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Madeline Echavarria

Written Defense

May 18, 2017

Critical Thinking, Problem Solving

I have been at Doulos for over the past ten years. During these years I have learned about

many subjects and experiences from daily life. Doulos has been the best school in Jarabacoa not

only by having the best curriculum and accredited school, but also by teaching their students to

be critical thinkers and solve problems. This ability that Doulos students receive is in order to

develop them and serve others in life. Aside from learning new material, students put those

learning into practice in daily life. I have demonstrated my skills in Critical Thinking, Problem

Solving, in the way I utilize resources and technology to analyze information. I can discern truth

and ethics in order to make logical decisions to arrive at the best solution possible,

Nowadays technology has advanced, from telephones to touch-phones, from black and

white TVs to colored TV and it is easier and faster to navigate in the web. I am able to use this

tool to analyze information. I have used this skill during expedition night. For example, when our

expedition was about Egypt, we had to investigate how Egyptians lived, their traditions,

language, gods and more. I was able to find this information by using the technology. I spent

more than a week trying to find this information and be able to understand it in order to explain it

to the parents. I have also used this skill in the Modern United Nations, by searching and using
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valid information in order to defend my country. Not only can I analyze information for school

purposes but for personal life as well.

I am able to discern between ethics and truth. During my years at Doulos, Doulos has

also taught me more about truth. Since I was born in a Christian family I knew a lot about the

absolute truth which is God. Doulos has helped me grow in learning what God thinks about

different situations and this made me have a deeper connection with Him. Throughout my teen

years I have been sharing with friends and noticed our similarities and differences. I could finally

compare truth and ethics. Most of the time ethics and truth are kind of similar depending on your

religious background, but it can also be very different. I had a friend that thought that sharing

homework was not a problem at all, or not a bad thing to do, but in my case I would believe that

this friend will copy someones work instead of doing the work. It is easy to get an easy 100%

without getting any work done. I can easily identify what are my ethics and what are my friends

ethics. I can call out the differences between me and others ethics and truths.

I can make logical, educated decisions, with an awareness of bias, emotions, and personal

opinions. I can prove this my recalling the Modern United Nations. During the Modern United

Nations I was the delegate of United States of America. I was there to represent the United States

in various conflicts about the disputes in East and Southeast Asia and the Peace Keeping

operations. For the period of the Model United Nations conference I had to put my emotions and

desires away and focus on the benefit of my country (United States). I also had to speak and act

in behalf of my country and make decisions that my country will do if given the option. While

doing this, I faced many obstacles. One of them was that I am a person who is willing to give

whatever someone needs, but my country and countrys governor does not think the same way. I
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thought of many ways to solve the dispute between the East and Southeast Asia by buying those

islands and selling them for a just price to Japan or China, but my country it is not able to afford

these expenses because they are in tough transition from Obama to Trump. I had a huge

inclination to talk informally and offer biased help to other delegates. I was also tempted to talk

in first person when I needed to talk in third person The delegate of United States of America

would like to have a moderate caucus of twenty minutes and with one minute interventions to

discuss our solution options in order to do our resolution. These skills were rapidly improved

over the day and now I can tell that I am capable of making logical and educated decisions, with

an awareness of bias, emotions, and personal opinions.

I can also identify problems and find possible solutions by taking into account the

knowledge of others to arrive at the best solution. I have shown this skill primarily in Doulos

Leadership Student Council (DSLC). DLSC is the voice of the students; we listen to students

opinions, questions, and arguments. With this inputs we can present it as a campus change

proposal. Being the Executive President of the DLSC members, I am able to hear to others

disgusts and opinions of different situations. With the DLSC I am capable of agreeing and

disagreeing with possible solutions if not I would have to come up with a new solution that best

fits with everyones needs. All the time, our campus change proposals have to be a solution or a

possible solution for a student problem or need. As a group we decide if we are going to add

more information about our solution or if we are going to present this to Doulos board team in

order to be approved.

In conclusion, I consider that I have enough evidences that support my claims. I am able

to come with the best solution when after having identified the problem. I am capable using
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technology to analyze and access information. I can discern truth and ethics. Finally, I am

efficient in making logical and educating decisions with awareness of bias emotions and personal

opinions. I can verify this with my actions in the Doulos Leadership Student Council and during

the Model United Nations. I am able to practice these skills not only at school, but also in my

personal life. I am capable of knowing the differences and be able to identify truths and ethics.

With this said, I have sufficient evidence to prove that I am a Critical Thinker and Problem

Solver.