I am fascinated by our world’s history and the culture of the different people that inhabit it. This interest is fueled by my own background. I’m a Nigerian-American and I have the unique privilege of understanding how people live on two great continents.
My favorite subject in school is History. In my history class I was recently exposed to the work of European Enlightenment figures such as John Locke and Thomas Hobbes. We were assigned excerpts from The Leviathan by Thomas Hobbes and Social Contract by John Locke. After reading these masterpieces we were instructed to write a paper siding with one of these great thinkers. I chose to side with John Locke, because we are both idealistic and believe in the fundamental goodness of people. Hobbes believed that humans were naturally loathsome and needed strict rules. I disagreed with Hobbes’ philosophy, because I do believe that babies are not born malicious. Distrust and loathsome behaviors are learned when people become victims of circumstance. Strife between people of different races, cultures and nationalities is the result of failure to understand each other.
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I elected to take Chinese instead of Spanish or French because it was radically different than my native tongue. Learning all the characters has been a welcome challenge. My instructor was born in China and she grew up speaking the language fluently. Having this teacher from China is a bonus because she teaches us about authentic Chinese culture. I visited China with my family when I was a lot younger. I hope to go back someday soon because I now have a better appreciation of the language, culture, and customs. I also love Chinese