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Critical, Creative, and

Practical Thinking

SOLVING PROBLEMS AND MAKING DECISIONS

What Would You Risk? Joe Martin

THINK ABOUT THIS SITUATION AS YOU READ, AND CONSIDER WHAT ACTION YOU WOULD TAKE.
THIS CHAPTER BUILDS PROBLEM-SOLVING AND DECISION-MAKING SKILLS THAT WILL HELP YOU
FACE CHALLENGES IN COLLEGE AND BEYOND.

Joe Martin grew up in the housing projects of Miami, Florida, This challenge made Joe deter-
in an environment in which six of his friends died—either mined to risk applying to colleges.
from drug involvement or murder—by the time he was in Having barely passed high school and
high school. No one in his family even considered going to dogged by those low SAT scores, he
college. Although he had friends and family members who got turned down by so many schools he
were in prison or caught up in crime and drugs, his mother lost count. Finally he was accepted at
reminded him to never accept the situation. He knew things Okaloosa Walton Junior College, thanks
could be different, but he wasn’t sure how. to open enrollment. Now he had to risk going to college
Joe planned to join the military after high school. with no understanding of the culture. In fact, his first day
However, when he was a senior, he had a change of heart. at Okaloosa was literally his first day ever on a college
Looking at his college-bound friends, he decided that if campus. Due to his childhood experience, he jumped
they could go to college, so could he. When he told the when he heard noises and was nervous. He had taken on
Navy recruiter he wanted to attend school, the man said two jobs to pay for his education. Joe wasn’t sure how he
he was not college material. With his low SAT scores, the could handle the pressure of college and persist toward
recruiter said, “they won’t let you drive by college, let the reward of graduation and learning.
alone get in.” To be continued . . .

JOE’S DETERMINATION TO
MOVE BEYOND THE PAST
HAS LED HIM TO BE A
POWERFUL PROBLEM
SOLVER. YOU’LL LEARN
MORE ABOUT JOE, AND
REVISIT HIS SITUATION, Working through this chapter will help you to:
WITHIN THE CHAPTER.
• Define critical, creative, and practical thinking P. 80
• Improve critical thinking skills including analysis,
comparison, and evaluation P. 82
• Develop creative thinking skills P. 88
• Improve practical thinking skills P. 93
• Apply thinking skills to problems and decisions P. 96
• Identify, analyze, and solve problems effectively P. 96
• Define and think through decisions P. 98