At This Point and Time in My Notre Dame Journey by While my time at the University of Notre Dame has been short, I have learned much about myself and my beliefs and others over these past seven weeks. I believe that I am searching for belonging in my social life. Before coming to Notre Dame, I was very excited at having a fresh new start and at the thought of being able to mold myself into the person I want to be. However, I was unsure who that person was that I was striving to be. I also felt a lot of pressure to be a very put together person. Like Brené Brown discussed in her talk, I wanted to feel like I belonged and to have a “sense of…belonging” at Notre Dame but being surrounded by so many intelligent and talented people was a struggle (“The Power of Vulnerability” by Brené Brown – Moreau FYE Week One). I would put on this façade of being very organized and in control of what was going which made the transition to being vulnerable and real with my friends more difficult. I feel as though I am breaking down the barrier between that perception I was putting out and being real with those around me. I am trying to form the deeper connections I desire with those around me, and I hope that I will be able to grow in friendship with my friends over these next few weeks and beyond. I believe that I am still trying to find the person I am. I have a strong sense of my values which were strengthened after taking the VIA Character Strengths Survey (“The VIA Character Strengths Survey” by VIA Institute on Character– Moreau FYE Week Two). I know that my faith is at the center of my morals and that I am very reliable. One of my weaknesses was humor. I was more of a care-free person when I was home and before coming to Notre Dame. I have been very serious about my studies at Notre Dame, and it has hurt my growth in my social life. I do want to have fun and am still struggling to find that balance. I hope that I will be able to find that balance and develop my weaknesses into strengths. I believe that I am not alone in my journey. I have felt alone at times while at Notre Dame because I will isolate myself for hours to get all my assignments done. This does not help my social needs. After reading the different perspectives of the Notre Dame students, I felt comforted by the fact that others with similar values were able to succeed in school while also growing and developing personally. One example is a quote from Nyah who wrote that “in [her] lowest moments of loneliness and feelings of inadequacy…” she “leaned on God” (“Student Reflections on Faith” by Campus Ministry – Moreau FYE Week Three). Doing this much schoolwork and placing a great amount of stress on school can make a person lonely as it has made me. I will now think to turn towards God more because I have relied on Him in the past when I have struggled. This realization will hopefully help me relax and take a much-needed breath. I believe that I am beginning to develop life-long friendships. I have been thinking about the “5 Signs You’re in a Toxic Friendship” article and have been watching the behaviors of those around me. I would notice there were times when I would be talking and the person that I was talking to would not be listening to what I was saying which could be an indicator of a toxic friendship because “they [weren’t] really listen[ing]” to what I had to say (“5 Signs You're in a Toxic Friendship” by Olivia T. Taylor – Moreau FYE Week Four). This was towards the beginning of our friendship, and we both have developed our listening skills since those conversations. I will keep these warning signs in mind for the future but being able to address these habits early on in our friendship was beneficial to both of us and will be the basis for a lasting friendship. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4Qm9cGRub0&t=1s https://www.viacharacter.org/survey/account/register?registerPageType=popup https://www.viacharacter.org/survey/account/register?registerPageType=popup https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YVemqUBaAs5DNBPYm806TyQZr3F0xElP/view https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YVemqUBaAs5DNBPYm806TyQZr3F0xElP/view https://grottonetwork.com/navigate-life/relationships/signs-of-toxic-friendships/ https://grottonetwork.com/navigate-life/relationships/signs-of-toxic-friendships/ I believe that I grow through educating my mind and soul. This sentiment as explained in Father Kevin Grove’s talk is true to my experience at Notre Dame (“Two Notre Dames: Your Holy Cross Education” by Father Kevin Grove, C.S.C. – Moreau FYE Week Five). I have been very thorough and diligent with educating my mind through doing my homework while also making connections with my homework to how it pertains in my life. For educating the soul, I have gone to daily mass a few times at the basilica which has been wonderful. I also have been reading a book on St. Bernadette who has been my role model for a very long time. One of my goals for the near future is to carve out more time in my day for meditating and thinking about everything that is happening in my life right now. All the work and social interactions and obligations can be overwhelming, but my hope is to create a better balance in my life to grow in both my mind and soul. I believe that by reflecting on my experiences at Notre Dame I can better learn who I am. While writing the Where I’m From poem, I realized that I have many fond memories of my childhood (“Where I'm From” by George Ella Lyon – Moreau FYE Week Six). I was able to look inside myself and find the key moments that have created the person I am today. Many of my key moments I mentioned in my poem were about my family and home. My family is very important to me, and I was able to express that in my poem which I read to them. My poem reminded me that I am still the person I was back in Colorado. I do not need to change me, but I am able to develop and grow the person I am into a more thoughtful and deeper person. I am a unique individual who brings many talents. My hope for these next few weeks is that I will be able to relax more and be able to look back on many moments freshman year with fondness. I believe that I pursue truth through listening to all stories. Each person in the world has their own story and I look for the truth through hearing all sides of an argument. Especially after listening to Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s talk, I realized how important it is to seek different perspectives and to watch out for the “danger of a single story” (“The Danger of a Single Story” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Moreau FYE Week Seven). I have been able to meet so many different types of people so far at Notre Dame. I have had my perspective of Germany and New York changed because I have met students from there and listened to where they were from. I would never have thought that I would meet people from so far away and have so much in common with them. My hope is to continue to meet people with different backgrounds from me so that I can continue to expand my worldly knowledge. All in all, my hopes for these next few weeks are to continue to grow and develop my mind and soul while also finding a balance between the two. https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=859bc1a8-0d0f-4eb4-a1c1-d0a45c429187 https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=859bc1a8-0d0f-4eb4-a1c1-d0a45c429187 http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story/transcript https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story/transcript