I do not come from a traditional background, nor have I ever been what we might consider by conventional standards a model student. In school, I often got into trouble for what I later understood as challenging gender biases, asking “why” just a little too much, and, at one point, earning academic probation for my so-called “oppositional spirit.” After high school, I worked various jobs across multiple sectors, and it took me a full seven years to gather the courage to return to the classroom. When I mentioned the idea of going to university, an old boss said to me, “Just don’t do something stupid like philosophy.” Although the thought hadn’t even crossed my mind, the comment struck me as immensely strange. I could sense what they meant—something about utility, an implied fruitlessness to the endeavor—yet I couldn’t shake the feeling that placing the word philosophy next to the adjective stupid was a glaring oxymoron. At the time, I had no idea I would go on to study just that. So, perhaps I should start …