About & Exigence
Some of my biggest academic passions are philosophy and literature. Most of my free time is spent exploring these schools of thought which I find so intriguing. I am especially passionate about philosophy, as it can be seen in so many different areas of life and knowledge. Although it seems like the worlds of human thought and economics are wildly far apart, for example, we could make many connections between them. Personal philosophy can directly affect investment strategies and managing money, as existential philosophies like libertarianism can influence one's approach to risk and cost-benefit analysis. On the other hand, in areas of the natural sciences, like physics, philosophy can play a very important role in how we analyze and interpret the conclusions of experiments. For example, many philosophers are intrigued with how the movement and predictability of particles at the smallest, quantum level can influence what we know regarding free will. It isn't difficult to see flowing throughout every area of life and academic study. I am intrigued by such a vast range of topics, because I am able to make these connections between the abstract, conceptual world of philosophy and thought, with the interactive experimentation of areas of study like finance and physics.
Why did I choose these philosophers in particular? A certain event at the start of my IB Literature class last year was one of the most impactful moments of my high school career. Our teacher assigned us the first book; Albert Camus' The Stranger. The book focuses on the existential journey of its main character, Meursault, and how he must come to terms with the nature of the universe before he is ultimately condemned to death. While the book was initially intriguing, I wasn't fully captured by Camus' writing. However, it was when I was finishing the book, and I read Meursault's final reflection on his life that I had my own realization, somewhat parallel to the protagonist's journey. The once convoluted, difficult ideas seemed so simple on the page as I was reading. I finally understood the concept that Camus was trying to convey to the reader, and it was truly a beautiful moment of realization and self-reflection. This love for The Stranger, and Camus' ideology of absurdism, developed into a passion for existentialism and literature that deals with themes of self-examination. In one singular moment, I had developed an interest in an entirely new range of study and thought that I was at one time dismissive of. I was inspired to read other great works like Jean-Paul Sartre's Nausea, and Fyodor Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment. I related the suffocative self-examination of those stories' protagonists, Roquentin and Raskolnikov, to the tranquil liberation of Meursault; I truly dissected the different ideologies of these characters and their philosophies, and engaged with literature and critical thinking in a way that I never imagined I would have. This one moment of understanding may sound insignificant. Simple literary analysis is extremely common among high school literature classes. However, this one moment sparked a beautiful, ongoing academic and philosophical journey within myself; one that constantly challenges me, forces me out of my comfort zone, and makes me rethink the core ideas of life and existence that, at one time, had seemed so concrete and unwavering.
