Reflection on Critical Thinking

BY: Jamille P. Icalina

BSA - 3

One of the most important characteristics of a leader is to be a critical thinker. Being a

leader requires a good management skill and should be a critical thinker to lead a group
effectively. Even if the group is under pressure and needs an immediate decision, you should
always weigh the options that you have even though it is hasty. May it be long or short period
of time, you need to have a decision that would suit to the good of the majority and not to your
own interest only. In other words, a good leader is someone who could decide for the welfare
of its subordinates under pressure.
In the time of pandemic and a student who lost her will to study, I cannot deny the fact that
I slack off most of the time on my academic activities. The reason for that is: First, the internet
connection in our place is not that good and my laptop is not cooperating with me most of the
time. Second, I somehow lost my spark to study because of my anxiety which lead me to have
insomnia. And lastly, I missed school, my classmates, and the places where we used to hang
out.
I have this habit that I practiced during this quarantine that I sat down beside our dining
table while my father is watching t.v. at the sofa, I would listen to the news that he’s watching
and all of it is about the pandemic, about the president and so on and so forth. I noticed for
some time that the president is not sure of his words because after a while, he would retract or
forget his statement making those who were listening to him even more confused. Most of the
news about the president is his decisions with regards to the pandemic like he would buy the
vaccines and not just ask from other countries knowing that our country made a huge loan from
other countries due to the pandemic. I doubt his decision because of what I have previously
observed, so I asked myself, is it really a good idea to make such decision and assures the public
about it? What if the setback is greater than the outcome that he was expecting? Will it be
good for all of us?
That inquiry made me zone out and I realized that, sometimes, I am just like him. I am poor
at decision-making. I always get distracted to things. I have made plans and schedules and none
of them were accomplished to the extent that I will cram all my activities and chose decisions
that were not for long term and just for that time only. Even my father is concerned about it
because I suddenly cry when I am frustrated because I cannot explain what is happening right
now to me. I know the problem, but it seems though I do not have the will to solve it.
 There is this one time that we were having a major exam to one of our courses/subjects and
there is only 30 minutes left and I only answer 3 items out of 10. I panicked because it was the
final exam for that subject, and I am not sure of my standing. Out of desperation, I made a
solution that was not on our discussion or in other words, an alienated solution. Even though I
am not quite sure of that because I made it all up, I turned it in while crying. After that, I stared
for an hour on the ceiling of my room and realized, I should have studied more and should have
also made some shortcuts to my solution to maximize the time. I should have thought outside
of the box. Enough though that solution is long, that does not mean that it is the right one. I
made up my mind during that time. I NEED TO CHANGE.
First, I am trying my best to correct my sleeping hour and to effectively follow my schedule.
I always keep in mind that it is for my own good and I have a goal for life that I want to achieve.
Second, I need to weigh properly the things that I do if it is necessary or not to maximize the
time that I have. Lastly, I need to improve. I know that my decision making is poor, but I need to
improve it because in the end, I only have myself. I need to patch the times that I have wasted.
If I want to be an accountant in the future, I need to train myself today because an accountant
needs to have a critical thinking mind. Although these ways are small, but for me to reach my
goal is to take one step at a time. I need to follow it not because of what others expect from me
but because I have started it, and I want to finish it. My friends always told me that if I really
want to be an accountant, I need to claim it and work hard for it. I need to be a leader for
myself to lead my way to success.