Intro to Ethics by Jennifer

Intro to Ethics by Jennifer - August 2013 Scholarship Essay

Classes come and go, just like the lessons provided by teachers who hope they stick for the long term. Like gum under the desks and spitballs molding to the ceiling tiles, several lessons remained with me during my ongoing educational career. The most interesting lesson I have learned in a class was the distinct nature of ethics and morals in an entry-level college course titled accordingly, “Introduction to Ethics”. Our instructor ensured we completed the course with far more than a mere understanding of the definitions because we focused on the origination of theories and real life examples demonstrating where our global society’s actions and sensitivities rest. The entire course seemed to be a personal challenge of where our beliefs and faith engendered action. The course did not end with the semester as the lessons persist today.
At the start, I predicted another evening course after work filled with fellow students in the same situation, with the same attitude. After the first night, I recognized an incorrect assumption as our instructor was an enthusiastic adjunct with passion for the subject, unlike our text. A few nights and assignments later, I found myself with heightened interest when I began posing deep and abstract questions surrounding discussions and material presented. The course was changing my life for the better and expanding my entire thought process. I questioned motives of others and myself not to mention the theories observable actions represented. Our instructor was infectious and I caught the bug!
Around the time of mid-terms, the whimsy of ignorance for why people do what they do individually and as groups evaporated for me. I found myself understanding actions, developing standards for the way I wished to lead life, and implementing my awareness of ethical principles and theory into daily interaction. I felt connected to a malleable society in a completely new way, a way I could bring out positive social change. The course inspired me to share my enlightened state for the benefit of others in search of a reason for their life’s path and to have greater control of their future. I experienced a catharsis and opened the door for others, which seemed both interesting and important.
By the course’s end, I felt comfortable yet conflicted with my understanding of ethics, morals, and motives. In one way I had tasted the fruit of the forbidden tree, seeing the realities of a populace right next me while feeling the pain of being a fellow self-interested human being on a journey of internal conflict regardless of faith because we essentially are victims of nature and nurture. The student side of me had the material mastered, but I realized I was not a utilitarian psychic; I could not always fulfill the duties for deontology; and I could not allow a few unethical exceptions to fit the virtuous theory model. The developers of these ethical theories and others left loopholes in otherwise eerily accurate concepts for human behavior. I did not have concrete answers to conclude the course. Instead, I had a completely new interest in life.
In conclusion, Introduction to Ethics was the class providing the most interesting lesson I have learned to date. The lessons remain a constant support to my moral and ethical compass in life’s journey thanks to the definitions attained, delivery of theories, and real life examples demonstrating the global society’s beliefs. I was personally invigorated, intellectually captivated, and inspired by the life-long applicable lessons obtained.