Moreau Integration 2




Prof. Chan

Moreau FYE

11.27.21

Integration II

As semester one of Moreau comes to a close, I am grateful to have had the time for true

introspection to buttress my education. In this time I’ve certainly encountered a few things. In

week nine, we discussed Imposter Syndrome, and those who feel like they do not deserve the

success they find. This is very real at Notre Dame, as I have found it directly among my peers,

especially those in my freshmen class. The amount of times I hear “I don’t know how I got in” or

“I feel like everyone is just smarter/more accomplished than me” is somewhat worrying. One of

my friends in the ND merit scholar’s program with me (which getting into is already in and of

itself an accomplishment) posted on his instagram story, “who else feels the imposter

syndrome?” Clearly, everyone here must’ve done something right to be admitted. The fact that

they downplay their achievements is somewhat saddening as it shows a lack of self confidence.

While it’s okay to feel this way sometimes, it should not be an overarching mindset that invades

everything someone does. As someone who has never really felt imposter syndrome (in my QQC

I discussed how receiving a lot of praise and encouragement from my parents my whole life

helped drastically) I can’t speak to how it must feel firsthand, but I do think it can be incredibly

harmful and therefore should be confronted. These students should be told, by their peers, their

parents, their advisors, that they DO deserve to be here, and that they shouldn’t waste this

precious opportunity by being too scared to grow and learn because they discount their



qualification in the first place. This involves vulnerability, among other things. The Grotto

Article by Julia Hogan sums this up nicely: “The point is, these expectations are all arbitrary and

not definitive rules for the only way to live life.” (Why Letting Go of Expectations is a Freeing

Habit" by Julia Hogan Moreau FYE Week Nine). There is no standard written in the sky telling

Notre Dame students, or any student in the nation, what they must accomplish or how they must

succeed. We make our own mental prisons if we try to reach for an unreachable height. We

should not let the accomplishments of others detract from our own.

In Week ten, I came face to face with different solutions for inclusivity within

communities. We live in such a politically charged, polarized society, and the toxicity encroaches

every. Friendships are burned, family members forgotten, and common sense is often tossed

aside in favor of identity politics and villainizing all who dare disagree with us. In order for our

society to ever heal, I’ve come to believe that reconciliation must begin on college campuses,

where the latest ideas are being churned around in the minds of future leaders. We must begin to

open up and have dialogue with each other. Fr. Jenkins speaks of the importance of love in his

Wesley Theological Seminary 2012 Commencement Address (Fr. John Jenkins, C.S.C. - Moreau

FYE Week Ten). “Love is the greatest commandment — and hatred is at the heart of the greatest

sins. Hatred is the great destroyer — the great divider.” We must do all things in and through

love, in order to effectively reach out to others and begin to heal this massive rift. Now, one

possible solution that has been presented to tensions today is Critical Race Theory. I am going

out on a limb and saying that this is NOT the best route to take if we want healing. Blaming an

entire group of people for things in the past and generalizing all the evils on Earth to one race is

wrong. You are only shifting the discrimination to a new type of person. This will do nothing for

our efforts to reconcile with each other and instead only spread acrimony and victim mentalities.

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://president.nd.edu/writings-addresses/2012-addresses/wesley-theological-seminary-commencement/


Love does not blame, and I hope more people come to realize that there are much better ways to

heal. Recognizing injustice is important but it should not come at the cost of more relationships.

One thing I am grateful for is that Notre Dame has a diversity of political views but this does not

come at the cost of cordiality. Most people are very kind even if you disagree with them, or are at

least civil about it. I love that this atmosphere fosters conversations and reaches out across

divides whether they be racial, political, religious, socioeconomic, or all of the above. It is a

wonderful thing to remember kindness and love at all times and live those values out, even when

we may prefer to shut people out of our lives.

Week eleven tied into week ten, discussing diversity and community and the importance

of diversity in community. The takeaway for me, as someone who is an ethnic minority, was

similar to week ten. We must have love and respect for all. I have experienced all sorts of slight

instances of racism, to flat out joke about me “eating dogs” or people squinting their eyes at me.

Even when it is easy to meet hate with hate, blow for blow, we must be bigger than those who

may be close-minded. “The concept of community must embrace even those we perceive as

‘enemy.’” ("Thirteen Ways of Looking at Community" Parker J. Palmer - Moreau FYE Week

Eleven). We cannot just surround ourselves with those we like or agree with. Communities grow

from dissonance, from disagreeing and then compromising and coming together in the midst of

hardships or strife. Communities must ultimately include those we don’t agree with if we are to

have any hope of learning and growing further than an echo chamber would ever take us. Again,

Notre Dame is special in how members of this community are always open and caring, no matter

their views or disagreements. It fosters a safe environment for all beliefs and valuable dialogue.

Some of my closest friends hold vastly different beliefs than I do. Yet, when I was sick, one of

them walked all the way down from North quad to bring me some hot tea (I live on south quad).

http://couragerenewal.org/parker/writings/13-ways-of-looking-at-community/


Someone’s political views do not define who they are; similarly, we should not make our

political beliefs the only thing we ever think or talk about.

Week twelve confronted us with hard questions about Hope. We discussed things such as

“what hope looks like” or how it differs from optimism. The discussions in class helped me

somewhat shape my ideas about hope into something more concrete. First and foremost, because

of my beliefs, I think Hope is ultimately personified in Jesus Christ. Because of our common

brokenness, our hatred and our fallen natures, we have no hope of anything greater without

Christ bridging the gap between ourselves and God. That feeling of expectation, of assurance of

something greater, is akin to both faith and hope. Now, optimism is more of a constant outlook, a

kind of steady personality trait that makes someone look for the good in everything. This is a

good thing, of course, but a little different from Hope. Hope is the idea that something will

happen, no matter the circumstances. It looks beyond current situations to something in the

future, perhaps not yet realized but soon to be (we hope). For example, I have the hope of heaven

and a future with God and that in turn gives me the optimism I have in daily life. We read an

excerpt from the Screwtape Letters, by C.S. Lewis, for the materials in week twelve. Screwtape

highlights how “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.” ("The

Screwtape Letters" Chapter 8 C.S. Lewis - Moreau FYE). We are at our strongest when there is

no clear resolution or happy ending right in front of us, but we keep going despite grim or bleak

circumstances. We utilize both hope and optimism to continue, even when God, or our family

and friends, or our government, or everyone around us seems far away. When we cannot see the

way, we must strive even harder. This applies once more to our previous ideas on community and

https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/23692/files/187491?wrap=1
https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/23692/files/187491?wrap=1


clashes between ideologies. Even if there is no clear benefit to being forgiving and open-minded,

we should keep loving our “enemies” as one day, if everyone does this, we can hope for a future

where everyone is respectful. If we give up because we think we are making no progress, or if

we continue to think that bad test grades disqualify our presence at this institution, we will never

pull ourselves out of the mired problems we face. Without hope, we have nothing.

I think one last point that is important to discuss is being genuine. You don’t have to

pretend to believe something that you don’t, or agree for the sake of avoiding conflict. If you

show others that you truly passionately care about your beliefs and that you have good reasons

for believing certain things, they will help others to begin to see the validity of your views and

seriously consider why you think a certain way and why they do not. Being tactfully honest and

willing to have a conversation with someone you disagree with is the first step towards a warmer

community and strengthening our ND family.

As a whole, these questions about how to grow community and a feeling of togetherness

are truly the most important questions I’ve had to think about. They apply not only to Notre

Dame, but to our country, and even the whole world. We must see the humanity in everyone. I

think I now care less about comparing myself to others, and instead look for other’s strengths

and how I can learn from them or inspire others to be better. The solutions to these problems are

certainly more complex than “just be kind” but also more clarified in terms of what may not be

the best solutions. I do think that the religious values present on this campus contribute to the

warm environment, even if some people think otherwise. Regardless, the importance of love and

its role in healing and reconciliation cannot be stressed enough. Hopefully we can all find hope

in the fact that love will oneday overcome all this turmoil.



P.S. Big thank you to Professor Chan for leading our Moreau section and fostering an

environment of respect, joy, and camaraderie and helping us first years acclimate to ND, even if

you haven’t been here for very long either. I know I speak for everyone in our section when I say

this was the best possible Moreau section we could’ve gotten. Whenever I see my classmates

outside of the Moreau classroom they only have positive things to say about you and I know

many of them, myself included, tried to get your section for the spring. While I was not able to

fit in into my schedule, I know you will continue doing a wonderful job of helping first year

students grow and nurture them beautifully. Thank you for everything.

Sincerely,