08/25/2021
1) Review the Moreau FYE Fall 2021 syllabus. Which of the focus questions or objectives stated in the document stand out to you as particularly relevant to your life?
· The objective regarding “defining beliefs and values” stands out to me because I believe as a young adult in an influential world, it is important to stay grounded in your morals. Especially in college, it is easy to be overwhelmed by the abundant opportunities and distractions. Therefore, I want to figure out my priorities and what morals I want to live by so that I stay true to myself. 
2) Drawing from Dr. Brown’s commentary, submit a QQC Reflection to prepare for in-class discussion. View the “QQC Reflections” section of the syllabus for detailed guidance.
· Question: How can we teach people to believe they are worthy of love and belonging? Does that come from positive reinforcement or life experience?
· Quote: “In order for connection to happen, we have to allow ourselves to be seen, really seen.” (The power of vulnerability, Brené Brown). This quote stands out to me because it seems very relevant to the first few weeks of a first-year college student’s life. Everyone is trying to make good first impressions and build friendships. However, in an attempt to please everyone, we can be too cautious of what we are saying and avoid “being seen” for a fear that people may not like us for who we are. The result of a lack of vulnerability is a lack of genuine connection, which is ultimately what we look for when building relationships. Therefore, it is important to be vulnerable and share our identities with others regardless of how we think they will perceive us. Even if we lose a lot of connections from doing this, the genuine ones that we make will be worth it. 
· Comment: I am from Portland, Oregon which is very different from South Bend, Indiana in many ways such as culture, diversity, weather, and more. Furthermore, there aren’t many students from Portland that come to Notre Dame which pushes me out of my comfort zone to meet new people from different cities and backgrounds. The theme of this speech applies to me because in order to make genuine connections with people that are different from me, I need to allow myself to be vulnerable. I interpret this as making an effort to vocalize my experiences, culture, hardships and more to find things to connect about with other students.