Reunion

’What on Earth was I thinking? Probably nothing and that’s the problem.’ That’s what I was thinking in September just before my first philosophy class. In fact that thought still crosses my mind every once in a while – not just in those surreal moments when I’m sitting in a classroom staring at a blank piece of paper not being able to organize my thoughts. I fell in love with philosophy in high school and last autumn I finally had the courage to take my first uni courses. I'm glad to say our reunion was more than happy. As bizarre as the lectures can be I still think attending them is one of the best decisions I've ever made (not that there are many).

I don’t quite understand why I’m so drawn to things that, as fascinating as they are, can’t possibly help me to get a job in the future. This far I've had courses in Finnish, literature, phonetics, linguistics, theater and drama studies and now philosophy. Perhaps I’m choosing all these wonderful-and-yet-useless (sorry for the rather harsh choice of words) courses on purpose in order to avoid becoming a decent tax-payer in the future. Perhaps I just love studying so much that it’s all I want to do in my life.

I’m not going to feel bad about adding to my schedule another subject that might prove to be not-so-hot-stuff in the labor market. The course grades in my diploma may be useless but learning itself never is. Learning philosophy is as fun as it is partially because it lacks the pressure that always comes with things that are supposed to be beneficial in some way (meaning I’m taking the courses as optional studies). Learning philosophy once again reminds me that studying is a privilege, not something done of necessity. That’s what university should be all about.

P.S. To be honest I'm not quite sure I'm actually learning philosophy – most likely I'm even more confused than I was before I started. Be that as it may, I'm still enjoying it and I like to think that's the very point.