2 ∫∫∫∫ Moreau 11/30/2021 In Life and Uni: Challenges, Community, Hope During life, we encounter many challenges. These range from mundane challenges, such as minor quizzes or our pencil-tips breaking, to overwhelming challenges, like encountering a welcoming group of friends or overcoming systemic difficulties such as discrimination or socioeconomic status. In order to break through life’s challenges, I believe we must find a good community and set of friends to provide a backbone of support, and we must use effort and perseverance alongside hope. Dissonance is one challenge that is very common for college freshmen. Dissonance is when sounds clash inharmoniously, and it is also how one feels when they clash inharmoniously with new surroundings with which they have not yet resonated. I have encountered dissonance when arriving at Notre Dame from not being used to the types of students I interact with. There are many more athletic and liberal-arts-focused people at Notre Dame than what I became familiar with in high school. In addition, many of the people at Notre Dame are accustomed to party culture and drinking culture. Overall, there was a lot of social dissonance between me and others when I arrived at Notre Dame. To ease this dissonance, I have formed close-knit friendships with a few students. Such friends help me feel accepted despite being so uncomfortable around a large portion of students. Even so, the dissonance has not completely gone away. There is an element of perseverance in quelling the social dissonance, as over time as I interact socially with more people at Notre Dame and am more accustomed to it, the remaining dissonance will fade. A specific type of dissonance that is often talked about for new students entering Notre Dame is Imposter Syndrome. Imposter Syndrome is a feeling where one feels like an impostor among us, as if they ne’er do well enough in life to deserve being with those around them, or feel outclassed in skill. This is a natural resistance to recognizing oneself’s own prowess. For me, there is a weak sense of imposter syndrome when I hear about how many AP courses some students took in high school, or see their skills in some very impressive thing I cannot do like piano or theatre. However, for the most part I already overcame most Imposter syndrome issues in high school. My high school pooled together the smartest people around the county into a single school (the school was in high demand, a free public school, and had an entrance exam, so only the smartest students with the highest scores could get a spot; some of those high-school peers of mine are currently at other top schools including MIT and the Ivies). During high-school, I had to get used to being around people who regularly won big math or research competitions whilst maintaining near-perfect grades. Again, perseverance and effort were my friend, and I was able to make it through high school successfully and land here at Notre Dame. As Julia Hogan puts it: “You can’t live your life according to the expectations of others. When you do, you aren’t living your own life — you’re living someone else’s life” (“Why Letting Go of Expectations is a Freeing Habit” by Julia Hogan—Moreau Week 9). I should not let my own perceptions of others’ expectations for how good I should be restrict me or cause mental suffering. Unfortunately, there is now the reverse sense in which Imposter syndrome can be problematic in my life. I have to be mindful that I can myself cause other people in the community to feel Imposter Syndrome, being that I am performing well in school and do impressive sprite-work (a form of digital art). A part of finding a good sense of community is being an upstanding member of said community, without sacrificing one’s own sense of self, so it is important that I keep in mind my own ripples on others’ mental sonars. 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 Entering university, dissonance and Imposter Syndrome may break us down, but by getting through these problems, we can build ourselves back up into better people with stronger values. As said by Kirsten Helgeson of GrottoNetwork, “I want people to also know that their hearts are breakable, and it’s a very good thing, that it’s worth celebrating because it allows you to grow and expand. And you get to put your heart back together” (“Women Find Healing Through Kintsugi Workshop” by Kirsten Helgeson—Moreau Week 10). The lesson is that though we may not like hardship, it is a natural thing to experience (“our hearts are breakable”), and overcoming it can be beneficial for our personal growth. To ensure that we beat our challenges, we can look to the help of our friends and local communities. Community is important for it is always around us and thus constantly influences our life. Our communities may provide support when we are in times of need, but one does not have to like every community member. Regardless, the heart of community is inclusion, even if not everyone sees eye to eye. As Parker J. Palmer says, “The concept of community must embrace even those we perceive as ‘enemy’” (“Thirteen Ways of Looking at Community” by Parker J. Palmer—Moreau Week 11). By exposing yourself to the entire community, one can gain a better understanding of the world, which can also help with tackling both one’s own problems and the larger issues of the world. One more means to tackle life’s issues is a healthy combination of perseverance and hope. Life is a function; it requires effort as input, and (usually) pops out rewards as the output. Perseverance is to maintain effort over a long period of time, especially during challenges, until one emerges at the end. However, it is not always easy to will oneself to do so much over the long term. That is what hope is for. Hope is believing in a better future or a sustained good, and is a driving reason to put effort into life if it is clear that the effort will lead to the realization of https://grottonetwork.com/make-an-impact/heal/find-healing-through-kintsugi-art/ https://grottonetwork.com/make-an-impact/heal/find-healing-through-kintsugi-art/ http://couragerenewal.org/parker/writings/13-ways-of-looking-at-community/ these hopes. Hope is also a way to justify our decisions and change, as it can meaningfully back up what we choose in our minds. According to the Notre Dame Campus Ministry, “We need to have hope… to believe that what is born of questioning beliefs previously taken for granted will lead us to a new and better understanding of our vocation as citizens in this world and for the next” (“Hope - Holy Cross and Christian Education” by the Notre Dame Campus Ministry—Moreau Week 12). What this means is that hope can and should be used as a tool to support continued learning about topics we think we know about. By hoping we can get something out of revisiting and questioning old beliefs, it may actually be the case that we do. Overall, hope is a powerful tool when combined with effort and perseverance. During life, we encounter many challenges. For first-time college students like me, some of these challenges include dissonance and impostor syndrome. Community, hope, and perseverance, especially when used correctly, can be the means to overcome these challenges. With the right tools in the toolbox of knowledge, we can tackle anything, remaining healthy and sane in the process, and be ready for what’s next https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/25086/files/192591?module_item_id=109468