By Elita Kutateli 鈥�26
- Graduating senior Elita Kutateli ’26, a philosophy major, speaks about how the discipline has changed the way she views the world.
I went to college thinking I was going to be an anthropology major, or at the very least a sociology major. I wanted to understand how people lived, how they made meaning, how power moved through ordinary life. I thought those areas of study were where my questions lived.
And they did鈥攁t first. I enjoyed those initial anthropology courses, but my introduction to ethics set me on a journey of studying philosophy instead.
The discipline of philosophy has given me a way to think about the values that drive me.
I now have language to identify what counts as a good reason, what humans owe one another, what knowledge demands of us, what claims can withstand scrutiny, and what beliefs we inherit without further examination. Philosophy has changed how I move through the world.
Studying philosophy also requires a particular kind of humility. You walk into a classroom convinced you have a solid opinion鈥攁nd within twenty minutes, a text, a professor, or another student reveals that the ground under your argument is not quite as stable as you thought. This can be unsettling, but now I love that feeling. It always leads me forward, whether to a place of reinforcement or to a new perspective.
Despite its reputation, the field has never felt lifeless to me. It is deeply human. It lives in the quiet panic and ultimate relief of discovering that confusion is not failure, but the beginning of thought.
As a graduating senior, one of the biggest gifts my major has given me is sturdiness. Not easy answers, but better mental habits. I am more comfortable with complexity and less impressed by easy slogans. Inundated by algorithms that are fighting for my attention at every turn, philosophy has taught me that clarity, words, and foundations matter. To build a life around ideas, policy, advocacy, scholarship, or service, you must understand鈥攁nd care about鈥攚hat those ideas rest on.
Maybe philosophy has made me a little cynical, too. Injustice is inherent to existence, and it can feel impossible to dissolve societal ills through personal actions. And yet, reflecting on my values spurs me to ask this of others so we can move together toward a better tomorrow.
I did not arrive at 五月天视频expecting philosophy to become the discipline that shaped me most. I certainly did not expect it to sharpen, rather than eradicate, my biggest questions. But I am so grateful it did, because that is what a liberal arts education should accomplish, especially one that centers women. Higher education is not only about exploring what you already like鈥攊t can also mean discovering the framework that puts everything else into focus.
I came to college wanting to understand people, power, and the world. I am leaving with that same desire and the tools to pursue it. That is what philosophy has been for me at Scripps: not a retreat from the world, but a way of meeting it more honestly.