Dustin Jizmejian brought many unique things to Semester, from his perspective, his kids, or his beard. However, the most unique thing he presented to us was mind styles.
Mind styles is a test that analyzes how different people think. From that, it shows how they are strong or weak in other areas, why they process in certain ways, and how they interact or learn. It’s not a personality test, but it can help you understand part of your personality.
Dustin used mind styles in a fascinating way. Not only did he give us the test, but he also paired us off in our most prominent mind style and had us do group activities. These activities were purely to show us that our mind styles don’t define us. Even if two people had the same highest mindstyle, they still approached the same situation differently.
Dustin almost used these activities to give us a sense of fulfillment and call us out. My highest mindstyle was CS, but as he put it, the other mindstyles will show. So when I’m working or in class, I’m prominently CS. I need seriousness and routing, and I’m hardworking. But sometimes, my AR will show, which is my lowest category. That part of me comes out, and I need to be valued, tell stories, and use my imaginative outlook. All four add up to the unique person that I am, which Dustin heavily stressed. With that, he also warned us of the downfalls. Each mindstyle takes pride in specific things; mine is an accomplishment. With all the good that my mind style can accomplish, it would be easy to fall into this pitfall. Interestingly enough, each of the mindstyles’ strengths was also its downfall.
Finally, Dustin showed us how these do not define us. He didn’t want us to remove our identity from where Christ defines it and instead place it in a paper test. He heavily stressed that our highest mind styles were not to be used as excuses for our actions, just as our lowest scores are not an excuse for apathy. Dustin cared deeply about us and cared about how this affected us. He went to great lengths to make sure it was positive. This is something I will not soon forget from Semester.
Laura Litteral is from Westminster, Colorado. She first heard of Summit Semester at the two-week session in Georgia, and she was so impacted during her time in Georgia that she knew she had to apply for Semester. She is most excited to meet new people, build a stronger relationship with God, and grow in conviction to nourish her relationship with God. After Summit Semester, Laura plans to pursue a double major in theology and theater at the College of the Ozarks, and a fun fact about her is that she is a second-degree in Taekwondo.