Okay, for my Philo 10 class, we have this requirement -- a paper. Here is one of my answers:
Question 2: Evaluate
your Philosophy 10 experience. Aside from the printed hardcopy, kindly upload
your answer to any website/forum that may be accessible to other people. Kindly
indicate on your submitted paper the web address where your evaluation can be
directly accessed.
I had originally planned to cancel my slot for
Sir Caslib’s Philo 10 class, because my two friends who also got slots in his
class had to cancel. If I continued, it would mean that I would be entering a
class in which I knew nobody, which was hard for me, because I’m not good at
making new friends. Walking up the stairs to the room, I was already about 60%
sure that I would cancel the class, and then I met Sir Caslib. He’s one of
those people that have a presence. He talks in such a way that you’re drawn to
listen to whatever he’s talking about, be it the history of philosophical
thought, the doctrines on the meaning of life, or the intricacies of love and sexuality.
There’s something about him that makes you want to listen more. This being a
summer class, it lasted two hours, five days a week, which I felt was not
enough – I would sit in class all day if I could.
The requirements weren’t too bad, and the readings
were enough to explain the topics without being too wordy. It made sense to
read ahead. The things he made us do were things I thought I would never do in
class – to sing and dance. It was such a fresh experience. I had lots of
chances to interact with my classmates. The skits we had to come up with were
always met with enthusiasm. The field trip was my first one, and it’s going to
be hard to top that experience.
I’ve learned so much from the lessons. I
haven’t done a 180-degree kind of change, but the things I learned from this
class have opened my eyes to new perspectives. Did you know that there are two
branches of Epistemology? Or that Plato’s symposium was about love? Before this
class, I didn’t. Before this class, I was living in a small, sheltered world.
I could never talk about my Philo 10 experience
without mentioning my classmates. They have been the best part of my summer.
They’re such a diverse group of people – new friends from MBB, Eng’g, Law, CMC,
etc., and from different age groups. It’s been a blast getting to know them.
They have all, in one way or another, no matter how little it may seem, changed
me.
There are times when I feel like a wallflower –
I don’t really stand out and I rarely voice out my concerns. There was a time
when I was really down because I felt totally invisible to my classmates – I
left the area, and no one even noticed – and I resorted to crying. Thinking
back on that, I still get down, but I’ve gotten over it. I’d rather think about
all the happy times I’ve spent with them – the field trip, the random outings,
the late night conversations. I would never take those back.
I’ve had a lot of firsts in this class – first clingy
class, first field trip, first overnight sem-ender, first time taking a jeep to
Antipolo, first time breaking the curfew three nights in a row, and a lot of
other firsts that might not be appropriate to put here. Interesting experiences
all around.
During the last few meetings, Sir Caslib kept
commenting that we’ve gotten closer as a class, but he also said that he thinks
that we won’t last after a semester. It’s a challenge, but I’m willing to work
hard to maintain the friends I gained in his class. Being only a freshman, I’ve
only had a few GE classes, but I can certainly say that Philo 10 is the best GE
class I’ve ever had.
