Oscar Anzola-Schnell
An Empathetic Community
	The most important realization I have made since coming to Notre Dame is the significance of empathy and openness towards all beliefs in order to create a positive community. We must all be able to freely opine on important topics and most importantly we must listen to others as well. Through this together is that progress in society can be made. 
	For this reason, it is critical to recognize personal instances of dissonance and attempt to correct them. One must always have dissonance in mind when answering questions relating to your beliefs and fight against bias towards the truth. 
	For one to open to others and their beliefs, it is critical to be empathetic towards yourself. Julia Hogan asserts, “Remember that none of us is perfect. We all make mistakes. We will disappoint people. We’ll disappoint ourselves. But the world doesn’t have to end when that happens.” This quote is important because it helps us understand other people as well. Just as we are not perfect, we cannot expect perfection at all times in a community. We need to be able to all communicate with each other to reach common goals. 
	This openness towards others beliefs allows you to grow as a person. In order to effectively do this, one must converse in a civilized manner with others. I believe Fr. Jenkins states this point well by declaring, “The moment I venture into tone and language that is unlikely to persuade, it can be a signal that I have left the sphere of respectful discourse. Once I do that, my odds plunge of winning over another, and the chances rise that I am expressing hatred — which will lead to factions and fracture the common good. With the common good fractured, any individual good becomes a very fragile hope indeed.” I believe this quote is the answer to solving the problem of polarization in the modern world. I think people could apply this quote to their daily lives because it gives a clear indication of what to do and what not to do. We must come together to have dialogues and not ignore the other side. When we ignore other’s point of view, they quickly become a mysterious enemy with an unknown plan to destroy us.  When you engage with others you manage to build empathy for their positions and better understand that we are not too dissimilar after all. Furthermore, through respectful argumentation both sides will recognize the common goals all Americans share and how we can all strive for unity and progress in society.Coming from Venezuela, I have seen a polarization in society which makes American politics seem remarkably civil, and it is not a positive thing. There is constant tension in the country and each side hates each other. As a society, we need to come together to become more empathetic which will naturally lead to unity.
	Relating to empathy and unity, it is important to build a strong community based on love. Parker J. Palmer asserts, “This simple fact has critical implications: community is not a goal to be achieved but a gift to be received. When we treat community as a product that we must manufacture instead of a gift we have been given, it will elude us eternally.” I believe this quote means that we must let people express themselves and forge the bonds that nature dictates. To do this, one must look inward instead of outward when searching for community as community naturally exists. It is in our self-reflection that we realize what communities are and how we can improve by changing ourselves as individuals. Personally, I believe this is why it has become clear to me that I need to value empathy more. When self-reflecting, I realized that I can become a better and more inclusive member of any community by utilizing more empathy. Sometimes, I struggle to open up and since coming to Notre Dame, I have been encouraged to change this behavior. I believe by doing so I can contribute more to this community.
	Furthermore I believe when one has hope in a community, there is a greater motivation to improve it. I believe we encounter hope in the rest of humanity when we place hope within ourselves. Personally, I find hope when I am being the best version of myself. For example, when I am going above and beyond in academics and extracurriculars, I feel I am contributing more to the world around me and feel better about the future. I think finding hope is an internal battle. 
	As it pertains to Notre Dame, I have come to the conclusion that a focus on education forgers people to be more virtuous and therefore leads to a better community. Fr. James B. King states, “He expected instructors, whether religious or lay, to cultivate excellence in the classroom, be models of zealous virtue, and fashion a second home for their charges. He wanted those young people, as would any Catholic educator, to carry their formation with them and be battle-ready for the challenges to their faith that they would inevitably face in the wider world.” I believe this quote to be very true of Notre Dame and it encapsulates the goals I set out for myself as well. It should be the goal of everyone to be as virtuous as possible and strive for excellence in an ethical way. Of course, it is not always clear what the most virtuous path is in every scenario. However, I believe a good education allows people to be better prepared to make the right decisions when those difficult options arise. Through critical thinking development, we can form a clear sense of what a virtuous person is. Furthermore, by constantly challenging our worldview and encountering new perspectives we can fine tune our own notion of virtue to better include all people. This possibility of a more enlightened virtuous individual should give hope to all of a better, more empathetic future. 
	In conclusion, this semester has made me realize that a meaningful community can be found through fighting dissonance, accepting imperfection, having civilized discourse, being empathetic, finding hope, and critical thinking. While all these topics might not be directly related, they all come together when the goal is to fosters a united, open society.


Works Cited
Why Letting Go of Expectations is a Freeing Habit by Julia Hogan - Moreau FYE Week 9
https://grottonetwork.com/navigate-life/health-and-wellness/letting-go-of-expectations/?utm_source=fall_2021&utm_medium=class&utm_id=moreau

Wesley Theological Seminary Commencement by Fr. Jenkins - Moreau FYE Week 10
https://president.nd.edu/homilies-writings-addresses/wesley-theological-seminary-commencement/

Thirteen Ways of Looking at Community by Parker J. Palmer - Moreau FYE Week 11
http://couragerenewal.org/parker/writings/13-ways-of-looking-at-community/

Hope - Holy Cross and a Christian Education by Fr. James. B King - Moreau FYE Week 12
https://campusministry.nd.edu/assets/105621/