“Be mindful of the people you meet, the friends you make, and who you listen to.

Be aware of how they

approach you, whether they mean any good. Don’t let anyone to deter your beliefs or try to change
anything about you that you are comfortable with”. Those were the words that my mother would say
whenever I started a new chapter of my life, whether it be my high school journey, or my university
journey.

These words were what I grew up to because I would always hear stories of people who would enter a
different environment and were influenced to change their beliefs and customs in order to please others.
My mother was a bit worried when I started university. She still worries but which parent wouldn’t when
their child has ventured on a big aspect of their lives into young adulthood. She fears that all the values
and morals that she tried to instill for the past 20 years, would vanish as a result of this new chapter
where I would meet different people from different walks of life, with different ideologies and beliefs.

So imagine when she heard that it was required of me to do a philosophy course. A field of study that
questions everything into existence or what I believe is into existence, a field of study that has a lot of
theories from a wide range of educated persons with different views, morals, beliefs and customs. She
was concerned that it would be the icing on the cake. However, based on my experience in this
philosophy course for 2 and a half months, it was not all that I thought it would be.

For me, this philosophy course, Phil 1002: Introduction to Ethics and Applied Ethics, was just a course
that felt somewhat like a history course where we would look at theories based on the topics we had to
learn and how we could apply them to everyday questions with substantial proof. The thing about
philosophy is, there is no one telling you or forcing you to change what you believe to be normal. There
is no one bashing you or treating you differently because of one’s traditions or beliefs. It’s literally just a
room, a safe space where the lecturer would come and teach and whenever she asked us questions,
there would be a discussion about our opinions, in which myself would get involved sometimes.

Not going to lie, but there were times when particular topics or things that were mentioned would make
me feel uncomfortable as a Christian, but at the end of the day, I did not allow it to change my religious
beliefs and within a couple of weeks, I would not have to face the course for the rest of my studies at
university.

I remember when it was my day to present on a topic of my choice for my tutorial session. I had decided
to do the question of whether I believe the origins of ethics came from nature, God or human reasoning.
I am sure based on listening to me so far, one could tell that my belief system centers around a supreme
being, which is one true and living God. I knew it was not going to be easy. I knew that I would be faced
with questions but I did not allow that to deter me. I have learn for a good while that not everyone will
have the same view like myself. Some will try and tear me down, and try to create doubts about my
belief system but it’s what I do and how I move forward is important.

I remember talking to classmate who had done the same question as me but took a different stance.
After our separate presentations, she gave me a smile and a thumbs up. She told me that she agreed
with me wholeheartedly but thought that it would be difficult if she took the stance I did. Hence, why
she took another stance. In my eyes, if you believe wholeheartedly in something or someone, presenting
it or talking about should not be difficult or bring fear. It just means that your belief system is flawed.
However, the thing that really hit home for me, was when after the session was done when my lecturer
told the other presenter and I that despite what anyone else may say or throw at us, we should always
stick with our beliefs and never allow anyone to deter us. With her words, I came to an understanding.

It's not the new environment or different beliefs and customs that changes a person. It’s the person that
allowed themselves to change after being exposed to something new or different. It’s a case where the
person’s belief system was not strong enough or they wanted to change it but found a valuable excuse.

Just speaking about this, also reminds me of the first topic that we learn which was People and Ethics. In
class we looked at different groups of people from different regions and ethnicity and how they make
decisions based on their values, customs and beliefs. Looking at each group, these same difference in
values, customs, norms and beliefs is what makes each of them unique, and identifiable and what makes
up their lifestyle. For instance, African ethics are humanistic in nature and they value the quantity of a
person’s character whereas for the Asian Ethics for Chinese are centralized on how people ought to live
and tend to look at things from a practical view.