When it comes to understanding the question of what “Emotional Intelligence” is and what it represents for me as a person, I find it best to start with a quote by David Caruso, “It’s very important to understand that emotional intelligence is not the opposite of intelligence, it’s not the triumph of heart over head - it is the unique intersection of both.” It is within this quote that we can begin to decipher some form of meaning from the concept of emotional intelligence, and from that, it can be determined what the concept of “Emotional Intelligence” means to me, both in my every day to day life as well as life in the long term. As David Caruso pointed out, this shows that even if you aren’t as “smart” or have a 4.0 GPA that doesn’t mean you’re not intelligent. Emotional intelligence is characterized by the capacity to determine and handle your own emotions and the emotions of those around you. Customarily, this consists of encompassing 2-3 skills. An essential skill of E.I. (emotional intelligence) is emotional awareness, which consists of the ability to grasp emotions and implement them into tasks like thinking as well as solving problems in day to day life. The second skill is the capability to influence emotions, which includes regulating your own emotions and ameliorate and/or mollify other people to facilitate them. E.I. subsists in possessing the ability to perceive emotions, denoting, in other words, to assess and generate emotions so as to further reflection.