Writing a metacognition essay is fairly new to me and on top of that critically analyzing the way I think is something I never considered. If I had to decide on how I think, I would have to say I tend to visualize almost everything I hear and see. Every time I think I always have to visualize whatever is being told to me, in subjects like math, English, and science I can never fully process the information sent to my brain without drawing out diagrams, pictures, or even letters.
For example, whenever I take a math test, I would see an equation and with those variables I would copy them directly onto my unlimited supply of imaginary paper and solve there in my mind. If I happen to have trouble with a problem, then I resort to scanning any past experiences that I can visually remember that is moderately similar to the current problems, sort of like rewinding through a video but 16 years long.
Since I only occasionally ask for help, the process of rewinding through past memories is very useful but can be malicious to my learning process because I some of the information I dig up can be incorrect. Another subject in school that I visualize nearly everything I hear or read is English. Being someone that recreates everything in my mind, I would either be able to clearly understand and absorb what I’m reading or analyzing or wholly miss the main point or the moral of what is being read. When I practice with reading packets I often struggle with passages that require a more in-depth analysis.
For example, certain selections about famous and infamous court cases or poems that demand more than just the shell of the story or the obvious information but the point that should be identified when piecing all the facts together, since I exclusively visualize what I directly read I am unable to crack open the outside shell I desperately need. Then this is when the other process of thinking comes into help, I always talk to myself in my head whenever I do any thinking at all. Which can fortunately aide my understanding of many subjects that cannot be revealed only by visualizing.
Continuing on from my method of talking to myself or in more formal terms, having a discussion with myself is a way of thinking that I always use. As I draw pictures or diagrams in my mind I always have a voice instructing my mind on how to do whatever task is at hand. Sometimes when I deal with stress especially from school work or my parents I’m able to encourage myself by constantly retrieving past accomplishments and reminding myself about how much I have to give because being only 16 I can’t afford to act carelessly with my life.
Those self-reminders relieve most of the stresses by simply communicating with myself, similar to being my own councilor in a way. The discussions that take place in my conscience can both include highs and lows as do any other methods of thinking. Those little conversations are at times distracting at the same time they help me process the information are sometimes more difficult to absorb. A very significant time for me to think with this method is during the time I try to meditate on the word of the Bible or a sermon.
Recently, as I am trying to rekindle my passion for God as a Christian, self-reflection becomes a huge part of this process and to self-reflect I constantly talk to myself in order to assess everything I have done to come to where I am know and how I did to get to this point in life. This current “revival” have put my methods constantly into practice over the last few months, by having self-discussions in order to reflect upon my life and by reading the Bible and visualizing the scenes throughout the vast number of books throughout the Bible. Dealing with pressure involves a mix of both of my ways of thinking.
As I face all sorts of pressure everyday like air pressure, blood pressure, and other pressure, I am able to overcome a lot of them by visualizing and talking to myself. Although it may seem a little odd to able overcome these obstacles by talking to myself yet alone talking to no one but my mind may seem atypical to others, I constantly rely on those skills. A common example of pressure I face each day is waking up late in the morning and as a heavy sleeper like myself, waking up alone and preparing myself for the day may not be my greatest forte.
So I start off by waking up to my own voice telling me to wake up then my mind automatically sketches out everything I have to do in that short period of time like storyboard. Basically when under pressure both my methods come into practice which is how I am able to manage pressure like the example or even greater pressure. After analyzing my thinking process for the first time, I realized I use the same method of thinking for just about everything. That the way I think is both utilized in school and outside of school. I’ve been able to see that I shouldn’t rely on my habit of visualizing almost everything I read or hear.
