My Meaningful Encounters
	Encountering new things is the very essence of how a person changes. I wouldn’t say that I have changed a lot on a moral level, if at all, since coming to Notre Dame. However, my perspective has definitely been something that has changed since I last was in school, my junior year of high school. One thing I have encountered here at Notre Dame that has changed my perspective is that there is far more diversity here in this community than there was at my highschool and in my hometown. Where I’m from it is predominantly a white and asian area. Here at Notre Dame there is far more diversity and I have appreciated new experiences with people of color and people who are of Latino descent. The interesting thing about me saying Notre Dame is diverse, is it truly isn’t. We only have 5% of an African American student body. However, coming from a school of 2500 with 5 kids who are African American, it is definitely better for me to have encountered more experiences and perspectives. One quote that resonated with me was from week nine regarding the idea of imposter syndrome. This really opened my eyes because as I said, I have experienced far more minorities since coming to school than I had before. While I personally have not ever felt descrimination, the following quote I encountered made me think about the possible insecurities that people who do experience discrimination may feel. While talking about the feeling of being an imposter, Elizabeth Cox says “There is often no level of accomplishment that puts these feelings to rest” (“What is Imposter Syndrome” by Elizabeth Cox - Moreau FYE Week 9). This quote makes me wonder how demeaning someone would have to be toward someone else in order for someone to feel as if they can’t do anything in their life to become worthy. It hurts me, and I am glad that I now have more friends who are minorities who know that there are good and caring people out there. While also on the topic of race/minorities, I have encountered more Catholic people who have very similar beliefs to me here at Notre Dame than I had ever before in my life. I had never gone to Catholic school even though I am a practicing Catholic. Being around and learning about Catholic values in school has been interesting. When it comes to my encounters, I was intrigued when I read our week ten module, specifically a quotes which stated “Catholic social teaching demands that we teach students what racism is and why and how to oppose it” (“Should Catholic Schools Teach Critical Race Theory” by Christopher Devron - Moreau FYE Week 10). I was particularly interested when I encountered this quote because there is a stigma attached to Christians of all kinds that we discriminate and use the Bible to do so. In reality, I find this to be extremely untrue. This quote alone acts in support. It is clear to me that as a Christian and more specifically a Catholic, we have been taught to love our neighbor growing up. With that being said, as I mentioned before it is inevitable to encounter people who believe that Catholics just love to discriminate when it is convenient for them. I have not encountered anyone like this, and if I ever did, I would respond by having a very focused and stern but respectful conversation about why that is not okay. After all, Jesus teaches us to love our neighbor, not discourage them. As I previously mentioned, this is the first Catholic school I have been to. My hometown is definitely predominantly Christian, but we have a very large Jewish population also. The majority of my highschool friends who I was closest with are Jewish. I bring this up because I have yet to be a part of a Catholic community. In coming to Notre Dame, this changed completely as I am happy that tons of people here share my faith. This new community I have encountered has done wonders for me and my faith, but it is definitely something I have been cognizant to not become too reliant on. The quote from Parker Palmer in week 11 captures this idea perfectly as he says “The most common connotation of the word “community” in our culture is “intimacy,” but this is a trap” (“Thirteen Ways of Looking at Community” by Parker Palmer - Moreau FYE Week 11). I can truly relate to this because while I want to know everyone who I have become close with, it has been important for me to set boundaries. Even though I get along and share a lot of values with them, it's important to not completely fall in love with the idea of a group of people who believe the same things. I do believe that hanging around people who only believe the same things as you is dangerous. While I am happy to have encountered plenty of Catholics who believe tons of things I do, I have responded by knowing that it's still important to hear other people's viewpoints and ideas on any idea that can be disputed. The last thing that I want to focus on from my encounters stems from week 12 of our class. I am not lying one bit when I say that once I encountered this quote, it has stuck with me. This quote took me a long while to fully understand. The quote is one from C.S. Lewis and it states “Humans are amphibians--- half spirit and half animal” (“The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis - Moreau FYE Week 12). This quote is so interesting to me because I had never encountered this kind of thought. While we are taught from a young age that even when we die our spirits live on, I never really believed that my physical body was my spirit. I believed my spirit was more of my consciousness or my mind, and not something physical. C.S. Lewis offers an interesting idea that maybe our bodies are mixed with our spirits and we potentially aren’t mammals, but amphibians. I can’t say that I have totally bought into this idea and everything that comes with it, but it is interesting and I am glad to have encountered it.