"Don't be so critical."

It's fair to say that we've heard that phrase before. The command to ease up on the criticism usually accompanies a raised eyebrow or a knowing face, a friend or family member reminding us to bring ourselves down a notch. And, if you're prone to see with a harsh eye, you've heard the command more than once. You've felt the sudden awareness of losing the softer part of yourself in a bout of serious questioning.

Criticism is often nuanced as severe. It lives a connotatively sharp life. Many are afraid of being cut in the critical process. And, in their fear, they stick with the type of surface-level thinking that is thought to be kinder and positive. Granted, there is criticism that finds too many faults and possesses no grace -- the "plain mean" type that sits around sniffing at other people's actions without any regard to their circumstantial lives. However, other criticism shouldn't be thrown out entirely just because it's related to that one guy who everybody would rather not be at a party with.

Criticism, in its finer and more graceful form, is worthwhile. It's challenging and sometimes uncomfortable, but it overreaches boundaries with the intention of shaping a better thought or instilling a deeper understanding. It has certainly been an invaluable resource for me in my first year of college.

Reflecting back, I am grateful for the developmental process of criticism that brought me to my current situation. Life's progression slowly reconciled my thinking to a critical approach. Teachers and mentors in my elementary years encouraged me to think. It was mere thinking, I think. There was nothing so heavy or probing in my thoughts then. Through middle and high school, people asked to think some more but in a broader sense. They threw the phrase "critical thinking" around a bit -- perhaps more for show than much else, but I tried to grasp onto the general concept. College, though, has really showed out in criticality. If I'm not being critical here in college, I have tremendously diminished my thinking.

In fact, I would say that criticality is critical in higher education. No longer can I learn by rote memorization or simple answers. I have to take up a crowbar along with every other willing party and really pry open a subject in an attempt to truly understand the material. Critical analysis, performed in a worthy fashion, is hard work.

With ever-increasing exposure to more rigorous academic circles, I am constantly amazed by the love of criticism, by the passion to work hard intellectually, and glean satisfaction from such work. Most any academic institution can boast individuals that share in that love and passion.

Now, just because someone takes college courses doesn't mean he or she automatically gains critical analysis skills. Critical thinking is a voluntary process. Some people may not choose to think so critically at all in their higher education, and they may get by. Those people, however, miss out on an admirable part of education.

The Foundation for Critical Thinking argues that "[t]he single most significant variable in determining the quality of what you learn in college is your thinking" (though perhaps they have some bias on the subject). Despite the bias they may have, I am inclined to agree. Learning is the goal of education, preparing us for our future careers or vocations, but thinking should encompass it all --good thinking at that. If we are better thinkers -- and, thus, better critics -- we are reaping educational benefits that go beyond our personal futures. We are asking challenging questions and making room for deep issues. And we are not being critical because we are judgmental and persnickety. We are criticizing because criticism is the motivator of change, and we see the importance of refusing to be stagnant individuals functioning in a stagnant society.

"Be so critical," then. Formulate your critiques. Motivate the change. Do all the work of critical thinking and criticizing, and do it well.