Chase Ferren frequently feels overwhelmed when she looks toward her future. But, the tattoo on her left arm reminds her to embrace anxiety and use it as fuel to push her to be her best self.

“Dasein” is a German word that translates to “being there” or “presence.” Ferren first heard the word in class when she was studying at Nazareth College in Rochester, New York. She was reading Martin Heidegger’s magnum opus, “Being and Time.” In the book, Heidegger uses “Dasein” to refer to the experience of life that is particular to humans.

“It’s this epitome of what the human being is when it’s most aware of its consciousness,” said Ferren, an arts journalism graduate student at the S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications. “It teaches you that instead of shying away from moments of conflict, you need to embrace them.”

This concept resonated with Ferren, who was familiar with the crippling effects of anxiety and inner conflict. At the age of 17, she lost her father to suicide. Ferren was coping with his death during the college application process and decided she wanted to remain close to home. She stayed in Rochester, completing her undergraduate degree at Nazareth.

“Just being at home and surrounded by his things and living in this safety bubble of the memories I had with him was very appealing,” Ferren said. “I just wasn’t ready to leave home.”

It wasn’t until she was accepted to the arts journalism program at Newhouse that Ferren knew it was time for her to leave. Despite the terror she felt at the idea of leaving her family and the memories with her father, she decided to embrace the philosophy behind “Dasein.” Facing her fears and anxieties head on, she packed up to leave for Syracuse.

“I knew I wanted to be a part of this program, and I knew that they couldn’t bring the school to me,” Ferren said. “Had I allowed myself to shy away from that anxiety and continue to make the same kind of decisions that I had been making until then, I would have made one of the biggest mistakes of my life.”

Since being in graduate school, Ferren has continued to live her life in the “Dasein” way. Last month, she had the word inked on her arm.

“I’ve gone through really hard times here, but I’ve also learned how to turn that around and use it as fuel. I always ask myself, ‘If I’m not uncomfortable in some kind of way, what am I doing here? I’m here to be pushed.’”

Ferren said she had no regrets about her decision to leave home.

“I would do it all over again,” she said.

Published on April 24, 2017 at 9:32 pm

Contact Julie: jlmccu01@syr.edu