Integration 1 


Paulina Romero
Oct 15, 2021
Moreau FYE

A Journey of Self-Discovery

I believe that being vulnerable makes you strong and not weak…
I believe that my virtues and beliefs are the root of my success…
I believe that in order to be successful my achievements have to be significant…
I believe that being patient and optimistic will strengthen my faith…
I believe that self-love and self-care is a priority…

My Root Beliefs stated above are beliefs that allow me to grow and prosper as a person.

Each one is dedicated to one of the main objectives in my Moreau class for that week, and one

by one I have adapted those beliefs and now live by them on a daily basis. These beliefs give me

faith, stability, and optimism for my future, my goals, and my relationships with the people that

surround me.

For the first week of Moreau we were asked to watch a video, called “the Power

Vulnerability” a ted talk by Brené Brown. Before I even started this assignment and knew about

the Root Beliefs I watched in awe this first video. It inspired me to be my authentic self, and I

decided to live by Brené’s inspiring words. Soon, I discovered that every video had an important

lesson to teach, and an essential takeaway for all students, and I feel like this first video was an

essential first step towards allowing us students to thrive in Notre Dame. Brené mentions in her

Ted Talk how vulnerability makes you courageous and brave, rather than weak. This allowed me

to view the word vulnerable differently. I feel like vulnerability has such a bad connotation to it,

because people are afraid of it, afraid of looking weak. After watching this video, I understood

that it isn’t that way. Being vulnerable does indeed make you a stronger person. It shows that you

are strong and brave enough to present yourself in your true colors, and this has allowed me to

create deeper, more meaningful connections with the people in Notre Dame. The first few weeks,



I was terrified I wasn’t going to be able to create strong friendships, and I did struggle a lot with

it. Coming from a city where everyone knows everyone, and school where you grow alongside

the same people for 14 years, from Pre-Kinder to Senior Year. When you are in that environment

you don’t have the chance to be other than your true-self. These people have seen my cry

probably most times my own parents did, that is why we formed such a tight knit community.

Then after arriving at Notre Dame and seeing so many students, it felt extremely overwhelming.

I would make a friend in a class and then never see them for weeks. It was hard to create

connections, and hard being my true self because I was never able to feel comfortable with a

fresh new group of people. Slowly, I began to form a friend group, now that friend group has

seen me cry, and seen me happy. They’ve celebrated my accomplishments with me, and

supported me when I’ve encountered rocks on the road. What felt impossible the first weeks, is

now a reality and it all began by being vulnerable and authentic.

My second and third Root belief goes hand in hand with the first one. My beliefs are the

root of my success. Now, success may have different meanings to every person, to many it may

be material and money-wise,  but to me success means being proud and happy of the life that

I’ve built, and the person I’ve become. It means achieving my personal, inner goals, as well as

my professional career based goals. Goals that are significant to myself, and will certainly make

an impact on those around me, because if my goals are significant then I can’t consider them

successful. When arriving at Notre Dame some of my goals were, creating healthier habits,

creating a friend group, and developing new study and learning skills. Although each and

everyone of these goals have room for growth, my virtues have certainly allowed them to meet

every single one of my goals half way. In the second week of moreau, we watched another TED

talk called “Should you live for your Resume or for your Eulogy?” by David Brooks. He



separated our virtues as Adam 1 and Adam 2. Where Adam 1 had virtues more career focused

and money focused while on the contrary Adam 2 virtues are more personal virtues, such as

kindness, communication, and collaboration. David Brooks said a quote that I think it is

important to highlight. He said “Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone;

therefore we must be saved by love” (“Should you live by your resume or your eulogy?” By

David Brooks - Moreau FYE Week two).  I believe that this quote was very important to hear,

because what I think Brooks is trying to say is that whatever Adam 1 virtue you may have, it can

not be accomplished without the use of an Adam 2 virtue; and that living through Adam 2 virtues

will allow you to be successful in those of Adam 1. Now how did I apply these to my own

experiences? One of my personal goals was forming a friend group, and one of my professional

goals was creating better study habits so I am able to excel in my classes. The way I was able to

accomplish both of these goals was by combining both Adam 1 and Adam 2 virtues. I used

Adam 2 virtues such as kindness, communication and collaboration, that allowed me to create a

strong friend group, which then became my study group. We get together before every chem

exam (because we all take chemistry) and we review together. These study groups have allowed

me to ace my exams, more than once, which therefore accomplishes my Adam 1 virtues, being

professionally successful.

One of my personal goals that I’ve been trying to achieve when arriving at Notre Dame

was strengthening my faith. That is actually one of the reasons I chose this school because at

times I felt disconnected from my spirituality, and I knew that a place like Notre Dame would

help me strengthen it, and little by little I understood that to have faith you have to be optimistic,

and patient. Two things that also have room for improvement. In the third week we saw a video

by the amazing Father Pete, in which he talked a little about having faith, and going through a

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlLWTeApqIM


journey of self-discovery; and he approached faith in a very interesting way which was referring

to it as a knot. This metaphor, as the knot being your faith, cleared my view on so many doubts I

had about my spirituality, because not so much I struggled having faith, but instead

understanding what’s faith, because I used to think that you can’t have faith without

understanding it. With this video I understood that it isn’t that way. Those doubts and questions

are just part of the journey of self-discovery. Father Pete says “at the core of one-self is the very

presence of god”, (“The Role of Faith in our Story” By Fr. Pete McCormick - Moreau FYE Week

Three) and I think this is what he means by a journey of self-discovery. You must go through that

process, and that journey, to feel and understand the presence of god within yourself, and that is

how you build your strength. As one of my favorite psalms quotes “God is within her, she will

not fail” -Psalm 46:5. Feeling the presence of god allowed me to feel better about myself and

take care of myself first, which before I really never did before, which is also what helped me

build my last Root Belief. As well as understanding this made my transition to college much

easier, making new friends, getting good grades, learning to be independent, all with the strength

of god.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcZMeqWWOIs