Albanese-Week 8 Integration One


Albanese 1



Moreau First Year Experience

Andrew Whittington

15 October 2021

This, I Believe

I believe that courage and vulnerability are integral aspects of shaping who you are and

who you will grow to become. Another big part of this is authenticity, which ties into

vulnerability and courage as well. In her TED talk, Dr. Brown notes, “In order for a connection

to happen, we have to allow ourselves to be seen” (“The Power of Vulnerability” by Brené

Brown - Moreau FYE Week One). To me, this comment of hers was extremely insightful. I took

a minute to fully process what she is saying here, and I envisioned this statement in the context

of my own life, particularly in the new environment that I and many others are in right now. You

may meet thousands of people during the course of your lifetime, but as Dr. Brown pointed out, a

connection is truly genuine when we “allow ourselves to be seen”, which I interpret as being our

authentic, raw selves, which takes not only a lot of courage, but also practice I believe. I have

realized that even though vulnerability can be so daunting, it is also a beautiful thing, as she

described, because so many other things can blossom because of vulnerability: love, connections,

and so much more. These displays of vulnerability manifest themselves in the journey of self

discovery and growth that I am currently on as I move forward at Notre Dame.

I believe that establishing your core values as well as living freely will help you become

your most authentic self. As I derived from David Brooks’ discussion about resume versus

eulogy virtues, it is comforting to have a bit of the grasp on the fact that I am not someone who

lives a calculated, cold life just to be successful (“Should You Live for your Resume or Your

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4Qm9cGRub0&feature=youtu.be
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlLWTeApqIM


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Eulogy?” by Davis Brooks- Moreau FYE Week Two). I have my core values and I stick to them,

and at the end of the day, people will not mainly remember you for what you accomplished in

life, but how you treated people and who you were as a person, which is very important to me.

Living freely also ties into finding your most authentic self. David Brooks states, “In order to

forgive yourself you have to forget yourself.” These were very thought provoking words to me,

because he is making a great point of truly allowing oneself to let go. Let go of all hatred,

grudges, and negative emotions or thoughts, and to do this you have to completely detach

yourself from who you are and reality, to truly be set free.

I believe that you must use your faith as a stepping stone to self discovery. As Father Pete

rightly points out in his youtube video, “The greatest journey you will ever go on is the one of

self discovery” (“The Role of Faith in Our Story” by Fr. Pete- Moreau FYE Week Three). I think

that faith plays a huge role in your own self discovery, particularly here at Notre Dame. After I

read the reflections of the Notre Dame students too, it is clear that so many of them have credited

faith with being an integral part of shaping who they are, and their lives in general. I am eager to

utilize faith as a stepping stone to my own self discovery. I also have always been fond of the

quote by Michael Josephson, “Take pride in how far you have come. Have faith in how far you

can go.” This has been my life motto in a sense, you must always have faith, but also never

forget how hard you have worked to get where you are and where you came from.

I believe that early recognition of warning signs will help you determine toxic

relationships, and I also believe that it is better to intervene in a situation before it escalates. Here

at Notre Dame, the greeNDot program is something students can get involved in to train how to

better respond to certain situations, and I hope to complete this training soon. Whether it be in a

friendship, or a relationship with a significant other, the relationship should not be one sided. The

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlLWTeApqIM
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcZMeqWWOIs&feature=youtu.be&ab_channel=UniversityofNotreDameCampusMinistry


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“Because I Love You” video that we watched for week 4, was really thought provoking, and it

framed this seemingly sweet and innocent phrase in a completely different light; one that is used

to manipulate or control the other person in the relationship (“Because I Love You, Double

Whiskey" by One Love Foundation- Moreau FYE Week Four). I think it is important to

recognize these signs of control or manipulation in the relationship before it may become very

toxic and damaging for the person.

I believe that taking time to learn about those who came before you is important to gain a

greater appreciation of communities that you are a part of. Learning more about the figures who

spearheaded the development of the University of Notre Dame helped me gain an even greater

appreciation and sense of honor to be accepted and attending the school. Father Sorin said, “This

college will be one of the most powerful means of doing good in this country…” (“Letter to Bl.

Basil Moreau” by Fr. Sorin- Moreau FYE Week Five). Father Sorin’s hopes for this University

have most definitely come to fruition. I feel so proud and honored to be a part of this community

that is such a force for good, as Father Sorin had envisioned at the start. It has been quite an

adjustment moving here from New Jersey, and living on my own, however, the vibrant, close

knit community that Notre Dame exudes has made the process seamless, and attending this

school makes you want to live up to the expectations of the founders, and make them proud if

they were here today to see how far it has come, and how the students reflect upon the school.

Coming to college, I didn’t think I was ready to be by myself, but after being here for these few

weeks, I already realize, I am not alone, I am not by myself; and I actually was ready to start a

new chapter, even though I hadn’t quite realized it yet.

I believe that hearing the perspectives of others helps you broaden and deepen your

understanding and view of those around you, as well as the world. I really, truly loved

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwQ5ur9OZ-g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwQ5ur9OZ-g
https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/28308/files/189192?wrap=1
https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/28308/files/189192?wrap=1


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conversing with my fellow classmates about their own stories and journeys, and it has allowed

me to feel more connected to them, but also enabled me to gain a deeper understanding of the

world around me, and more in tune with others' experiences. Learning about Stephanie’s

childhood, growing up in Texas right by the border and how that impacted her was so impactful

and eye opening for me. Also, learning about how Tyler, being from West Virginia, had

encountered his state living with a serious opioid epidemic, and how that shaped him into

wanting to go into psychology, and ultimately try to help people with their mental health, but

without using drugs. I loved getting a glimpse of others' lives, it helped me become immersed in

their shoes, and allowed me to gain more perspective.

I believe that overcoming implicit bias and becoming comfortable with your own story

helps you to pursue the truth. A shocking quote from Scientific American Article states, “One

reason people on both the right and the left are skeptical of implicit bias might be pretty simple:

it isn’t nice to think we aren’t very nice. It would be comforting to conclude, when we don’t

consciously entertain impure intentions, that all of our intentions are pure. Unfortunately, we

can’t conclude that: many of us are more biased than we realize. And that is an important cause

of injustice—whether you know it or not” ( "How to Think About 'Implicit Bias'" by Keith

Payne, Laura Niemi, and John M. Doris- Moreau FYE Week Seven). This was the concluding

paragraph to the article, which I think wrapped it up in a very concise but also compelling way. It

is helping us to come to the realization that even though we may want to act or think a certain

way, sometimes, our underlying biases are simply inescapable, which ultimately is a big factor

for injustice and discrimination as well. Additionally, it is very interesting and eye opening to

listen to other people’s stories who have lived completely different lives as you, and to get their

perspective on things to broaden your perspective of the world. These two factors of recognizing

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-think-about-implicit-bias/


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your inner biases as well as learning about others can come together hand in hand to be a force

for overcoming biases or injustices in the world to seek the truth.