Integration 2 Chapa 1 Moreau First Year Experience Dec. 1, 2021 The Eye Opening First Year Encounters As my first Notre Dame semester is coming to a close, I’ve experienced new positive and negative things that have helped me improve in many aspects of my life. Coming into Notre Dame, I was simply a shy person that preferred to keep everything to myself, but the community changed all that and led me to becoming an open and interacting person. I can say that exposure to new things in one's life really provides the opportunity to change them for the better. I’ve encountered positive things like student interaction which helped boost my confidence and I’ve even experienced negative things like high levels of stress because of classes and homework which provided me with the opportunity to find change in my life so I’d do better: change such as organization and asking for help whenever I might need it. All these new encounters have been making me a better student and overall a better person everyday. Coming into Notre Dame, I knew how amazing and challenging of a school it was and as students, you might end up questioning your abilities just as I have. You might think that you don’t belong where you are right now. This thought process is known as imposter syndrome where you start doubting yourself and your abilities to do something. A quote that says “ If we don’t meet those expectations, we feel like the exact opposite — that we aren’t good enough.” (“Why Letting Go of Expectations is a Freeing Habit” by Julia Hogan Moreau FYE Week Nine). I’ve experienced imposter syndrome and expected myself to do nothing but great during my first semester. I set goals to do great and did nothing but doubt myself whenever I couldn't achieve them. It’s important for people to know that success isn’t always achieved the first time and that it might take multiple attempts to be at the top. I try to tell myself everyday that I’m here for a reason regardless if I get a bad grade or don’t understand something, and that everything will work out in the end. Factors such as stressing out and doubting yourself can lead you to feeling broken and useless at times but there are many ways to prevent that from happening. There can be other factors such as racism or discrimination problems that can occur that can cause the breakdown of a person. Within an article I read, it was stated that “namely, its claimed that racism exists in systems or structures, as opposed to consisting merely of private acts of bigotry committed by individuals” (“Should Caqtholic Schools Teach Critical Race Theory?” by Christopher J. Devront, S.J. Moreau FYE Week Ten). Act of racism can really break a person and at times we never see it occurring around us. Notre Dame is seen to be a community full of diversity that accepts everyone as who they truly are. I’m lucky to say that I haven’t experienced any racism and I am confident to say that I wouldn't occur to be here at Notre https://grottonetwork.com/navigate-life/health-and-wellness/letting-go-of-expectations/?utm_source=fall_2021&utm_medium=class&utm_id=moreau https://grottonetwork.com/navigate-life/health-and-wellness/letting-go-of-expectations/?utm_source=fall_2021&utm_medium=class&utm_id=moreau https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2021/06/03/critical-race-theory-catholic-high-schools-black-lives-matter-240792 https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2021/06/03/critical-race-theory-catholic-high-schools-black-lives-matter-240792 https://www.americamagazine.org/voices/christopher-j-devron-sj Chapa 2 Dame. However, If you are a victim of racism, you will forsure have so many people that have your back as well as resources on campus that can help you with any problem. Encountering some of the most positive things on campus has allowed me to respond positively right back. Being able to feel as if you instantly click within the Notre Dame community has been such a blessing where everyone interacts in the best ways possible, so I make sure to throw in as much positivity as I can within those interactions. I was luckily able to find my people here on campus in a short amount of time, in which I can already call my family. In an article that basically lists and explains ways to look at a community, I learned that finding your community depends on factors like having the right people, the right vibes, and the right communication. This article provides us with the idea that “Community begins not externally but in the recesses of the human heart.” (“Thirteen Ways of Looking at Community” Parker J. Palmer, Moreau FYE Week Eleven), so when it comes to looking for community, we just have to interact with the right people that are pure at heart in accepting one another. Being part of a community comes with many benefits such as never feeling alone and having the ability to approach people you’re comfortable with. My community at Notre Dame gives me the confidence and hope to keep on moving forward everyday without giving up. When I arrived at Notre Dame, I wasn’t completely familiar with what I was getting myself into, but I for sure knew that it was going to be challenging. It has been a rough first semester for me but it is something I will adjust to and get better at each year. Within times of difficulty is when I was able to encounter hope. I have hope in being able to successfully complete all first semester courses and be able to learn from them. Scriptures of motivation like one I was provided with during my Moreau course showed me that “It is during such trough periods, much more than during the peak periods, that it is growing more into the sort of creature He wants it to be.”(“The Screwtape Letters” pages 44-47 by C.S Lewis, Moreau FYE Week Twelve.) I found this to be very true especially during the times that I felt like giving up. Important people like those within my community, the idea of what my future will look like after Notre Dame, and my family are all the things that give me hope in being successful no matter how tough things get. Encountering hope helped me encounter that never give up mindset that many people around me have and anyone is capable of thinking like that. Being a Notre Dame student has provided me with the opportunity to become a better person in many ways. I’ve been lucky enough to build strong friendships and encounter both positive and negative things that have taught me great things. My response to my positive encounters is to follow those encounters and my response to my negative encounters was to prevent them from ever occurring again. I want to grow to become my best self, considering the position in my life right now, I am more than capable of doing that as well as helping others become their best selves. http://couragerenewal.org/parker/writings/13-ways-of-looking-at-community/ http://www.samizdat.qc.ca/arts/lit/PDFs/ScrewtapeLetters_CSL.pdf