Gil 

The Pursuit of Beauty
I believe that vulnerability is essential for genuine personal connection with other people. From Week One of the Moreau First Year Experience, I learned that one can truly be close to other people by being vulnerable. By being open to yourself, one can truly be open to others. In order for one to perceive their environments, one must have control over one’s own emotions and thoughts. I came to discover this because I have a difficult time understanding myself. Brene Brown says that “when we work from a place I believe that says, ‘I’m enough,’ then we stop screaming and start listening. We’re kinder and gentler to the people around us and we’re kinder and gentler to ourselves”(Brown). After listening to Brown and reflecting on myself, I came to learn that I only ever became comfortable opening up and interacting with my surroundings and the people around me after I was comfortable, confident, and vulnerable in myself. 
I believe that I can grow by learning to love myself for who I am. Before coming to Notre Dame, I had a hard time learning to love myself for who I am. I still often struggle with this issue. I often find myself overly conscious of how other people perceive me. Especially being in a completely new environment with complete strangers, I had a lot of pressure in maintaining the image that I want to show to the people around me. “Nothing we do, however virtuous, can be accomplished alone; therefore we must be saved by love. No virtuous act is quite as virtuous from the standpoint of our friend or foe as it is from our standpoint. Therefore we must be saved by the final form of love which is forgiveness”(Brooks). Just as Brooks explains, one can only truly after forgiveness. Once I learned to forgive myself for the flaws that I was self-conscious about, I learned to love myself. 
I believe that faith can positively guide our daily lives. I consider myself to be a fairly active Catholic. However, the pandemic significantly hindered my ability to practice my faith in a church. Now that I have come to a religious institution that beautifully integrates the values of catholicism and education, I have learned that faith can guide my educational life. Tim Purnell, a fellow Dawg, says that “at times, that has meant that my faith felt incredibly vibrant and exciting, and God was ‘feeling’ very close to me. Much more often, though, it’s been that slow build -- things didn’t go how I wanted, but I was able to see how God was still good to me through the ordeal” (Tim Purcell, Student Voices). When I go through tough times, I often find myself doubting God. However, Tim showed me that I can embrace God even in the hardest times to guide my daily life.
I believe that personal perceptions impact the relationships that I form with others. I believe myself to be a person that doesn’t complain often. I’ve had a very tight-knit group of friends since middle school. I never had a lot of experience venturing out of my comfort zone in making new friendships. Because of this, I have little experience in making completely new friendships. When I first came to Notre Dame, I had to learn to develop true friendships with other people that I barely knew previously. “Friendships should make you feel positive and like you’re investing in something long-term…The best kind of friendships are the ones where you leave with a smile on your face, knowing you’re both growing to be better people and that you’re helping each other get there.” I learned that I had to find a community in which I not only found the most joy but also provided joy to others.
I believe that the environments in which I live constantly change and shape who I am. Coming to Notre Dame, I joined a loving religious community. Since my time here, I was amazed by how open Notre Dame’s community was. Before coming here, I knew that Notre Dame was less diverse than most college campuses, especially when compared to Los Angeles. However, after joining and participating in various cultural clubs and events, I found a footing with a community that I felt that I truly belonged in. “A Catholic education means that every discipline that searches for truth, shares in that final and most beautiful truth that calls us to serve each other in love. Did you notice that last part? Faith and reason together place us always in relationship to each other.” With the openness I discovered at Notre Dame, I also became a very open minded person. 
I believe that empathy is the truest method to determining truth. Along with the increased access to technology in recent times, the access to information is also becoming much easier. However, as much as people can learn helpful information, harmful or false information can also get around due to the collaborative nature of the internet. Therefore in this present age, the ability to determine truth is becoming ever more important. The best way I learned from Moreau to find this truth is to empathize with the people around us. I learned to look beyond my personal implicit biases to challenge my beliefs by putting myself in the shoes of other people. Payne says that “one reason people on both the right and the left are skeptical of implicit bias might be pretty simple: it isn’t nice to think we aren’t very nice. It would be comforting to conclude, when we don’t consciously entertain impure intentions, that all of our intentions are pure…. many of us are more biased than we realize.”(Payne). I learned that in a time of injustice, I have to do my best to understand the other perspective no matter how much my implicit biases may influence me.
I believe that my purpose in life is to create and promote beauty that will positively impact the future. Before I first decided I wanted to do architecture, I desired with the general goal to make a positive, lasting change in this world. However, I was unsure in what direction I would travel to achieve this ambition. Inspired by my love of art, I decided that I would make a change through beauty. I wanted to use my artistic talents and my environmentalist ideals to edit the current path of humanity on Earth. Now that I have come to Notre Dame, I can feel myself getting closer to this goal. Entering a community of people with similar interests, I was excited to see how I would grow as a person to reach this ultimate goal of creating lasting beauty. 

Works Cited
Payne, Keith. “How to Think about 'Implicit Bias'.” Scientific American, Scientific American, 27 Mar. 2018, https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-think-about-implicit-bias/.
“Should You Live for Your Résumé ... or Your Eulogy?” David Brooks: Should You Live for Your Résumé ... or Your Eulogy?, 2014, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlLWTeApqIM&ab_channel=TED.
Taylor, Olivia T. “5 Signs You're in a Toxic Friendship.” Grotto Network, 17 Sept. 2021, https://grottonetwork.com/navigate-life/relationships/signs-of-toxic-friendships/.
“Tedtalks: Brene Brown--the Power of Vulnerability.” TED, 2010.
Two Notre Dames: Your Holy Cross Education, https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=859bc1a8-0d0f-4eb4-a1c1-d0a45c429187.