CHANGING SCENERY; Loyola Marymount University application question - Critical thinking

STATEMENT 2: Speaking about education, Dr. Martin Luther King once said, "The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education."

QUESTION 2: Critical thinking is a central goal of Jesuit education, and at LMU you'll be asked to think critically and intensively in every class. Dr. King suggests that critical thinking results in our ability to inform intelligence with character, and strengthen character with intelligence. Please talk about a situation that demanded critical thinking from you, and how your choices or decisions integrated intelligence and character.

Does this answer the question? Im having difficulty writing and would like as much help as possible, Thanks!

Changing Scenery

Moving five thousand miles from the only place that you have ever known is a big decision to make, especially for a seventeen-year-old to be making. Nevertheless, that is precisely where I found myself, in March 2019. Although I was born in southern California and lived in Texas for the early parts of my life, the United Kingdom is the place that I have always identified with as being home. Moving there when I was barely seven years old, up until where I was then, I had become so engaged with the culture and my regular life.

The previous year I had completed my GCSE exams and since then had been in free fall, not knowing where I would go next. My two options presented themselves to me; the safe option would be staying home and continue living in my comfortable bubble. And the second option would be to move back to Texas, to be with my somewhat estranged father, to rebuild our relationship, and continue my educational goals. This was the hardest decision I ever had to make. While I longed for a relationship with my father, I also had always been someone who looked at all of my options while decision making and choosing the safest option.

At the same time that I felt so comfortable in my bubble of the small British town, I also felt a longing to expand my horizons and learn the place that I claim as my country. This is ultimately how I decided to move my life across an ocean into the exposer of life outside of my comfort zone. This was significant for a variety of reasons for me. The obvious was my need to rebuild my relationship with my father, and want to know my country. But, Also, it was the beginning of a test on myself. I had never been an extrovert, and the close group of people I had been around for almost ten years proves that. I wanted to get to know myself outside that safe place.

Finally, three-quarters of a year after I left my safe place, and across to the relative unknown, I am happy to know within myself that I made the right choice. While there have absolutely been rough times, they are far outweighed by the good. I have opened myself up to new people and experiences and have reached further out of my comfort zone than I could ever have possibly imagined. If I have learned only one single thing from my experiences over the last year, it is that rather than continually fearing the unknown, it is better to tackle it and embrace the change.

This is a somewhat correct response to the prompt. Depending upon what your word allotment is, you could have better threshed out the discussion regarding critical thinking in relation to character. You don't really deliver a clear idea of what critical areas of consideration you weighed when making this decision. The response is a bit too simplistic, almost matter of fact. Try to portray the character building considerations that motivated you to choose to move across the seas and rebuild the relationship with your father. In the end, don't just say this was the better choice. Give examples of character building and critical thinking development that occurred when you arrived and began living in the new situation. These will help to better define how your critical thinking resulted in character building in line with the quotation from Martin Luther King. Show the change in you that stemmed from this choice as something that would not have happened had you chosen the safer option. You see, the main part that is weak in this presentation is how "your choices or decisions integrated intelligence and character.". Give the reviewer more information. Don't just gloss over it. Prove it through examples and inner reflection, or personal discussions with your conscience.