Pursuing Higher Education at Loyola Marymount University - Admission/Application Essay Example

The paper "Pursuing Higher Education at Loyola Marymount University" is a great example of an application essay on education. As I pursue higher education, I could acknowledge that at this particular point in time, I have already gained a level of proficiency in exemplifying the use of cognitive abilities and critical thinking in current decision-making processes. I also affirm that in making strategic decisions, there are instances which require both strengths in character in conjunction with mental skills to come up with the most effective decision.

I have been fortunate to be part of a decision-making process which necessitated the application of critical thinking, as well as strength in character. I am part of a close-knit family where my mother’s only surviving kin is her older sister. I remembered when my mother was awakened one night by a telephone call to inform her that her sister had been admitted to the hospital due to chronic renal failure. Her sister’s health condition was not good and was stabilized only by the medical equipment that sustained her life.

One of the most controversial decisions that family members are made to face involved euthanasia. It is a decision which crucially requires integration of critical thinking and character. My mother, due to her advanced age and seemingly biased nature since the patient is her sister, sought my assistance in making the decision. The attending physician had advised my mother to consider passive euthanasia by switching off life-support machines. My mother asked my comments regarding this matter. As an individual who needed to propose alternative courses of action, I first tried to assume an objective stance.

I looked into the situation from the points of view of both my mother and my auntie. I know that my mother would have wanted to prolong her life as much as possible since it would be too painful to even consider death as a possibility. On the other hand, I knew my auntie to be a very brave and courageous woman who exhibited being practical in life. She had told me stories of friends who were faced in similar situations where she believed that prolonging the agony through life-support machine would be futile.

From previous academic modules on critical thinking, I remembered that I have to lay out the alternative courses of action; to evaluate these choices by stipulating both advantages and disadvantages of each option; and to finally select the alternative that provided the greatest benefit in the long run. What made the decision challenging was the fact that I had to consider the sentiments of my mother and take into consideration that the proposed recommendation would be fully comprehended and accepted.

Thus, it is in this specific facet that strength in character was paramount. Through the critical thinking skills developed from previous academic levels, I enumerated and communicated to my mother the costs and benefits of considering status quo (or doing nothing) and waiting for the natural course of time to take its toll. I believe this was the preferred alternative of my mother but I had to remind her that we are at the mercy of our capacity to pay or our financial resources. Putting my auntie in a life-support machine for a considerable and undetermined length of time would be too exorbitant.

Likewise, the attending physician had informed us that even if she regains consciousness, my auntie would continue to be depending on medical interventions including dialysis – which is another expensive and painful recourse. The other option I illumined my mother was considering the attending physician’s recommendation: to opt for passive euthanasia. I informed her that this is the option that my auntie would prefer. Likewise, it would be the most viable alternative after taking into account our current financial condition and the future outlook for all concerned.

The more drastic alternative was to undertake active euthanasia which would intentionally put my auntie to rest through medically assisted interventions. Of course, for me, this is definitely an extreme option which would not be supported by the attending physician, by my mother, or by our religious beliefs. Just the same, it was an alternative that needs to be laid out for information purposes. After all the pros and cons of each alternative have been extensively discussed by my mother and me, she finally acceded to passive euthanasia.

It would really be the option that would have been preferred and selected even by my auntie. This option was most beneficial to all concerned in terms of considering financial resources, as well as thinking of the future health condition of my aunt if we still consider prolonging her life. Aside from critical thinking skills which were clearly evident from the situation, one affirms that strength in character was integrated since the decision made was painful despite its apparent benefits and validity.

Since my aunt had been a pillar of strength to me, the decision was most regrettable; yet I strongly believe that it would be for serving her best interests at heart. From the scenario, I am convinced that my pursuing higher education at Loyola Marymount University, I would be provided with wider opportunities to face decision-making scenarios that require critical thinking and strength in character. I am hereby looking forward to developing this important faculty and skill to assist in making responsible and effective decisions in the future.