Personal Reflections

Personal Reflection Paper

Danielle Reininger

8/30/2012

HUM/111

Bruce Kliche

During the past nine weeks, I have been able to reflect on my growth as a critical thinker. A critical thinker is someone who thinks deeper about a situation or problem and thinks outside the box when coming up with an idea to resolve. They ask questions like who, what, when, where, and why to learn more about the subject. They never settle with one answer or resolution, they continue to research further. I think that I have learned to do these things. I have learned not to let my emotions control my decision, I have learned that just because my friends/co-workers believe one way doesn’t mean that I have to follow suite, and I have learned that you accomplish more when you think positively about an item or situation rather than negatively.

I used to let my emotions control me. I would cry on the drop of a hat if I got discouraged, I would laugh out loud to hide my fear, or I would use anger as a way to block out certain situations. When learning about critical thinking I have learned that no matter how I am feeling, I need to continue to think critically about a situation without letting the way I am feeling at that time control the situation.

Friends of mine are realists, others democrats, some republicans, others are against it all. I used to go along with the majority as a way to fit in and not have to explain myself. It felt like I was having an identity crisis when that was occurring. I now realize that no matter what my friends say or do, I can be me and I can believe in what I want to believe.

Then, when things would go badly for me or not the way I wanted I would look negatively at a situation. I never realized that looking at things in a new light and with a positive outlook would change the outcome. Throughout my reading during this course, I was finally about to realize it while...