Integration 1 Jack’s Journey To The University of Notre Dame While thinking about what to write in this assignment I realized how open ended the directions were left, allowing us to express ourselves without being confined to rules and expectations we see in typical classes. With this in mind I thought about The theme of this assignment, What do I believe? What seemed like an easy response, actually left me wondering what Jack Schafer truly believes in? I thought about writing about my faith and why I believe what I do, yet I feel like that would better fit in a theology 101 class, however Moreau is special to Notre Dame, something unique that no other university can offer, that's when it hit me. I believe I am here at The University of Notre Dame for a purpose, and I have yet to fully understand it. So I figured I’d start with a story, tie in some units we covered and express what I've learned in the past Three months. So as you can see I am here at Notre Dame, well kinda, Gateway is an experience, but that wasn't always the plan, ever since I was a child I wanted to attend the University of Michigan, probably because I was bullied into being a UofM fan by my uncles or maybe because I constantly protected the university’s terrible sports programs by mentioning academics over athletics. Whatever the reasoning, I really liked The University of Michigan and that was always my dream school, so when it came time to apply to universities of early action UofM was top of the list, everything rode on that one letter I would receive back late February. After I received my acceptance letter from the University of Michigan I was almost set on going there, changed the Instagram bio to Umich 25 but waited to commit until Notre Dame released admissions, and to my dismay I was rejected or so I had thought I had but as Latare Medalist Carla Harris, says “so you fail, but know this, failure always brings you a gift and that gift is called experience” ("2021 Laetare Medalist Address" - (Carla Harris) Moreau FYE Week 6) I had thought I had failed , but I was in for one of the best experiences of my life. After sending my sister a screenshot of the email four hours later I got a text saying “YOU GOT IN!” followed by a phone call describing the gateway program. However as time went by I just kinda neglected the idea of gateway, it seemed like more of an insult, and sometimes I felt like I'd rather be rejected. As the May deadline approached I was positive I would commit to Umich, even after my gateway tour. It really wasn't until about the week before the May 1 deadline that I started to give gateway a second look, I started to pray about it, do some research but around april 28th I started to figure that Notre Dame is actually a better choice for two reasons, It’s a very Catholic and loving community, with people just like Kyle, who describes the typical Notre Dame student perfectly “ Over my time at Notre Dame, I have sought to uphold that same commitment, helping others to see the truth” Kyle from the class of 2022 ("Student Reflections on Faith” , (curated by Campus Ministry) - Moreau FYW Week Three), students like Kyle are the second reason I decided to come here, nowhere else in the world has so many people like Kyle who truly want to be a force https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjSwjn-SyB4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjSwjn-SyB4 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YVemqUBaAs5DNBPYm806TyQZr3F0xElP/view for good. I joined the Gateway Groupme and asked why I should go to Gateway, and everyone seemed friendly so I told my parents I was gonna go to Notre Dame and that was that. So a decision that took 3 months ended in 3 hours. I can’t be more thankful I made the decision to come here. It might not seem like a crazy story when I put it into words, but everytime I think about it I can't help but remember how lucky I am right now. While my brother and sister describe Notre Dame as “there is just no other place like it”. I truly believe it is the best university in America, while you might have a Harvard or Stanford where you have higher statistics, at Notre Dame you have kids that actually want to be here for the school, and the atmosphere, not just the name on a resume 10 years later. Just like when david brooks said you live in perpetual self confrontation between the external success and internal value (“Ted Talk”, David Brooks - Moreau FYE Week Two ) The Internal value of notre dame far exceeds any other university, while the external success competes with some of the highest universities in the world. My first week I was welcomed by numerous events and clubs and what seemed like an unlimited supply of food trucks, but more importantly I realized how nice it is to have a Catholic based group of people, at a public school where I came from being Catho lic or religious just seemed like a chore, but here people accept the idea that they are at a Catholic school weather they are or not, they respect that fact kids here are here for their faith too. I personally believe that my being here is divine, hence why I still believe we're going to get housing next year. Yes, classes are hard at both Notre Dame and Holy Cross, someone mentioned gateway year as an extension of Highschool, however they couldn't be more wrong, people here actually are nice and everyone gets along and classes that were once easy are extremely difficult. But people just love it here, alumni, faculty, students, fans, and I'm still waiting to wake up from this dream because it's nothing like ive ever seen at any other university. Whether it's the 9 o'clock North Dining Hall trip after studying in Hesburgh, 12 o’clock grotto vibes, or the gameday tailgating and dorm parties and culture, I can't help but immerse myself everything the university has to offer, I couldn't imagine all the things I would say on my application if I were rewrite my application essays. Brené Brown said in her video, we have to be vulnerable to open up and really be ourselves, (“ The Power of Vulnerability ” by Brené Brown - Moreau FYE Week One) And I think this is extremely important, as college is a new beginning, its a chance to make a new identity how you want and nobody will know, you can be more open with people and they won't judge you, you can tell someone something, and if you never want to see them again, that can happen too, so being open to new people is almost needed to survive these first weeks of college to better understand people. Before coming to college I had healthy relationships with highschool friends, I am from an amazing friend group of competent individuals (“ I Am Poem ” by Jack Schafer - Moreau FYE Week six) ( "5 Signs You're in a Toxic Friendship" by the Grotto Network - Moreau FYE Week Four). We hung out and respected each other's boundaries, giving advice and help when needed. As I'm writing this I am also planning to visit them at their universities over fall break. As I look back on my decisions and look into the future I am reminded of when Chimamanda Ngozi Adiche says “ Power is not just the ability to tell the story of another person, but to make it the definitive story o f that person” (“Danger of a Single Story” https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/28124/modules/items/109424 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/28124/modules/items/109424 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/28124/modules/items/109424 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/28124/modules/items/109424 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4Qm9cGRub0&feature=youtu.be https://grottonetwork.com/navigate-life/relationships/signs-of-toxic-friendships/ https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - TED, Moreau FYE Week Seven) this reminds me of how the ball is in my court right now, what I choose to do with it is up me, God has given me this tremendous opportunity to attend the greatest university in the world, and what I make of these next 4 years is my story to write and mine to tell. https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story