Katia Aharodnik
EDUC 105
April, 27 2009
Existentialism

I liked the basics of the existentialism and enjoyed our class. Existentialism really made me think about the essence of our living and the personal freedom, kinds of its expression. The concept of freedom, honestly, is pretty vague to me. It is not easy for me to express myself either. I noticed, I tend to stick to stereotype in some things, don’t have enough courage in some of my actions and worry about others’ opinion. That’s why I think, the existentialism class was of a quite useful experience for me. The existentialism works great for developing personality. It helps us to look at ourselves deeper, let our emotions, feelings, interests, aspirations be the key goals in our education. At the class we learned how existentialists’ theory works in education and applied in the classroom. At the beginning we were suggested to make our own choice, whether we wanted to stay in class or not. Personal choice is one of the basics in the existentialism. Once we made ours, we were responsible for it. “There is always a choice, it is up to us to turn our life the way we want”, as Dr. Paoni explained to us. We had a requirement in our dress code: it had to be whatever we want , feel comfortable in, can express ourselves. I put my green dress over jeans- just the way I love! I didn’t care that I looked like pregnant in it, and it looked weird over the jeans. I wish, I was thinking, I could teach myself, how to do it more often: just to put on whatever I wanted and without taking others’ opinion into consideration and be conditioned by it. We had different kinds of activities at the class, that were fun and enjoyable. The drawing part totally “ let my hand move at will” without concentrating on the form. I cannot draw at all, but surprisingly, I was actually able to put some idea into the scratches and colors of my masterpiece. (I drew the vase with dry red roses, which you cannot really see, unless you know what it is, just like in existentialism!) It is amazing how we were involved in the activity. What I learned is that my hand actually can do something at will not being gifted in the area of art. Another activity that I enjoyed was writing a verse of our own. It made me concentrate on something little but special. I wrote about the snow at night and how it fascinates me with its silent beauty. It was my first verse in English.