Ethics and The Good Life

The moment I leave the coast of the Untied States in January I will travel over 3,471 miles to arrive to my first destination - London. As a kid I was always interested in medieval castles, archery, and magic - all of which I associated with Briton. It was always a place I wanted to go. My father went there years ago and I was reminded that there was more to nation than just castles. There was art, a history that extended past what I had always focused on, and a culture that I had never experienced. Last spring I jumped at the opportunity to study abroad in the UK, gaining not only the chance to go to my first country out of the continental US, but three countries! Germany and Greece would be my other two destinations. At first I was hoping to take class that would allow me to study Medieval History but a different subject attracted me to study abroad in Europe - Philosophy. The class, Ethics and The Good Life.

I have always found Philosophy, especially ethics, interesting and useful in the real world. I took a writing 101 class that was called Vice vs Virtue. The focus was when do our virtues become vices or vices become virtue. It made me realize what my values and principles were, making me a stronger student as I went into a world where I need to make difficult decisions for myself. As a communications major ethics are always brought up or being taught. I feel that philosophy and classes that talk about ethics enrich who I am as a person and how I can positively affect society. I hope to one day be in Student Affairs Administration in Higher Education. In this profession I will be forced to make ethical decisions, and having courses that help me have strong ethics and lead a good life are important when I am making decisions that will effect residents, my college community, and possibly people who fund the college I work at. I need to be able to make decisions that I can live with and that will make the largest positive effect and do the smallest amount of harm. The more classes that I take that will help me to make good decisions, the better I will be prepared in the future to make influential decisions. This is especially meaningful to me now, as I chair a Conduct Community Review Board for the University.

The purpose of this blog is to share my journey of ethics and good living as I travel across Europe. I will reflect on the places my class visits, the experiences I have, and the philosophical questions we discuss during class - as well as my changing view on what ethics are and the impact that change is having or may have on how I live my life. There may be other tangents along the way as I am provided prompts to use by my profesor.

With seventeen days left until my departure I will have little to write, but if you are intrigued by my journey feel free to read my summaries for my readings on my other blog, posted in the right side.


Ahead lies a new year, a new opportunity to grow, and a new world of experiences I never expected to have. I hope you will enjoy the stories I tell of my Ethics and The Good Life that I have during this time.