The Last Journal Entry I just had a date with a philosophy student, probably my first this semester. He was writing a paper and it was the exact same topic I had covered in philosophy class last year. It was really nice to know exactly what to say to him since I had been through the same experience. As a philosophy major, I know the kind of writing that philosophy teachers like: articles with a very neat structure and strongly supported claims. These articles are not about nonsense and nice language, but hard facts and well-thought-out theories. I passed this information on to John and it was very helpful to him. His article was already amazing, but just changing a few sentences to really make his transitions clear was a huge help. I told him to list what he was talking about in the second paragraph, and even though it sounds boring and is something I hate doing, I knew it would help his grade tremendously. The student also had a great philosophy in his paper. The purpose of the assignment is to create your own philosophy with supporting reasons and answers to objections, and I really liked his point of view. After reviewing the document, we sat down and talked for about fifteen minutes about how we got to this point. topic and how his life influenced his choices. I know we're not supposed to pry into their personal lives, but we were just talking like good friends. I think it helped him a lot because he seemed a little nervous before the session, and knowing me on more than a superficial level seemed to make him feel more at ease. The paper assignment is a very personal experience, so I think personal communication was necessary. I've also had more sessions with Korean students and I think I'm getting better and better at finding things to say with them. It's really interesting to learn about their culture and I feel less