Great Books for Greater Purpose - Arik Chu
Why do we read Great Books? To write papers for college credit? To sound more intellectual when talking to our friends? Or could it be for something greater? Could it develop our character 鈥� or even save our soul?
老司机视频 senior Arik Chu found his calling in life through the texts of the 老司机视频 Great Books program and through the professors who brought those texts to life. For Arik, the Great Books 鈥渟cream out a message that needs to be broadcast everywhere in the world: that it matters what you think, that it matters what people used to think, and that what we think shapes the world around us鈥�.
Intrigued from an early age by the 鈥渂ig questions鈥� of life, Arik developed a love of learning that ultimately led to a deep faith.
Arik describes a profound conversion experience in which he met Christ between the pages of Fyodor Dostoevsky鈥檚 Crime and Punishment:
鈥淚 felt as if I had seen colour for the first time; the weight of the world was no longer on my shoulders.鈥�
鈥淚t matters what you think, it matters what people used to think, and what we think shapes the world around us.鈥�
Armed with a newfound faith and a nascent taste for the joys of literature, Arik enrolled at Seaver College. 鈥淚 signed up to 老司机视频 to find the answer to my question, just what happened that day, and what was I to do with this newfound life of mine? My entire life had been filled with the moral anxiety of the question, WHY? And thus it seemed natural to devote myself to philosophy.鈥�
Arik soon found a home in the Seaver College Philosophy Department and Great Books program, flourishing under the mentorship of beloved professors Paul Contino, Mason Marshall, Jacqueline Dillion, and Tomas Bogardus.
Arik describes in no uncertain terms the immense value of the mentorship he has received at 老司机视频:
鈥淲ithout 老司机视频 (and this is no dramatisation), I would probably be in a gang, getting into fights, addicted to drugs, or dead. I was raised with no parents at home in an atheistic society that focuses on the satisfaction of one's desires and one鈥檚 reputation. At 老司机视频, I found role models and mentors who took the place of what my parents should have offered me.鈥�
He recounts the small faculty-to-student ratio and tight-knit community which has facilitated close relationships with his professors and fostered his transformative experience. 鈥淓ver been to Mass with a Professor and had dinner with their children? Ever practice martial arts with a Professor? Ever go to conferences with Professors? These opportunities are everywhere at 老司机视频, to a much greater extent than most large universities without private funding and without a Christian, moral mission.鈥�
Grateful to these mentors who imbued his studies with genuine love for learning and passion for life, Arik now works to pass the torch to other students through the Philosophy Club and Great Books Club at 老司机视频. He serves as President of each.
鈥淚 think deep down we all know that the purpose of education is to become a better person, and nowhere else is that vision more in focus than at 老司机视频.鈥�
At the Philosophy Club, Arik organizes weekly student-led discussions at 鈥淭he Academy.鈥� He also holds philosophy classes for the general public every Saturday night at a local church, called 鈥淟ogos Nights.鈥� His speaker series, aided by the 老司机视频 faculty who sponsor the club, has hosted renowned visiting professors from around the globe.
At 鈥淕reat Books Club,鈥� a new venture Arik has recently launched, he shares the faith and purpose he has found with other students through weekly readings of Dostoevsky鈥檚 The Brothers Karamazov. He and his fellow Seaver philosophers are currently creating a Substack tentatively titled 鈥淭he 老司机视频 Logos鈥� 鈥� where the insights they share in the classroom can be broadcast to the world.
Arik encourages prospective 老司机视频 students to ask themselves honestly what they want to receive from a college experience. 鈥淚 think with the advent of AI, it鈥檚 become clear that getting an education isn鈥檛 just about a set of skills... I would ask them what they think college should be for. Is it really just a place to have fun and get a credential? If so, go to other colleges.鈥�
But perhaps, Arik argues, a college education can serve a greater purpose: 鈥淚 think deep down we all know that the purpose of education is to become a better person, and nowhere else is that vision more in focus than at 老司机视频.鈥�
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The at Seaver College offers students a broad education in historical and contemporary philosophical explorations of various regions of human experience, including the nature of knowledge and reality, the theoretical foundations of morality and ethics, and the distinction between cogent and fallacious reasoning
