Integration paper Chapa1 Moreau First Year Experience Oct. 2021 A Me I’d Never Thought to See Stepping foot onto the University of Notre Dame automatically gave me hope for the things that I will be able to accomplish throughout my journey here. I believe that my time here at Notre Dame will pay off in every way at the end; however, I can say that there is never truly an end at Notre Dame once you become part of the community. There was an instant feeling of belonging when I arrived on campus. Personally, I’ve always been a shy, nervous person who never truly opened up to people. What changed my mindset was a quote that said “In order for connections to happen, we have to let ourselves be seen” (“The Power of Vulnerability” by Brené Brown - Moreau FYE Week One). I believe that opening yourself up to others brings you closer to people, especially when the people you open up to open themselves up to you as well. It makes an individual feel safe, comfortable, and at home. Meeting new people became surprisingly easy which was amazing. Something I had more trouble with was figuring out my position at Notre Dame other than just being a student. I needed a reason for who I am and what I am doing here. I needed to find my true self here but was not exactly sure on how to. The course of Moreau First Year Experience has exposed me to many ideas, one being a quote from a video mentions how “In order to find yourself you have to lose yourself” (“Should you live for your resume or Your Eulogy” by David Brooks - Moreau FYE Week Two). To some people, losing yourself might not be seen as a good thing; however, I believe that losing yourself provides you with the opportunity to experience new and unknown things you never thought existed. Losing myself is what exposed me to opportunities outside of my comfort zone and led me to find the things I’m truly interested in. I also believe that there is always room for many experiences in my life, so I decided to keep losing myself whenever I feel the need to explore some more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4Qm9cGRub0&feature=youtu.be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlLWTeApqIM Chapa2 Being at Notre Dame has shown me that I am never alone in anything. No matter what I do, there will always be someone there for me wherever there is a time of struggle. Most importantly, I always know that I have God by my side. In the inspiring words of Fr. Pete McCormick, “Your journey is in the loving and sure hands of God, and third remain hopeful” (“The Role of Faith in Our Story”, Fr. Pete McCormick, C.S.C - Moreau FYE Week Three). I am a person that believes in faith and hope. I know for fact that I will carry both of these things no matter where my journey leads me to. Along with being hopeful, I will be helpful to anyone I meet along the way. I myself don’t want to struggle, but I understand that life has its difficult moments. As I hope to receive help from others during those difficult moments, I will thrive to do the same for others within theirs. At the end of the day, I believe that I have the support of others and God with me when I need it. As sad as it is to say, I believe that at times you’ll find yourself in a relationship that is not really healthy for you to be in. I say this because of my own experiences with individuals that have tried to bring me down in life, but luckily I was able to prevent any of that from happening. Things like being part of a bad relationship can happen to anyone but what happens most is being able to escape it when necessary. So far, I’ve only made the best and strongest relationships here at Notre Dame, in which I hope to just keep on getting healthier and stronger. In an article I read that was provided by my Moreau course, a line mentions that “Attention is one of the rarest forms of love”, which is true because nowadays you can’t easily sit with someone just to share each other's thoughts and feelings. (“5 Signs You’re in a Toxic Friendship” Olivia T. Taylor - Moreau FYE Week Four). If a person is willing to sit and listen to what you have to say as well as talking back with you, that person is worth keeping. It’s nice being able to sit down with a person to tell the stories you have that are important to you, especially the stories that are misinterpreted by other individuals. Being heard gives you the chance to properly share your story and clear up any bad misconceptions that others may have about you. As a Hispanic, I’ve seen individuals wrongly interpret some information about my background, which is why it is important to share my story with others and for me to be heard. Understanding each other in every aspect is important for a strong relationship and finding some sort of commonality between individuals brings us closer. In the inspiring https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcZMeqWWOIs https://grottonetwork.com/navigate-life/relationships/signs-of-toxic-friendships/ https://grottonetwork.com/navigate-life/relationships/signs-of-toxic-friendships/ Chapa3 words of Fr. Kevin Grove, “Faith and reason together place us always in relationship to each other”, which can basically mean that understanding one another plus having some faith brings growth in a relationship. (“Two Notre Dame: Your Holy Cross Edition” by Fr. Kevin Grove, C.S.C - Moreau FYE Week Five). Where I come from will always be important to me, which is why I believe that sharing about where I’m from makes people know the true me. No one will know where I come from better than myself which is why I really enjoyed the quote, “Remember, you are the expert on you” (“Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon - Moreau FYE Week Six). Not only is sharing where I’m from important, but making sure that people understand the reality of my background rather than keeping stereotypical ideas in their heads is just as important. Within a very interesting Ted Talk by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, she says, “But it would have never occurred to me to think that just because I had read a novel in which a character was a serial killer, that he was somehow representative of all Americans.” She says this in a way to show that just because a single story is told which happens to contain negative information about a certain ethnicity does not mean that the negative information applies to all the individuals of that ethnicity (“Danger of a Single Story” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Moreau FYE Week Seven). I believe that hearing multiple stories rather than just one is important to the overall information of any ethnicity rather than just hearing one. I need to make sure that my story along with others is interpreted the right way. The Moreau First Year Experience has opened up my eyes to many resources and useful information that helps me understand who I am as a person and what I’m doing with my current placement in the world. I believe that Notre Dame has changed me in the best way possible and I also believe that I can inspire others to do the same. 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