If I were an animal, what would I be?

Whether a “get to know you” game or a personal branding activity, one of my favorite exercises is the classic, “If you were a [insert category], what would you be?” (...or at least some iteration of this question). Not only do I think this exercise reveals a lot about someone’s personality, but I think it is so fun because there are so many categories to pick from: animals...cars...flowers… you name it. I also think this exercise is not just useful for personal identity, but it is a unique way for a business to establish its brand, as well. So what fun things do I identify with? It’s time to find out!

If you were an animal, what would you be?

This has been something I have thought a lot about throughout my life, and my answer seems to always come back to the same thing: a penguin. There are so many attributes and privileges of penguins that I wish I had. First off, I love the snow, and it rarely snows in North Carolina. Therefore, I would definitely love to be an animal that is meant for the snow. It would also be a dream to be able to play in the snow and not worry about wearing boots, gloves, a jacket, etc. Secondly, I love how penguins always look like they are having so much fun. I would love to belly slide on icebergs and try to catch arctic fish with my beak. I love the way penguins also travel in huddles and have different calls that their friends and family recognize. Thirdly, I like how the male and female penguins are equally responsible for both protecting their egg under their body and hunting for food for the family. That’s my type of lifestyle: equal and balanced. :)

If you were a flower, what kind of scent would you have?

I would want to have a mild, yet refreshing scent. Tulips and daffodils are my favorite flowers, and they have similar characteristics in terms of their smell. Each has the smell of a freshly-picked, delicate spring flower. However, when you walk in a room containing these flowers, you cannot immediately tell that they are there. It’s the perfect amount of subtle and soothing. Now that I think about it, both tulips and daffodils are flowers that come from a bulb that nests in the ground year-round… maybe I am a bulb-flower type of person!

If you were a car, what type would you be?

Easy question because if I could build my own car, this would be its premise: dark color, modern, sleek, fast, yet floats like a boat, sporty, and techy. I would also want my car to be a crossover that way I don’t feel like I’m almost touching the road, or I don’t feel like I’m in a car that’s too big to make sharp turns. I feel like Teslas fit my description pretty well, but when it comes to cars, I always want something really innovative in terms of their design. I wish Teslas looked more unique; sometimes they blend in too well with every other car on the road. However, I don’t want a car as wild as Elon Musk’s cybertruck design, but I think he’s going in the right direction with the out-of-the-box thinking that he put into that. Oh, and of course, my car would be electric. Everything about gas seems anti-environment to me and makes me really dislike having to use a car a lot. I am very happy that the future seems to be investing in electric cars, and I think once the range becomes longer and charging becomes faster, so many more people will want to make the switch from gas to electric.

If you were a restaurant, what kind of food would it serve?

One word: pasta. I struggle to find places that have a variety of pastas or pastas that extend beyond the basic spaghetti and tomato sauce and mediocre Alfredo. Pasta is by far my favorite food, and when I find a pasta that sings to my tastebuds, it is one of my happiest moments. Therefore, my restaurant would serve so many different, unique, and yummy pastas that would make people want to eat there every meal. I would also have fun with noodle shapes, too… There are so many cool types of pasta that aren’t taken advantage of!

If you were a color, what would you be?

Color is one of my favorite topics… check out one of my previous blogs to find out the answer to this one ;)

If you were a city, what would your geography look like?

My ideal city would be of medium size, with a big-city feel downtown but also with areas out in the suburbs where you could have a nice plot of land and plenty of trees. I would want the population to be big enough so that there would be plenty of places to eat, stores to shop in, and things to do. In terms of location, I would want it in a nice short drive from the coast… maybe forty minutes or an hour? I am obsessed with the beach, but I would not want my city to be coastal for two reasons: 1) the beaches would be super crowded and 2) there might be implications for hurricane damage. An underground metro system would be nice for the city to have, but I think there would need to be a heavy population for that, and I do not want the city to be so big that it feels like you could not drive anywhere in it with ease.

If you were a type of weather, what would your conditions be?

Overcast, for sure. I feel an extreme amount of dopamine when the temperature is in the high 60s or low 70s, the sky is covered in light grey clouds (but still bright), and there is a slight breeze that hits your face gently. I wish this were the weather all of the time, with the occasional rain. It feels the best on my skin, and nothing makes me want to exercise more or do homework outside than this type of weather. (However, at the beach, I do like when it’s sunny… gotta get that tan!)

“If you were an M&M, which color would you be”

Blue! I love the shade; it’s so vibrant compared to the other M&M hues. Plus, there aren’t very many blue things you can eat! Also, I love the personality that M&Ms have given the blue one in their commercials.

If you were a video game, what would the gameplay be like?

I love playing video games, so this is a fun question. Honestly, I would probably emulate lots of the features of the popular game, Minecraft. I would want lots of animals, beautiful landscapes, but I also would not want the graphics to look too lifelike. It is a game after all, so I want some elements that are not super realistic. I also would want there to be some method of sword fighting or gun-shooting for hostiles in the game because there has to be some sort of difficulty or action for me to feel like I am playing the perfect game. I am picky when it comes to games, but overall, I would make sure my game had a strong user interface. Nothing frustrates me more than when I buy a new video game and feel like there are a million different menus and buttons I have to learn and navigate just to do something simple.

If you had a superpower, what would it be?

As much as I would want the power to read minds, I would choose the power of flight because I think I am already pretty good at mind-reading ;) ...but flying would be a necessity for me. I really do not like getting on planes; they honestly freak me out. (But I do love hanging out at airports… I know, it’s weird.) Not only would flight save me from having to use airplanes, but I could go so many places in so little time. It would also be free and whenever I wanted to! Let’s say I wanted to go to the beach, or even a different country, for the day. Boom, just a quick flight away. I would turn into the ultimate adventurer.

As you can see, this exercise is a lot of fun, and you can really discover someone’s personality by asking these questions! I find and think of new categories for this exercise all of the time, so check back in the future because there might be some new questions and answers that I have added!