Fitzgerald 

Moreau
Professor Lassen
3 December 2021
Encountering and Overcoming New Challenges in College
	In my first few months of college I have encountered many new challenges. Being 12 hours away from home, I no longer have my parents and the rest of my family to help guide me. Although they are just one phone call away, I don’t have the comfort of getting off the bus after school everyday to see my two dogs run towards me. Adjusting to a college environment, both academically and personally, was definitely challenging over these months. The response I had to these new situations varied but as time progressed, I learned how to better respond to my encounters and help myself to both do well and enjoy Notre Dame.
	The first encounter I had at Notre Dame was with my Navy ROTC unit. Two days prior to the rest of my fellow freshman arriving at school, I formed up within a one hundred person battalion for what was called battalion reconstitution. During the reconstitution, the incoming freshman and myself were given a whole list of expectations. We were told what GPA we needed to maintain, how many days a week we needed to go to PT, what our new jobs within our squad were, and several other expectations. If these expectations were repeated to me today, they would not phase me. I now understand the reasoning behind each and know that as long as I put in some effort, I can meet each expectation. But, at the time it frightened me. The days and weeks following I constantly wondered whether or not I was doing a good enough job.
	On top of the expectations I received from my unit, I also had expectations from my family and myself I wanted to live up to. When applying to colleges I set high expectations for going to a good school and making my parents and grandparents proud. When I was accepted off of the waitlist, I was ecstatic, for one I got accepted into Notre Dame and I was sure I made my parents proud. During the months leading up to school I was afraid that I wouldn’t be able to keep up with my fellow classmates when school started. I thought that everyone was going to be way smarter than me. But, I also didn’t want to disappoint my family and perform poorly. Because of this, during the first few weeks of school, I pushed myself to work hard in order to make sure I keep up with everyone else and do well. At the same time, I constantly had a nagging thought that the other midshipman in my unit were performing better than I was or my engineering classmates learned how to use excel and solidworks faster than I was able to. 
Looking back I now realize that I had what is commonly referred to as the imposter syndrome. The imposter syndrome is commonly defined as when someone has doubt or a feeling that they do not belong in a certain environment despite all of the reasons that got them to where they were. In the TED talk “What is Imposter Syndrome” by Elizabeth Cox she states, “He (Albert Einstein) described himself as an ‘involuntary swindler’ whose work didn’t deserve as much attention as it had received.” (“What is the Imposter Syndrome” by Elizabeth Cox - Moreau FYE Week Nine) By using Albert Einstein as an example of someone well known that experiences the imposter syndrome, Elizabeth Cox does a good job showing her audience that this syndrome affects people who are truly accomplished. For me, this quote was significant because I have always viewed Einstein as one of, if not the smartest person to live. Oftentimes, I have heard people or even heard myself comparing someone to Einstein when they say something smart or if they are doing well on a topic in class other’s are struggling with. By hearing that Einstein experienced the imposter syndrome, I understand that this “syndrome” doesn’t just affect college students or people who are actually not deserving of their accomplishments. Instead, it can affect anyone, no matter how successful. By the time we got to the ninth week of moreau I was not experiencing the imposter syndrome as much as I had at the beginning of the school year. But, being able to hear about someone distinguished from experiencing the syndrome, it reassured me that during the beginning of school, I was not the only one experiencing what I thought.
	During the first few weeks of school I encountered a lot of challenges. The majority of these were related to the concern I had because of the many things expected of me. The way I responded to these was by surrounding myself with people who were in similar situations. By working alongside other people in my dorm, in my engineering class, and in ROTC, we were able to learn from one another and help each other to succeed. As Father Jenkins said, “There is no law of motion in the physical universe that guarantees that you would end up where you are today. More likely, the many demands of life were pushing you in other directions, and you pushed back. Even if the Spirit called you here, the world did not make it easy to arrive.” (“Wesley Theological Seminary 2012 Commencement Address” by Father Jenkins - Moreau FYE Week 10) There was nothing that guaranteed that any of us would end up where we are today. For myself and my fellow classmates, we were not born with the guarantee we’d get accepted into Notre Dame. We all had to work hard in highschool, and during that time, experience many things that made getting good grades or keeping a good mindset difficult. Being freshman at Notre Dame, together we experience very similar challenges. These include adjusting to classes, being away from home, and finding new friends. When I realized this, it became a lot easier for me to conquer many of my challenges because I was able to conquer them with others, not just by myself.
	At the same time that I began surrounding myself with classmates that would help me out just as much as I helped them, I began to encounter people I did not get along with well. I went to a highschool with only 70 students in my class and because of that I tried to avoid causing any conflicts or being unliked by anyone because of the time I’d be spending with them during our four years. At Notre Dame, I used that same approach. Parker Palmer says “The concept of community must embrace even those we perceive as “enemy.” (“Thirteen Ways of Looking at Community” by Parker Palmer - Moreau FYE Week 11) My classmates in my engineering classes, my dorm, and ROTC unit are all people that I will be spending the next four years alongside. Because of this they are all members of my Notre Dame community. If I perceive the people I don’t get along with well as “enemies” these next four years would be miserable. In order to overcome the challenge of getting along with these people, I find that listening is the best way to get along with someone. Even through conflict, by listening to someone else tell you their side of their story you can gain two things. First, you are able to figure out why they feel a certain way and learn a little bit about them. In my past experience, but learning about someone you can understand better how they feel. In conflict, this may help to resolve conflicts because you may realize there is miscommunication or the two of you can compromise over the things you learned. The other thing that listening helps you to do is helps to build your friendship and connection. By showing interest by listening to someone wholeheartedly, they will most likely recognize that and appreciate it. Along with that, it helps you to learn more about them and help you to build a good friendship. By doing this, this past semester I have been able to create relationships, even friendships, with others I may have gotten off on a bad start with.
	The final challenge I have faced is being hopeful for what is to come. During busy weeks, such as final weeks, it can be difficult to have hope. As CS Lewis wrote, “We can drag our patients along by continual tempting, because we design them only for the table, and the more their will is interfered with the better.” (“The Screwtape Letters” by CS Lewis - Moreau FYE week 12) Lewis, by writing this, explains that temptation conflicts with your whole life choices because these temptations interfere with your will and life. Because of these temptations it can be difficult to have hope because they can lead us to having false hope. This applies to finals week and other times during the semester where you face challenges because you may be tempted to go out on the weekends or find something other than studying to do. By doing this, it can hurt your hopes of doing well on finals while at the same time if you stay in to study all the time, it can hurt your hopes of having a good time in college. But, it is important to find a balance between these two things and most things in college.
	Over the past few months, I have encountered many challenges. These included not thinking I belonged, not thinking I lived up to my expectations, having a hard time getting along with other students, or having contradicting hopes and temptations. Overall, I found that by surrounding myself with friends who faced similar challenges, they could help me overcome all of them. I could lean on them for support and sometimes by just talking to them I’d realize I was not in this alone. I now have clarity about why I am at Notre Dame and why I deserve to be here, and know that any challenges I face in the future can be solved by taking a minute to step back and reflect in the same ways this course has made me reflect on topics just like the imposter syndrome.