ºÚÁÏÉçÇø

• Hometown: Lancaster, Ohio
• Class: 2025
• Graduate Program: Philosophy 
• Other Activities, Honors, and Awards:
  • Young Democratic Socialists of America at ºÚÁÏÉçÇø
  • ºÚÁÏÉçÇø Students for Justice in Palestine

Why Miami?

I chose this graduate program because of the faculty in the Department of Philosophy combined with the funding for the program. Without both of these factors, I would not have chose to come here.

How did you choose your major?

I discovered philosophy in my second year of undergraduate studies at The Ohio State University. I was a computer science major and I enrolled in a class called "Death and the Meaning of Life," a class very similar to Dr. Fennen's "Confronting Death" here at ºÚÁÏÉçÇø. After this class, I slowly enrolled in more philosophy courses, joined the undergraduate philosophy club, added a minor in Philosophy, and eventually added Philosophy as a second major. Since then, I've been pursuing the question of the good life to the best of my ability.

Key Moment at Miami

A key experience was the 'welcome to graduate school' week in Dr. Emily Zakin's class called "Foucault." Up until then, I had become accustomed to reading short selections or articles and discussing topics according to these small sections. This class was immediately a demand to perform at a different level. I had to learn to read, comprehend, and communicate a much higher amount of text than I was accustomed to, even if the argumentation was familiar enough. For a numerical reference, I think we read 250+ pages for a week or two whereas typical philosophy courses would go over about 50 pages per week. The shock is not the number, but it was the demand to develop a different approach to reading and communication.

Other Notable Experience

My experiences of political organizing with YDSA and MUSJP have greatly informed how I take my own thinking to begin to approach practical problems. I have learned a great deal from engaging other ºÚÁÏÉçÇø organizers and by failing "in real life."

Advice to Prospective Students

Find your community, take your values seriously, take grades not so seriously, and seek joy in struggle.

What are your career goals?  

I am aiming to organize with labor unions, either by working directly for a labor union or by joining the rank-and-file. I dream of a world where my success is not predicated on the failure of another.