

that will open opportunities to give them the ability to thrive.  

What am I good at?  (What are my strengths?)

            In evaluating my current strength in the context of my profession, I am good at recruiting

or working in Human Resource Management. My friends and family would very much describe

my personality as an extrovert. I have been working in the field for twelve years and across a

variety of recruiting programs. Has the recruiter sought to go beyond the mere veil of

evaluating/interviewing candidates for a position beyond their well-written experience on a

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resume? As a recruiter, I ensure that I am working with the department managers to understand

their personality traits and the department's culture. Placing people in a position within an

organization is easy. However, ensuring that the candidate fits into the family, they are joining

goes beyond just a resume.

               Recruiting allows me to tap into my personal quality as an extrovert, where interactions

with strangers are comfortable and less awkward. One of the questions asked by Father Himes

during his presentation was, "are you successful at it?" I would define my success as an

organization leader recently approaching me to expand our 'New Graduate Recruiting Program"

to our other markets nationally. Although never officially a program manager, I took the lead on

implementing the program within my current assigned market. The program has been successful

for a year now in attracting and hiring new graduates to fill positions within our local hospitals in

Phoenix, Az. Secondly, I would say I am successful at it as I was recently put in charge of

training new recruiters coming into the organization.

What does the world need me to do? (What can I contribute?)

            Most of my experiences in recruiting have been within the healthcare industry. The field

of resource management is a growing field and one that attracts individuals every day. In stating

that, I would say that this question caused me to really pause and think. With the number of

recruiters in the field today, one question that comes to mind is – how have I differentiated

myself from those around me? The answer to this question is more complex than the question

itself. Father Himes asked us to look at the question through the lens of Agape “a very particular

form of love, a love which is self-gift, a way of giving oneself away to the “other” (Rev. Himes,

2010). Thus far, I go beyond seeing new candidates as a number throughout my recruiting

experience because they are not. I treat everyone as a human being, offering them the same kind

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of employment hiring process that I would like to have. I seek to offer an experience full of trust

and mutual respect to the community I serve. I hope to provide another service by linking an

individual to their dream career within our organization and a place they can call home.

Prompt #2: Values Checklist (Attachment): What were your top 5 values? What kinds of
defining characteristics did you associate with your values as you crossed them off the list one at
a time until you had only one value listed? What did you learn about your values hierarchy
through this activity?

Honesty Being open and honest Personal development

Quality relationships Integrity

The defining characteristic that emerged from narrowing my personal values down to the

most important value is that it is centered on my individual and relationship values. My top value

was trying to be open and honest. It was tough trying to determine how much of a significant

role these values play in my life. Repeating this process of crossing off my values until I got

down to one was tough as I was trying to determine how each value played a role in my life. As I

am crossing off, I am trying to figure out my connection with each value to determine my top

value. The value chosen in my hierarchy was once that affects my attitude and behavior daily

and builds my character. By practicing these different values, it allows me to be aware of others,

and allows me to be open-minded. These values also impact how I interpret things daily. Also,

my rationalization going through the narrowing (hierarchy) process some chosen value in the

top-ten and later top five represented the same thing and are where values that I instill when

interacting with others across my life cycle.

Set-up for Identity Exercise Prompt (Prompt #3):

Carefully read the instructions for the Identities Exercise (page 22 of your textbook) and follow
those instructions. Remember to be specific and detailed in your responses – at least as detailed
as the example given. Included at the bottom of this document is a template/table to help you

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organize your thoughts. Feel free to use it or to create your own. Note: While this template
suggests some specific roles/categories, you may have more than one role in many of these areas
(such as two different jobs, with two very different influences on your identity). Be sure to define
(and separate out) each role as applicable to you.

Prompt #3: For this prompt, complete (and include) the identities exercise/table, and then
answer the following questions.

Table Template:

Areas of identity/Life role How does this role How does this role Which of your core
define your self-concept influence your priorities values aligns with this
I am a… or views? and your actions? identity?

Professional or vocational
role(s) - (job, career, etc.).

Employee/employer/boss,  Provide a sense  Keeps me grounded Personal development,

etc. security and focus on Integrity
 Being able to teach achieving my
other the knowledge I educational growth to
have gain seek advance position
 Provide a sense of of leadership
independence  Ensure I have a role
 A source of pride and that can provide a
self-esteem great source of
financial stability and
being able to provide
for my girl
Family role(s)
Parent (Single parent)  I see myself for a  Dominate major of Quality relationship
provide and role my time during weeks
model that they are with me
 Makes me think less  Force me to try and
about myself and balance my work life
more about as a head  Force me to set
of the household priorities and ensure I
 Provide an enormous don’t make rash
sense of pride and decision in my career
self-esteem or other areas of my
life
 Helped to focus of
meeting my
educational goal and
setting a good
example for them
Sister  Provide sense of pride  Have someone who I Quality relationships,
and self-esteem can talk through being open and honest,
 Closeness to someone things with or
who I can confide in vacation with
 Ensure that
scheduling time to

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family vacation each

year
Cultural/ethnic group(s)  Provide a sense of  Find ways and Personal development
pride in customs and opportunity to past on
tradition my family traditions to
my daughters
Hobbies and avocations  Provides the ability to  Ensure I am planning Quality relationship,
take a break or get time to get out and do being open and honest
away from it all activities outside of
 Provide means true work and family
which you can  Allow me to build and
express creativity, keep
and personality friendship/relationship
outside of work
Socioeconomic group  Serve as means of  Makes me ensure I Personal development
affiliations pride and self-esteem have a great job that
 Provide a catalyst for can support my family
continue growth  Set goal to seek
professional
development and
advancements
Student  Educational  Prioritize time to Personal development
development to complete my
achieving my degree assignment on time
 Expansion of my each week
leadership knowledge  Focus on placing
and ability importance on my
studies

 How do your various roles influence how you see yourself?

The various roles influence how I see myself differently. As a single parent, I see myself

as the breadwinner in my household. I continually served to ensure that my two daughters have

everything they need, to the extent where they are reliant on their dad. As a mother of two

daughters, I also must see myself as their first role model. Therefore, my actions and decisions

reflect the kind of ladies that I hope for them to grow up to be. As a role model, I also serve in an

educator's capacity to them, outside of traditional educational institutions. As a recruiter, the role

allows me to see myself as an ambassador between the organization and the community. As a big

sister, I see myself as a close friend and close confidant to my little sister and brother.

How do your various roles influence how you see the world?

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Viewing the world through the context of each role offers a variety of different points of

view. The first objective of any parent is the protection of their child. The world as our children

know it today is vastly different from the world, we grew up in. Therefore, I view the world

today both optimistically and pessimistically. Optimistically, because I know great opportunities

today and new ones are being developed yearly to succeed in life. Pessimistically, due to the

danger that exists within society, many I know as a parent I will not be able to protect them from.

My socioeconomic group role assists with the optimism that I have for my own children. My

mother and father started with little, and through their hard work, they can live comfortably

today. Through my own hard work, I am better offer today than I was a few years back.

The cultural/ethic role shines a light on the negative stereotypes that exist about people of

Mexican descent within society. The role also allows me to be proud of the positive moves

people are making with the culture in the world. The world that I see through my hobbies and

avocation’s role is far different from any other role. Through my hobbies and avocations role I

ensure the creativity that the world has, and the experiences it can provide.

How do you currently prioritize your roles? Which roles are most (and least) attended to? Are

you happy with this prioritization? What changes would you like to make?

The way and means by which how I prioritize my roles shifts weekly. The most important

role I have is that of a parent and one that I find the most joyful. The least important role,

honestly, now is that of a student. There are times when I find myself more focused on roles and

activities that contracted or hinder me from accomplishing my educational goal. I am currently in

the last class of my degree and focusing on the prize that has become harder.

There are several changes I would like to make in regard to the prioritization of my roles. The

method by which I prioritized my roles outside of being a parent is based on my relationship

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with the individual(s) involved and the personal importance I place on that person in my life. My

kids are first and foremost the most important relationship in my life. Therefore, I would take no

action to change my prioritization of that. However, when it comes to other roles such as student

or hobbies and avocations, the importance is based on the individual relationship. For example,

currently, I would place hobbies and avocations over completing an assignment if the person is

involved based on the importance of our relationship.

How do you see your roles changing in the future - and how will that affect your identity?

The role that I see changing the most is my professional and vocational. I am currently

seeking greater responsibilities within my own organization. I have led many new projects, but

never in the official capacity of a project manager. I see my work in recruiting or human

resources as a career. The class text notes five factors that lead a person to define their work as a

career and not merely a series of jobs. Among the five were time investment, progressive job

changes and advancement, income levels, and income motivation (Harrington and Hall, 2007).

There have been conversations amongst upper managers and me in recent weeks about taking on

a senior recruiter role within my organization. I am hoping these talks will blossom into actual

actions. I have invested quite a lot of time to succeed in a project assigned, from development to

implementation and execution. Time investment, as Harrington and Hall note, "is the amount of

time one has invested in getting and keeping education or skills, the number of work hours one

spends, or continuity or stability in a job or occupation over a period of time" (2007, p.9).

Secondly, I left my last job because of the lack of upward mobility and the fact that less qualified

individual was promoted because of their relationship with management, even after having

complaints from other department managers they were working with. Our manager at the time

chalked up the complaints as the co-worker learning by addressing noted issues and improving

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relationships with the managers. Progressive job changes and advancements are some of the

drivers in completing my college degree. Per the class text, "people who see their jobs as leading

them on a path of increase growth and responsibility would view themselves as having a career"

(Harrington and Hall, 2007, p. 9).

Look back at your Values Worksheet and your Identities Table. Explore how your values and

identities align; explain inconsistencies and gaps.

The values that I have chosen within my top ten I would say aligned perfectly to the roles

that I currently play in my life. For example, one of my top ten values was having a family and I

am currently a parent and do take pride and joy in being one. Two of my top ten values were

being independent and personal development. Ensuring that pursue my educational goal of

completing my degree and have a career that provides financial stability and professional

advancement allows me to accomplish the value of seeking independence and personal

development. As a single parent, these three values provide a linkage between my role as a

parent, student, and professional. The class text place it best "the changing nature of families has

changed the expectations for both men and women regarding what role they will aspire to in their

workplace, what the balance will be between their work and nonwork roles, and how each of us

ultimately defines success" (Harrington and Hall, 2007, p.10). Success is to be able to provide a

better life for my two daughters and to be a role model for them as to how a woman act and what

can be accomplished.

The inconsistency and gaps come as drill deep down to my top five roles. Looking back, I

feel as if the majority of my top five are centered around building/maintaining relationships with

others. Personal development and family lose importance to the outward relationships. The

deeper I go into highlighting values that are important to me the more I drift away from roles

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such as that of a parent, student, professional, or vocation, towards roles that are more built

around hobbies and friends. Doing an internal evaluation makes it seem as if the value of certain

relationships outside of family holds great importance to how I view myself as a human being.

Prompt #4: Dreams and Desires Worksheet (attachment): What underlying meaning did you

discover through exploring your dreams and desires in this manner? Can you see a connection

between what you desire and your inner sense of purpose? Explain.

The underlying meaning that emerged from doing this exercise is that the three most

important areas /roles in my life are family, development, and financial. One of the key

takeaways was my desire for financial freedom. Having financial freedom will allow me to

accomplish many of my other dreams such as traveling, learn about other cultures, and providing

a comfortable life for myself and my two daughters. I want to take care and protect the ones I

love and leave something behind for my two teenage daughters to set them up for success when

they become adults. Yes, I did find connections between what is most important to myself and

things I most desired. At the center of what I desire most is ensuring that I am providing a better

future for my daughters than the one that I have. I believe that every parents’ goal in life.

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Reference

Rev. Himes, M. (2010). Three Key Question. Visitation Monastery of Minneapolis. Retrieved

from https://www.visitationmonasteryminneapolis.org/2010/02/on-discernment-three-

key-questions/

Harrington, B, & Hall, D. T. (2007). Career management & work/life integration: Using self-

assessment to navigate contemporary careers. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications,

Inc

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