I never took myself for a stoic. I was shocked when I saw myself write the words “completely agree” on the margins of Epictetus’ Handbook. And the thing is that I really do agree with Epictetus when he says that we should try to accept events as they occur rather than seek to have things happen according to our desire. I’m not saying I no longer believe in free will or that from now on I’m going to sit behind my desk, waiting for something good to come. However, I must acknowledge that a simple scribble on the border of a book has challenged my preconceptions and changed the way I see the world.
Every single literary and philosophical piece I’ve picked up at Columbia so far seems to end up full of scribbles. They influenced me on different levels, of course, and pointed me in different directions—a swift “obviously” on the pages of Machiavelli strengthened my previously held notions of political science, and multiple “spot ons” throughout Pride & Prejudice completely reversed my take on the nature of human relationships—but every one of these pieces made me think about myself, my beliefs, and my ideals. I hate sounding overly dramatic, and I’m not trying to glorify the Core Curriculum by claiming that it has completely changed me and made me a better person. In fact, I believe I have changed very little. These principles already existed somewhere, they were already my beliefs—but it took some unconsciously jotted down words for me to become familiar with them. The only difference now is that I understand more clearly who I am. I know more accurately where I stand in the wide-ranging spectrum of feelings, ideals, and issues to which we are exposed in our lives.
There were certainly other sources of enlightenment involved in this unconscious process of self-discovery. Earlier this year, for instance, I stumbled upon a primarily nebulous opportunity of expanding on a field of study in which I have always been interested: linguistics. For a long time I have been an enthusiast of languages—I speak Portuguese and German at home, have taken French and English for as long as I can recall, and have always had a tendency for picking up languages with ease. Of course, this doesn’t mean I was certain to succeed in linguistics—one knack has nothing to do with the other. Yet I took the chance and was extremely pleased. My identification with the subject surpasses that with any other and my interest is definitely growing. I must admit, a stellar professor and an avid discussion group provide some bias, but overall I am certain that I wish to continue to pursue studies in the field.
Further sources of enlightenment are the social relationships and ties I have built here in New York City. I’ve been involved with more groups of friends than I can bear in mind. No, I’m not popular. But there’s the freshman dorm group, the international kids I hang out with on the weekends, the soccer team, the Brazilians that stop by New York every other week, and so on. There are all the groups that have been extinguished too but were, for a while, part of my daily routine—kids from the first-year orientation group, people that graduated and left Manhattan, and more. The fluctuation of friendships I’ve experienced here in the city exceeds anything I had ever imagined. With such variety you are constantly exposed to alternate points of view and regularly vacillate between differing perspectives. I would have loved to scribble “agree” and “disagree” on all of these friends’ limbs, whenever they said something worthy of an annotation, but since I couldn’t get the authorization, I merely pondered over their opinions. Nonetheless, every statement presented, every declaration made, has influenced my perspectives and helped me unveil my personal set of beliefs.
Stoic, authoritarian monarchy supporter, marriage advocate, and linguist. That’s who I am today. After all, this is what college is all about, right? Finding out who you really are, discovering your passions in life. And the combination of Columbia’s Core Curriculum, the university’s multifaceted academic excellence, which extends throughout its departments, and New York’s social diversity (with the help of a ball point pen) have provided me with the most comprehensive source of knowledge imaginable and the most prolific environment in which to scribble away and realize my true self.
The author is a Columbia College sophomore.
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