My Philo 10 Experience
Summer A.Y. 2012-2013 would have not been like this if not for a failing grade a year ago in Transport Phenomena. I probably would be having my on-the-job training in one of the pioneering companies in the field of Chemical Engineering. Even so, I probably would not be taking my summer classes if I did felt like staying at home and be bum from watching movies and television series. Instead, I chose to have summer classes and patiently waited at the Philosophy Department for that desired slot in the class of Sir Bernard Caslib. I planned to have the earlier class so I can go home early during Fridays. However, there were some who cut the line when they opened additional five slots. When I got the sign-up sheet, all the slots for the earlier class was taken so I just chose the 3p.m. class. I was still hoping that someone would cancel his/her slot in the earlier class and I will be accepted in that class.After hours of waiting in the corridor, I did get in the 3pm class. However, I did not regret that I belonged to the X5 class. I will tell you why.
In Philo 10, I got the chance to go beyond my comfort zone. Who would have thought that I would be able to sing and dance in front of many people I only knew for a very short time. Of course at first I was really shy especially during the first and second activities. But eventually, I got to sing Bohemian Rhapsody at the top of my lungs while they are watching. I danced with them in Dance Central after the Charity Event even though I am really bad at dancing and my moves are ridiculous.I got to break the barrier that keeps me from showing the real me to people I have just only met.Who would have thought that we would be able to pull off a play in class? Sir Caslib even commended how good we are in making the stories for the play and even the acting of my classmates. He saw how much we have improved. We were all the same shy people who are strangers to each other at first but eventually we got to go out of our own shells and became close that we even share even personal stories.
Philo 10 is one of the most demanding GE that I have taken. I was thankful that I took it on summer and also not with my major subjects. During the second or third meeting, the readings were distributed. It was a thick set of photocopied readings, which we are required to study, highlight and take notes. At first it was overwhelming because of the number of pages we are required to read on the first day. But as the days passed, I was surprised at how much we have already covered. This was probably the only subject where I have finished my set of readings. Philo 10 is supposed to be dialectical and I did not want to be left behind so I did study every night. But there would be times that I still could not answer the questions. However, my classmates made the course easier for me to handle. We journeyed together through the requirements of the class at the same time we get to know each other. We would study our reading requirements together in the lobby of Palma Hall and of course we would have chitchats sometimes forgetting that we still have to read. Every night my Facebook account would be flooded by notifications from our group, as there would always be lots of topics. It is as if we would never run out of things to say even in our message thread. Topics would range from our academic requirements to the topics about sex.
It is really amusing how Sir Caslib brought a bunch of strangers with different personalities together. It might probably because it is a summer class and we see each other everyday. It might also be because of the field trip that we became close. But I think one of the main reasons why we became friends is because of Sir Caslib. If not because of the course design of his class, we might not be who we are now. He is more than just our teacher.
“Life finds a way”. That was what Dr. Ian Malcolm, one of the scientists invited in the Jurassic Park, mouthed when told about the impossibility of self-reproduction of the dinosaurs. Indeed, life found its way for dinosaurs to breed on their own. On my own context, life found its way for me to a whole new kind of experience this summer. It found a way for me to meet a new set of people who I now call as friends. It found a way for me to experience a different kind of learning that made me more critical and rational. This summer would probably be one of the most memorable summers ever.
