The Ability to Apply New and Unfamiliar Ideas - Personal Statement Example

Critical Self- Reflection Essay I would define critical thinking can briefly be described as the ability to apply new and unfamiliarideas, opinions and situations. It involves keeping an open mind when faced with a new idea and viewing it from all possible angles to consider all possibilities. As a critical thinker, it does not necessarily mean that I have all the information I required in order to make the right choice or find the truth. It is important as it allows one as an individual to view the world from a different perspective and get a better understanding of other people’s views and opinions. Critical thinking has helped me accept both unpleasant and pleasant events in my life with such grace and positive attitude. Whenever I was faced with a setback in life, I viewed my situation from different perspectives in order to explore all views and understand just how crucial the situation actually was. I believe that critical thinking is a skill that anyone could benefit from in his or her daily lives. Every day we are faced with decisions and choices. Without critical thinking, how would it be possible to make the right choice? Critical thinking is a skill we use or ought to use in almost every aspect of our lives without even realizing it. College has given me many opportunities to use critical thinking in many new ways, or in ways, I had never before. For example, in our interpersonal communication class we get to share a lot on our relationships and family. I did not only share my story on life with others, but got to listen and reflect on their stories. This helped in giving me a new perspective on life. We should not always be confined to our own ways and imagine that we are always right. Secondly, on numerous occasions in math class, we are given a word problem to solve. In order for one to find a solution, you are expected to figure out the best system in which to solve the question. I doubt this would be possible for me without critical thinking. It takes patience for one to critically analyze a maths problem and come up with a solution (Cottrell, 2011). In addition, in college, no one does the scheduling for you anymore. The choice is left to you. This poses the challenge of ensuring that you use the time you have as well as possible. Otherwise, a whole semester would go by so fast, and before you realize it there is so much that you still have not done. In addition, you are likely not prepared for exams by the time the end of the semester is here. With my critical thinking skills, I am able to manage and organize myself such that everything has its own time and no aspect of y life is left neglected. One of the assumptions that I made in life that I have recently come to the realization not to be true is that I cannot make a difference in this world. I have come to realize that change begins with me. The little I can do in the community to make a difference counts. If we were all to sit back and keep complaining without necessarily making an effort to make a difference in the community, would change really be possible? Everyone wants to complain about how wrong things are in our society, yet no one even tries to lift a hand to make a difference. If we all did something little, the little everyone does would amount to such a dynamic difference that would leave most people so surprised (Lau, 2013). As a critical thinker, the key value I use in my daily thinking to guide me is that I am not always right. This gives me an opportunity to weigh on other people’s ideas and beliefs and not be rigid to my own way. People often feel so confined to their ways of thinking and do not want to believe that someone else may actually be right, and they are wrong. This is where the problem comes in. Man is meant to err at one point or another and the sooner we accept that the better off we will be. Furthermore, giver other people’s opinions and ideas a chance helps broaden our scope of thinking and helps us view a situation from different angles. Another person’s perspective may not necessarily be true, but it is still valid in some way. I evaluate and analyse thinking on the basis that all reasoning is done from some point of view and is merely an assumption. There are other people’s points of view. I critically analyze them in order to find their strengths and weaknesses, and possible how they differ or are similar to my point of view. I choose to be fair- minded in my thinking in order to ensure that I eventually make the right choice based on evidence and thoughtful reasoning. The assumptions I make in my thinking need to be justifiable otherwise; they just cloud my judgement and shape my point of view in the wrong way (Cottrell, 2011) I believe that critical thinking has helped me be the person I am today. I owe it to critical thinking for every good decision or choice I have ever made in my life that got me where I am today. Life is all about the choices we make as at the end of the day, they define and shape us into whom we are. One of the key inferences I have made over the years is that God truly does exist. My reasoning behind this is that, behind every movable object, there is an unmovable mover. As much as there are atheists out here, we all need something to believe. The fact that we cannot explain most of the things that happen in our lives is enough reason to know that there is a greater force at work (Lau, 2013). Secondly, over the years I have come to the realization that as much as we do not want to accept it, alcohol does impair our judgement. According to research, most accidents are often a result of driving while under the influence of alcohol. This makes one to question whether it really is worth it to get high and still drive at the expense of another person’s life. Third, I have come to the realization that nothing comes easy in life. We have to work hard for every good thing that comes our way. People often complain about how bad they have it, and yet they never actually even try to do something about it. It is as if they are waiting for a miracle. This also applies to students getting bad grades in school. We often complain about how tough a certain subject is and yet we never actually try to study and give the subject extra hours during our study sessions. Life is all about the sacrifices and compromise that we make in our daily lives for a better good. At one point or another, we have all had to make a compromise that in the long run proved to be rather fruitful. I am of the belief that it is not possible for one to separate emotions from heavy issues such as one’s religious beliefs. Your religious beliefs in a way is how you feel, it determines your faith. It is notable that when someone makes a remark about your faith, you are most likely to react as a way to defend your religion. It is basic human instinct to fight and defend what we believe in, not in the literal sense though (Lau, 2013). References Cottrell, S. (2011). Critical thinking skills: Developing effective analysis and argument. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan. Lau, J. Y. F. (2013). An introduction to critical thinking and creativity: Think more, think better. Hoboken, N.J: Wiley. Read More