Moreau Integration 2 Moreau First Year Experience 11/27/2021 Connections Between Moreau FYE and My Life Coming to Notre Dame was certainly a new experience in my life. South bend is a full twenty-four hour drive away from my home in Helena, Montana, so the transition to college was bound to be something new. What excited me the most about college was the prospect of everything new. New people to meet, new classes to take, new professors to learn from, a new place to live, and new restaurants to eat at. With all of the new that was coming my way this fall, I was bound to face new challenges as well. In my life I have had a lot of great times and good fortune. I have also had enough challenges to put into perspective the joys of the high points. A man that I looked up to a lot growing up once told me that it is not what happens to you that defines you as a person, but rather how you respond to your circumstances. He also said that it is the response to hardship that proves the moral character of a person. Through the highs and lows of my relatively short adult life, I have tried to live in a manner that would make that man proud. This integration for Moreau First Year Seminar will cover life experiences that I have had, how I responded to these experiences, and how I may have been affected by or grown from them. The TED video What is imposter syndrome and how can you combat it? is the first definition and description of imposter syndrome that I have ever seen, though I have heard it used from time to time in varying contexts. It seems to mean the constant feeling that you did not earn your accomplishments or do not deserve the credit that is being given to you. In a sense, I think everyone experiences this in one way or another. I would not say that I have ever had a serious enough struggle with these feelings to label it a syndrome, but I have experienced it nonetheless. One such instance was in my first couple weeks here. Every day I met all kinds of people who had accomplished great things already, and seemed to be so much better than I was capable of becoming. When asked about classes that I was scared of taking, they responded that they actually were not that bad. These interactions worried me, but I decided that I would not let a little internal intimidation stop me from trying to do what I want to achieve. The video seems to suggest that we need to give credit to ourselves and keep track of positive feedback to help remind ourselves that we are not imposters in our position. Going forward, I will try to remember to keep track of my accomplishments and positive feedback to remind myself that I deserve to be where I am. ("What is Imposter Syndrome?" by Elizabeth Cox - Moreau FYE Week Nine) When giving a commencement address at the Wesley Theological Seminary, Father Jenkins gives a quote from James Madison in 1787: “A zeal for different opinions concerning religion, concerning government, and many other points … have … divided mankind into parties, inflamed them with mutual animosity, and rendered them much more disposed to vex and oppress each other than to co-operate for their common good.” As far as my experience goes, I have seen this kind of animosity and lack of cooperation mainly in reference to politics, where many people pick a party and solely side with them under any circumstances. Many people in this day and age root for and defend their party like it is a sports team, and do not acknowledge the existence of common ground and a beneficial moderate position. This similarity between what James Madison warned about and what is occurring today is both fascinating and frightening. In response to this challenge of increasing divide, Fr. Jenkins proposes something that we have heard since the beginning of our christian lives: love one another. This means that beliefs and differences aside, we first and foremost care for the good of https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQUxL4Jm1Lo each other and ourselves. ("Wesley Theological Seminary 2012 Commencement Address" by Fr. John Jenkins - Moreau FYE Week Ten) In his article Thirteen Ways of Looking at Community, Parker J. Palmer writes: “When I flourish, it is easy to maintain the illusion of separateness, easy to imagine that I alone am responsible for my good fortune. But when I fall, I see a secret hidden in plain sight: I need other people for comfort, encouragement, and support, and for criticism, challenge, and collaboration.” This quote highlighting the need for community leads directly into my experience. Just like the quote suggests, I truly feel my need for friends and family in times of misfortune and struggles. Though I may seem at times to be self-sufficient, Palmer suggests that this is simply an illusion and we always rely on our community to lift us up. It serves as a good reminder for me to express gratitude to all the people and groups who help me on my way. ("Thirteen Ways of Looking at Community" by Parker J. Palmer - Moreau FYE Week Eleven) In the novel The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis, Screwtape writes: “Our cause is never more in danger than when a human, no longer desiring, but still intending, to do our Enemy’s will, looks round upon a universe from which every trace of Him seems to have vanished, and asks why he has been forsaken, and still obeys.” This quote is particularly interesting because it references the low points of faith, in which God seems to not be present at all. These described low points are very common occurrences, during which people feel very distant from their religious life. I, just like every other religious person, have experienced plenty of doubt in my life, where it seemed like God simply could not allow things to happen. Even in these times, I have continued to believe and act in accordance to what I think is God’s will. Screwtape narrates that the fact that a person continues to stay true to God during these times proves that they are as https://president.nd.edu/writings-addresses/2012-addresses/wesley-theological-seminary-commencement/ http://couragerenewal.org/parker/writings/13-ways-of-looking-at-community/ http://couragerenewal.org/parker/writings/13-ways-of-looking-at-community/ strong in their faith as ever. ("The Screwtape Letters" Chapter 8 by C.S. Lewis - Moreau FYE Week Twelve) All in all, the content covered in this course has been pretty relevant in my life. If I am able to take all these lessons to heart, I believe that I will be well prepared to live a healthy, successful, and good life. https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/28217/files/192386?wrap=1