My experience of Notre Dame Moreau


 This semester in Moreau, I have been able to expand and see my self-knowledge on myself and have been able to reflect more than I’ve ever been able to. I have struggled throughout the year, and I have gotten better and better over the past months. I have been trying my best.  In class, I have been able to participate in a lot of meaningful conversations slightly, but sometimes I have been too nervous even to talktells because I do not want to say the wrong thing. I  have been able to learn a lot about not only me but other students as well; it has been very honored to meet new people’s personalities and see where they come from in life enjoy it. I’ve been challenged more than ever to use my skills and thinking and join in certain activities that I probably would not do by myself or in my free time. I appreciate you Professor Finan; you have been doing a great job at teaching us, leading us in the right direction, and moving students around so we could group in conversations with different people in the class. This semester helped me a lot more at figuring out who I am,  what I want to do in life once I get out of school, and once I stop dribbling the basketball. 
	Week 9  assignment was one of the best because it had me thinking about a lot of hate, and my discussion in class was a helpful way for me to grow in confidence and ignore doubters and haters from my life. The quote that stood out to me this week was, “Everyone is susceptible to 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” - (Elizabeth Cox TED Talk.) The doubt that we are holding ourselves crumbles us because we think we’re the only ones that feel like that. But other people do too. Many more people in the world think like that than we think. It is also the fact that people that agree to this to other people feel better because people know they’re not the only ones that think like that. It helps them come together better, and then they can relate to each other and help each other become more confident. This week also helped me rethink relationships I had with people, and it made me question their true intentions. I already had a sense of this, but not living your life according to others’ expectations is super important because when you live by trying to reach their expectations, you really aren’t living your own life. You’re living their life instead of your own if you just try to gain their expectations.
I learned about how people with hate and how they can get of that from their lives and live without that hatred anymore in week 10. I found an important quote from St. Augustine I found was, “It is strange that we should not realize that no enemy could be more dangerous to us than the hatred with which we hate him.” This quote says how the hatred within people is more dangerous than the actual man that we hate. The hate with us is negative at us and our soul, and we become less good of a person because we carry that hate around in us. I think that there have been times where I’ve held hatred for someone else, and I hated that feeling of disgust. It is not a good feeling to be hated, but you have to block that out and keep moving. I’ve learned to overcome that hatred by reminding myself and saying that we only live one life, and I do not want to have that hatred hold me back from being my best for myself. God wants all of us to live in his image and likeness, and I do not think being a hateful person is something that he would enjoy. To overcome hatred in this world, we have to admit to it and give ourselves up to find ways to replace hatred within us for love so that we can all live at peace internally. There is no reason to hate someone because everyone has feelings, just like other people and like I said, we only live one time; let’s not take anything for granted.
Week 12’s assignment, I learned about how the devil is tempting us all and how we must remain hopeful and trust in God and his plan for everything. Even though it might sound good at the moment, the devil tries to tempt us by giving us things for pleasure at the moment instead of giving us something that will make us eternally happy. The devil and the demons know that they will never win the battle with God because God is too powerful. A quote from chapter 8 in The Screwtape Letters says, “One must face the fact that all the talk about His love with men, and His service being perfect freedom, is not mere propaganda, but an appalling truth. He does want to fill the universe with a lot of loathsome little replicas of Himself -- creatures whose life, on its miniature scale, will be qualitatively like His own, not because he has absorbed them but because there will freely conform to His. We want cattle who can finally become food; He wants cattle who can finally become sons.” The demon Screwtape said this to the demon Wormwood, and it’s clear to see that even the demons know of God’s strength and power. He says how God gives humans the right to choose either good or evil, and since God gives this right, they have to try to pick off the weak humans. Demons use people’s souls as food, where as God keeps our souls protected and in eternal peace. I will say there have been times in my life when I’ve chosen the wrong decision, and there have been times when I chose the right decision. The main thing I’ve learned is that when things in life aren’t looking the best, I keep my faith and hope in God. He gives challenges to everyone, and it’s up to us to decide whether we want to believe in him and trust him or give in to the devil’s temptations. 
The ways that this semester’s class has been able to help me improve the  faith  I have and my mental health about things has been an excellent experience. I’ve came outside of my comfort zone a little bit but I still have work to do, and have been able to kinda but slighty talk  in conversations and make friends with people who have a lot in common with me. The devil will always try to make us do the wrong choices, so it’s always good to think about what Jesus would do and what God would want us to do. I there are many good ways to deal with hate within people and replace that hate with love. I also believe that it’s essential to live our lives according to us and not live up to the expectations that other people want us to. It is very essential to stick with yourself and be yourself and do not let anyone come in the way of doing what you want to do.


Thank you Professor Finan for helping with with everything throught this class. I have struggled and havent been doing what I was told at the begginning of the class but I feel like I have made improvement and hope you have enjoyed having me in your class.
Thankyou.