Relator
Relator describes your attitude toward your relationships. In simple terms, the Relator theme pulls you toward
people you already know. You do not necessarily shy away from meeting new people--in fact, you may have other
themes that cause you to enjoy the thrill of turning strangers into friends--but you do derive a great deal of pleasure
and strength from being around your close friends. You are comfortable with intimacy. In fact, once the initial
connection has been made, you deliberately encourage a deepening of the relationship. You want to understand
their feelings, their goals, their fears and their dreams; and you want them to understand yours. You know that this
kind of closeness implies a certain amount of risk--you might be taken advantage of--but you are willing to accept
that risk. For you a relationship has value only if it is genuine. And the only way to know that is to entrust yourself to
the other person. The more you share with each other, the more you risk together. The more you risk together, the
more each of you can prove your caring is genuine. These are your steps toward real friendship, and you take them
willingly.
Student Strategies:
General
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Because of your ability to build support systems, your environment supports your continuance, thus
increasing the likelihood of your persistence to graduation. Don't worry; you will find a way to succeed.
Academic Life
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Exchange phone numbers with classmates in case of absence.
Discuss class lectures with peers after class.
Ask for help or comments when problem solving is troublesome.
Create various lines of communication (i.e., verbal, phone, and e-mail) with relevant individuals in your
classes.
Form academic support groups in addition to social support groups. In so doing, you will be fostering your
academic achievement and performance, and will be building a network that encourages learning and
achievement.
Seek out advisors, counselors, and professors who demonstrate genuine interest in you as a person. Seek out
fellow students with whom you can play a mutual tutoring, learning assistance, and support role.
Study Techniques
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Form study groups for midterms and exams.
Split readings amongst peers to later teach or explain the gist and relevant concepts. This, too, is an effective
time-management tool.
Teaching and explaining readings to peers also increases your personal comprehension of the material.
Relationships
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Make yourself available to those who need help; you can learn a lot about yourself by helping others.
Establish different relationships with different people. For instance, have professional relationships for career
goals, friends, for social activities, etc.
Don't treat everyone the same; see the special qualities in each person.
Use a close friend to help you grow emotionally and spiritually.
Share knowledge with others and build a support network.
Become a mentor and always have a mentor.
You not only have support systems, you build them. This means that you can change schools, change majors,
change residences, etc., with little worry about finding a place where you belong. This is an asset to college
students, as they must make many changes and move among many sub-groups on campus.
In building your support system, be sure to include professors among those who know you and take an
interest in you. Their involvement in your college experience will simultaneously create a sense of belonging
and stimulate your intellectual development and academic achievement.
Develop a college lifestyle through which you share your academic progress and performance with people
who care about you, people both within and outside the college environment.
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Develop a list of names and phone numbers of people who will willingly be a resource to you.
Co-curricular Activities
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Become involved in campus organizations that are based in academic departments and/or potential career
areas.
Career
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You can be effective in almost any career in which in-depth, meaningful relationships are valued.
Find a workplace in which friendships are encouraged.
Highly bureaucratic organizations may frustrate you unless you can find a job that calls on you to build
positive, supportive relationships.
Your Relator theme enables you to make other people's lives run and work better.
Great coaches, teachers, managers, supervisors, professional helpers, and caregivers all seem to be more
effective when they are strong in the Relator theme.