Culture+Essay

3. Using the quotation below as a starting point, reflect on the role that culture plays in your life. “Culture is what presents us with the kinds of valuable things that can fill a life. And insofar as we can recognize the value in those things and make them part of our lives, our lives are meaningful.” - Gideon Rosen, Stuart Professor of Philosophy, chair of the Council of the Humanities and director of the Program in Humanistic Studies, Princeton University.

Gideon Rosen believes “Culture is what presents us with the kinds of valuable things that can fill a life. And insofar as we can recognize the value in those things and make them part of our lives, our lives are meaningful.” I wholeheartedly concur with him on his conjecture, but would like to make a slight modification: Culture not only adds valuable components to our lives, but teaches us to recognize that something has been add and cherish the new pieces to the intricate puzzle that we call life.

Every year I go to Nigeria and see the same sobering sights: unfinished construction, and a virtually nonexistent infrastructure. I see understaffed schools and frequent strikes that halt any academic progress for weeks on end. I see students who claim to be computer science majors, but yield blank stares after hearing the terms like “command-line” and “compiler”. I bear witness to this disarray, but amidst these deplorable conditions, I see a nation teeming with potential. I see a nation that, if given sufficient support, can break free of the shackles that government corruption has cast upon it.

I acknowledge the privilege to be able to search any given topic on Google or YouTube and learn it on-demand. I understand that it is a highly-sought opportunity to be able to can break free of the shackles that government corruption has cast upon it. I understand that it is a highly-sought opportunity to be able to collaborate with someone across the globe in Abuja, Nigeria, through a myriad of channels and abuse or frivolous use of my privileges is almost an insult to some students in Nigeria, who must beseech teachers, pleading, “Uncle, I know you are currently teaching a class, but could you teach us a little?” in hopes of improving their bleak existences. With this knowledge in mind, I strive to maintain intellectual humility and gratitude as I avidly engage in my education.