This class sometimes involved a lot of reading, but I still enjoyed it. I liked how the class encouraged people to speak and have a conversation rather than just listening to someone else speak. The reading could sometimes be hard to get through, but the professor realized that and encouraged questions. I was a part of the extra credit book group for this class, where we read The Brothers Karamazov, and though it was a very long book I found it interesting. This surprised me because assigned reading can feel tedious at times. I enjoyed the fact that I was encouraged to form my own opinions on a topic rather than just told to absorb information. I also enjoyed how not all of the learning material was from books: we watched movies for class as well. The movies were a nice change from some of the more difficult reading material and they still were educational. I was surprised about this class because I didn’t expect to get quite as engaged as I did. When we wrote papers, I found myself taking the harder route instead of some of the easier options given. I never really considered myself interested in philosophy before, but this class definitely changed that.
In this essay, I chose a harder discussion topic than necessary. I did not take the easy way out when it came to choice of topics. My essay did not turn out perfectly, but I worked hard on it and made my own distinct argument. In writing this essay, I realized I had a greater opinion about philosophy than I had previously realized.