Martin, Integration Two Professor Helm FYS 10101 3 December 2021 Lessons from Notre Dame Encounters I have encountered imposter syndrome, but I will not let feelings of self-doubt prevent me from becoming the best version of myself. When I applied to Notre Dame, I did so with the belief that the university had a fifty-percent acceptance rate. Had I known of the prestidge of the university, I would have never applied because I would never have considered myself someone worthy of such high academic achievement. However, after applying, I was accepted, but I was even more surprised at my acceptance as the Hesburgh-Yusko Scholar, the oldest merit scholarship offered at Notre Dame. I am now placed among a lineage of students who are some of the best and brightest to leave the university, and all of my fellow first-year Hesburh-Yusko scholars have achieved unfathomable success in their respective countries and academic interests. Many times I feel as though I am not worthy to be among them, and I resonate with the experiences of Albert Einstein from the TED-Ed video which stated, “He [Albert Einstein] described himself as an ‘involuntary swindler’ whose work didn’t deserve as much attention as it had received,” ("What is Imposter Syndrome?" by Elizabeth Cox - Moreau FYE Week Nine). When I first arrived on campus, I formed a nasty habit of comparing myself to other students in order to validate my presence on campus. In Emery Bergmann youtube video depicting the harsh realities of the college experience, she expressed, “Loneliness is too often paired with self-blame and self criticism: ‘I can’t find my place among these people, so it must be my fault,’” (“Advice from a Formerly Lonely College Student” by Emery Bergmann - Moreau FYE Week Nine). I became incredibly https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQUxL4Jm1Lo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQUxL4Jm1Lo https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/09/well/family/advice-from-a-formerly-lonely-college-student.html https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/09/well/family/advice-from-a-formerly-lonely-college-student.html isolated from other students because instead of spending my free time making friends, I was worried about proving myself to everyone that I belonged. I didn’t start to make true friendships until I started to talk about the way I was feeling about not being a good enough student, advocate, or individual for Notre Dame. What I found was that other first-year Hesburgh-Yusko scholars felt the exact same way, and the TED-Ed video described this as, “a phenomenon known as pluralistic ignorance, where we each doubt ourselves privately, but believe we’re alone in thinking that way because no one else voices their doubts,” ("What is Imposter Syndrome?" by Elizabeth Cox - Moreau FYE Week Nine). It is difficult to communicate your feelings or self-doubt at an institute that prides itself on procuring some of the best and brightest minds from around the world, but once we talk about these emotions, we are able to become better together. Since finding a true community within my scholarship, I am becoming a more self-assured student with more confidence to pursue opportunities I would have previously thought I was not capable of receiving. I am becoming the best version of myself. I have encountered minority voices, and I will be a microphone in the community to amplify their voices and ideas. Another aspect of my scholarship community is the friends I have been able to foster with students from incredibly different cultural, racial, and educational backgrounds. Through conversations with these students, I have found ways in which our lives intersect in ways I would have never imagined. In a conversation with one student, we both discussed how we sometimes feel uncomfortable talking to people at Notre Dame who come from the same towns as us because they come from private school and wealthy backgrounds, and they know that the student and I do not. I come from a background of majority minority and Title I schools, and the student I was talking to related to this experience as well. We both have encountered other people https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQUxL4Jm1Lo throughout our college experience who think we have somehow cheated the system or that we’re only here because the school views us as “a statistic”. Similarly, assistant professor of English Francisco Robles expressed in the Klau With Voices True 2020 Snapshot Summary Video, “People truly didn’t think I would be anything but a landscaper. People knew that the grounds keepers or the janitor were Latino or Black, but whenever I did really well on anything…the way people would cut me down is always by telling me that my uncle and cousins were outside…so why was I not out there joining them,” (“2020 Snapshot Summary Video” by Klau Center - Moreau FYE Week Eleven). Our experiences are circumstantially different but grounded in the same “us versus them” narrative that has too often been experienced by first-generation, low-income, and minority students. Additionally, Notre Dame has exposed me to new ways of viewing the world. My friends from various countries on the African Continent invited me to watch a movie with them one night about the Rwandan Genocide, and they did not choose a film that sugarcoated the horrible tragedies of the Rwandan people or the grotesque lack of involvement from the international system. My friends have instilled a belief in me that people of privileged backgrounds must do more than simply be a bystander, and I later spoke up in support of the Rwandan people during a discussion class for my International Relations class. I agree with Rev. Christopher J. Devron and his belief that, “White people don’t get a moral pass by simply refraining from overtly racist acts. Rather, they must examine racial biases within systems; reflect on how they participate in and benefit from these biases; and then take deliberate action to change them,” (“Should Catholic Schools Teach Critical Race Theory?” by Christopher J. Devron - Moreau FYE Week Ten). Notre Dame is constantly exposing me to new cultural, racial, and educational experiences outside my own, and I know I have a duty to raise my voice in solidarity with minority voices. https://voicestrue.nd.edu/ 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 I have encountered voices of faith in my educational journey, and I will let their moral philosophies guide me in my academic and professional service. Although I do not consider myself a religious person, I believe there are lessons to be learned from moral values religious bodies and individuals can offer in an educational setting. While being at Notre Dame, I have been shocked at the interconnectedness of religious pursuit and academic thought, specifically in my God and the Good Life class. Many students and professors draw about religious scholarly writing to articulate ideas of philosophy and morality, and I think these ideas hold incredible value to how even non-religious people such as myself can conduct themselves on a daily basis. For example, in Holy Cross and Christain Education published by Notre Dame Campus Ministry, the text states, “Intensified his [Moreau] efforts to promote the kind of Christian education that would more authentically and convincingly assert the Church’s conviction that true knowledge and understanding inevitably rested upon the integration of reason with faith,” (“Holy Cross and Christian Education” by Notre Dame Campus Ministry - Moreau FYE Week Twelve). For me, my faith is created by the morals I hold close to my heart that guide every action I take, and I agree with Moreau’s ideas that we need to use our faiths in collaboration with our reason in order to be authentic individuals. https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/23747/files/187485/download?download_frd=1