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Key components of critical thinking
Essays on critical thinking skills
Key components of critical thinking
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The end of the semester has arrived and with it comes time for reflection. This semester has had many ups and downs. However, one thing is for sure: it was a fantastic first semester of college. Learning was at the top of my to do list this semester. While being in a classroom setting did provide a decent amount of information to learn, I feel I did more learning outside of the classroom for a few reasons. The first lesson I learned is that being away from home with a bunch of strangers is not a bad thing. They will eventually become like family to you and more so, make college feel like a home away from home. Next, I learned how to better handle stress. Within academic and personal affairs, there was a lot of stress to deal with this semester. However, I was able to get myself to take a step back and take time to myself to release this stress for a little while. The last lesson was …show more content…
There were exams I did not do as well as I should have on. There were times when I began to rethink whether college was a good idea or not. There was even a time where I called my mom in the midst of a breakdown because nothing was making sense anymore. However, she gave me a piece of advice that helped in seeing the lessons from failure: failure teaches us that we can only better ourselves even though it may not seem like it at the time. This piece of advice helped me take this semester one day at a time so as to be able to see the bigger picture more clearly. Having a master calendar of when every assignment was due or when every exam was helped me see the bigger picture. I could set certain days to study or work on assignments. This lead me to earning better grades on exams. The other lesson learned from failure was to not be so hard on myself. My parents only asked that I tried my best, not be a 4.0 student like I was in high school. Failure did help me in becoming a better student this semester rather than dragging me
I am currently an English 160 student who is hoping to move on to the next course, which is English 161. I understand the requirements for English 161. It require students to explore a topic in some depth and conduct independent research related to that topic. Conducting research allows students to learn what it is like to participate in academic culture, posing questions about important issues and developing an argument in response to what others have said. It expected students to learn the most valuable skill in college, which is critical thinking. Students have to be able to read challenging readings. Although I still have problems with English, I think I’m qualified to move on.
Orientation, introduction, moving in classes, fraternity exams midterm finals, all flying by with the roar of drag car screaming past you on the side. That is how this past semester has felt like. So far everything has been a blur, "tunnel visioned" towards the end that is now wider as I start to comprehend all of the emotions and information from this past semester. Sitting here in front of my computer finishing on of the last essays I will write this semester about the thing that I have done this semester. Tired, hungry and wanting to go home have been the reoccurring themes so far in my college career.
One bad event though that has happened this semester was when I got a C+ on my psychology test because I did not put in enough effort into studying so I have no one to blame but myself but I promised to myself that I would not fall off track this time around when I take my next test. I attribute my failure to get a good grade as internal because I could have gotten a better a grade if I put in more effort. I attribute going to the gym as external because I had friends pushing me to come to the gym with them and try out the different classes. Overall believe that coming for the summer semester has been one of the best experience in my life because I have met some really amazing people and have gained knowledge about so some different things. Therefore I am excited to come back in the fall and continue my journey at
English has never been my best subject. Reading books can be exciting, but the writing aspect of English can be dreadful. Somehow, however, I passed all my advanced English classes with at least a B, and my teachers always considered me to be “above average.” My impartiality toward English shifted to an indifference near the end of my high school career; my indifference then shifted to appreciation. This appreciation is attributed to American Studies and Honors Writing, the most difficult English classes at Belleville East Township High School. American Studies and Honors Writing have strengthened my writing skills beyond what I believed possible. I still do not believe that I am the best writer, and English may never be my best or favorite
All of my classes in high school I passed with no struggle. I would cram all the knowledge that I needed for a test the night before, so I thought college would not be any different. A week or two before my first ever college exam the professor announced that if we had not already been study, then we should start to right away. Being a young naive freshmen, I kind of blew the teacher off. Telling myself that I did not need to waste the next few weeks studying for one exam. So I waited until the last day to study. You might have an idea of what happened next. I failed the exam. Failing so bad that it would be nearly impossible for me to still get a C in the course. I could not even look at myself. The thought of disappointing my parents was making my stomach turn. This fear of failing the class was tearing me apart. The only chance at passing this class was if I turned myself into the perfect student. This meant turning things in on time, studying days in advance for exams, and going to my professor’s office hours. And that is exactly what I did. By some seriously hard work, long nights, and over a hundred red bulls, I was able to achieve a passing grade with a
It has been nine weeks into my freshman year and I have gain so much knowledge from each class that I take. I have learn that procrastinating and waiting until the last minute to do assignments and to study is not a wise decision. I have also learned new study skills and habits. I’ve learned how to walk up the hill like I have a purpose in life so that I make it on time to my classes and not be tardy.
We have learned a lot this year. All the things we have learned all fold back to planning for the future. Not just getting in the college, but also studying for anything. The things we have learned were GPA, Learning Style, Mindset, Academic Honesty, Time Management, and the THOrT Map.
This semester was my very first semester as a college student. Being the first, it was probably the semester I would learn the most in. I learned the expectations for writing that I will have to live up to for the next four years of my college career. Though my high school teachers were usually demanding because I was in the Honors English section throughout high school, writing in college has still ?raised the bar? for me. Also, in high school, we would have weeks to pick a topic, create a thesis, outline the paper, write the paper, and then revise the paper. In college, the time restraints are not quite as lenient. I?ve had to learn to manage my time and be more productive with what free moments I have. Strangely enough, I?ve found the college English experience to be much more rewarding and enjoyable than in high school.
Over the course of the semester, I feel that I have grown as a writer in many ways. When I came into the class, there were skills I had that I already excelled at. During my time in class, I have come to improve on those skills even more. Before I took this class I didn’t even realise what I was good at. This is the first class where I felt I received feedback on my writing that helped me to actually review my work in see what areas I lacked in and where I succeeded. Some of the skills I had shocked me as I didn’t think I had those capabilities in me.
To think that my first semester of college will be over this friday makes me realize how fast time flies. The first few weeks of college were tough, tiring and full of anxiety. Being in a new environment, a different state and not knowing one single person was something that I did not prepare myself for. Throughout all of the tears and the frustrations, I had to constantly remind myself that I am at The University of Akron to gain an education and become a successful individual.
My first semester at Michigan State University was filled with many challenges that have made me a better student. It tested my ability to work under pressure, as well as encouraging me to properly plan out a healthy work schedule. Most importantly, it put the responsibility solely on my shoulders. Not only did this require me to stay on top of my work, but it encouraged me to find value in the work I was doing. All of this allowed me to look back at the semester and see drastic changes in my abilities. This was especially noticeable in my writing course, a subject that I have struggled with my whole life. Throughout the semester, with the proper resources, I was becoming an experienced writer, and learned many skills that I struggled with in the past.
At first, failure was none of my business: I did not really care how high or low my grades were. But when I suddenly experienced what failure was like, I did not like it one bit. In fact, a fear started to grow within me. It was like a hideous, chupacabra-like alien had landed on my territory and I felt I had to do everything to get rid of it. I studied mathematics very hard: harder than I ever had before. I studied how to divide 9 by 3 and 8 by 4, even if I so despised numbers to my very core. I did not like them because they made things abstract to me. Things which I knew became unknown w...
Failures can be used as lessons so that the failure will not be repeated again. There could be long term failures that are crucial to life to remember and there could be short term failures that help a bit. One of my greatest failures in life that I've experienced and learned from would be from the time of my first grade year. I didn’t take school serious when I was in the first grade and made terrible grades. After this failure, it made change the outlook on school and I started trying. I learned that I need to take school serious or else I will do bad in school. This failure lead to success in school and it has changed the way I think of
A recent failure that has changed how I go about my daily life is one that many college freshman experience in their first year. In high school I was a very good student, but I did not have to put in a lot of effort to get the grades that I wanted. I would joke with my friends and say that high school taught me how to put in the least amount of effort, and still get the maximum result. All of my teachers told me, as they did every student, that college was going to be different and if you do not put in more effort it would be very difficult. I knew this coming into school, but I am not sure if part of me wanted to prove people wrong, or if I actually was just adjusting to college life. I did not study as much as I should of, and as a result my grades suffered. Luckily I did not completely ruin my grade point average, but since first semester I have completely changed my study habits. This has taught a much needed lesson about hard work, and I am determined to never again fail at my studies. I am the kind of person that learns a lot from failures. My dad has always told me it is ok to make a mistake, but never make the same mistake twice. This I a motto that I live by.
Over the course of the semester, I have learned a few things about myself. I have learned that I can be independent, I always knew myself as someone who could do mostly everything on their own. This semester really made me realize how independent I could actually be. Not only have I learned how independent I am I have also realized the importance of time management. With not having a strict class schedule it was a lot different than what I was originally used to. After a few weeks, I learned ways that would work best for me, for example writing down that I needed to get done. I learned that I need to focus on what 's ahead of me to accomplish what I want to succeed in, to manage what needs to be done ahead of time to stay caught up.