If you dont stand for something, youll fall for anything.

If I put it in hilarious way, this quote signifies my eight suffering hours of standing as a sales boy. Given that situation my legs experienced trembling sensation and almost surrendered after five hours. It was like my legs were telling me to sit down now and rest, but my mind resists falling from that temptation and I stick to my decision for not giving up. Fortunately, I survived that challenge but as soon as I got home from my work I could barely walk and lift my legs anymore. As a result, an early goodnight snoring sleep welcomed me at my residence. In the other hand, philosophically speaking, this quotation connotes something that is very profound and reflective that it summarizes my whole experience and learning in just a span of 2 days exposure in Shoppers Square. And, this experience was a blast! In this exchange experience I learned something essential about life. By going back to my quotation above, I learned that if you don't have goals and values in life, you will just let anyone to take advantage of you. Hence, somebody is controlling your life. And this insight takes away my apathetical response to something, the "I don't care. What happens happen" attitude. I realized these things while I was establishing rapport to my fellow workers in the store. I gathered information about their life, what brings them to their current situation, and if they are happy or not about their life. Some of them were satisfied and happy but most of them were not. As I went further with my conversation with them, I noticed that most of them were controlled by influence of the society and the environment around them, that they based their decision on others perspective. One of them told me that she doesnt like her current job and not happy with it because she was just force by her parents to do it just to earn for a living and help her siblings. Although, her actual goal is to finish her studies first then help her siblings but due to external factor her decision was controlled by others and that what happens. On the other hand, the ones who were happy and contented are the ones who are goal and value oriented. Hence, it all boils down to one thing and that is the clarity of your goals and values in life with the decision to stick and fight for it. Alas, the exchange program was over! But as I walked along the street, feeling the cold evening breeze swirling around me and observing people that pass by, I suddenly began to

contemplate about my exchange experience. I start thinking what connection I can see in this experience to the class matter we had. One thing that pops out to my mind and that is to be meaningful; a philosophy must give expression to reality. Philosophy must start from an experience. And that experience will form us philosophically as person. Hence, everything is experienced, not merely what is sensuous, but also what excites and stimulates our mind. Consciousness thus undoubtedly obtains all conceptions and notions from experience and in experience; the only question is what we understand by experience. As I sum it up, this experience exceeds my expectations. I thought that I couldnt get something out of it but in the end, theres this essential thing th at makes my experience so special and memorable. It is the understanding of social realities that encompass in grassroot level. With this understanding, it certainly molds me into a better person of being fundamentally aware of my surroundings and being sensitive to others.