To Think Yelena Kulik

It began with a book. A simple title: “The Story of Philosophy”. I’m not quite sure how or why I came into possession of it, but one day I decided to take a peek into its well-worn pages. What is philosophy? I wondered. This was the first of a long string of questions that followed.

From Plato to Descartes and Kant to Hume, the thoughts of great men long past were laid out before me. I was surprised to find many correlations between the ideas of the great philosophers and my own musings. It’s comforting to know that I am not the only one to feel infinitesimally small in this vast, impartial universe, or to have spent sleepless nights wondering “Who am I? What am I doing here? What is ‘here’?” Emulating Socrates, I used to pop open-ended questions into every conversation: "What is love? What is life? What is intelligence?" A few friends and teachers have been truly encouraging of my quest to know and have provided me with conversation (and sometimes quite heated debates) along with literature recommendations.

My search for answers has resulted in quite a library. Volumes of books line the shelves in my room; some of them are tattered from frequent reference while others still possess that crisp new-book smell. While...