VALS test results

     I took the VALS exam online to find out which categories I would be associated with.  After the test I found out that my primary category is an experiencer and the second category is an innovator.

     My primary category being an experiencer does not surprise me since my professor had let the class know that we would all most likely be one.  An experiencer is a young adult, roughly around 25 years old, that are full of energy and into social activities.  Spending a lot of money on clothes, fast food, and music is also very common.  This fits me perfectly because even though I am younger then the average age, I am a high energy, big spender.  I love to go shopping and to spend the money that I make because it makes me happy.

      I would say that being an experiencer would fit into my present life goals but not my future life goals because I am only young once.  It is okay to want to spend money carelessly when I am younger at an age when I don't really have any major financial responsibilities but in the future when I have to worry about paying off loans, paying rent, buying groceries, etc. I will not be able to spend my money as freely as I do now.  I am going to need to save my money to focus on the more important things in life rather than buying things that make me happy for a short time. 


        The secondary category that VALS placed me is was being an innovator, which means that I am big on change.  Innovators like to have the "finer things in life" that show my independence and taste.  Also it says that I like to parade things about me because it shows their high self esteem and also a high income.  Although I was put into this category with the VALS test, I would not associate myself with it.  There are some things in my life that I would say that I like the "finer things in life" but it really is not a necessity with the way I function.  I do not have to show everyone my lifestyle or the way I spend my time.  I am actually not a huge fan of change, I sort of like things the way that they are because it makes me feel comfortable.  

     For the future, looking at my life goals, I think my opinion about being an innovator might change.  With my lifestyle now, wanting the "finer things in life" is not at the top of my priorities but when I am older and more established financially, I could want to show all of my hard work through possessions.  Hopefully I will be in the mid-high class with my income so I can have the luxury of obtaining such high quality items.  But I will not know how I will see things later on in life, I guess I will just have to wait and see.  

     So although the first category of being an experiencer was spot on, also placing me in the innovator category was completely off.  But who knows, maybe later on in the future my view about being an innovator will change and associating myself as an experiencer would be far from the truth.       

My very own Prizm Cluster

     So I went on this website to try and figure out what Prizm Cluster I would be apart of from my home town in Newtown Connecticut.  I thought there would just easily be one explanation, but there were five.  But which one do I fit in with?

     The very first group is called "big fish small pond" which is comprised of a bunch of college-educated people around the ages of 45-64 with no kids.  They also continue to say that they live in an upscale area and the ethnicity is white.  But the thing that jumped out at me most was the phrase that said "these upscale, empty-nesting couples enjoy the trappings of success, including belonging to country clubs, maintaining large investment portfolios, and spending freely on computer technology."  To me these people sound like snobs, I am really not apart of this group. 

     The second group is called "country squires."  What are they back in medieval times?  So this group has "the wealthiest residents in exurban America" ranges from the ages of 35-54.  Like the first group, this group is generally white and upscale.  I think we are starting to get closer to where I think I belong in this Prizm.

     This group, "God's country" is extremely similar to the "country squires".  Both of these groups have the same age range, race, background and lifestyle, but in particular this group has no children.  "Country squires" did not mention anything about children on their site but this is one thing that makes the two stand out from each other.  Still have to keep looking I guess.

      In the fourth group, "greenbelt sports" fits almost perfectly with my parents.  This group is full of very active adults under the age of 55 that are upper to middle class.  The one thing that is making my parents not fit into this group is the fact that they do not have children.  They live their active lifestyles alone or together.

     The last and final group is called "traditional times".  In this group, there are  older white couples looking to retire in a nice upper to middle class small town.

     Did they just skip over my whole group in my own town?  Most of these groups had the adults with no children and I am pretty sure there are a lot of children in my town.  Although I do know that this is the average, I wish they could have included every group that is  involved with my town rather than just the ones that look the best on paper.  I need to find my group to break this mold. 

     As I looked up what Prism I am most associated with, I found that my group is called "boomtown singles".  This group is full of singles that have some college, like me since I am only a junior, with lower to middle income and rent.  The best part that I think describes me is "single, and working-class, these residents pursue active lifestyles amid sprawling apartment complexes, bars, convenience stores, and laundromats".  This is very true of me right now because I am not married, I am a college student that loves to frequent bars, everyone needs their laundry done, and I have my own apartment that I rent off campus.  

     So even though I may not fit in with the traditional aspects of my home town, I am proud to be a "boomtown single.

Possessions

      There are many things in my life that I can say I can closely identify with.  In other words, these items are 100% me.  They fit my identity, my lifestyle and my sense of self.  Out of all of these possessions that I can identify with, I think the most, and actually most obscure, is my "craft cabinet."

      My cabinet is filled with everything that I love to do, draw, paint, sculpt, scrapbook, anything.  I am known by my friends as the artist because I love to make anything personalized and colorful.  Not only are all of the contents, like the markers, paint and paper full of color, but the outside is as well.  I have covered the outside of the cabinet with things that I love.  I did not like the gray exterior so I thought I would make it more of my own.  Clippings of my favorite pictures, stickers, drawings and paint cover the outside showing everything that is important to me.  I associate everything with pictures, so why not show it all on something that holds what I love?  

       Another part of my life that everyone close to me knows about is the fact that I am a neat freak.  This may be annoying to some, but to me it just the way I live my life and it is clearly shown with my cabinet.  Everything has it's place.  If someone needs to go in my cabinet to borrow something, it has to be put back into the same place or I will get angry.  If people don't take as good of care of my things as I do, I feel as if they don't appreciate me.  

       Even though I cannot take my little cabinet everywhere, I wish I could.  Just walking into my room, you can instantly see who I am based on that one piece of furniture.  If more people were able to see this piece of me, more people would understand me and get to know me. 

       This is one possession that I think fully describes my personality, my way of life, and what I love.  Without it I don't know what I would really have to express myself as much as I do on this piece of furniture.