Week 8 - Integration Pierpoint 1 Professor Retartha Moreau 15 October 2021 Why Do My Beliefs Shape My Journey Through Life? As Marcus Garvey, a Jamaican political activist and journalist once wrote, “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin, and culture is like a tree without roots'' (Blackhistorymonth.org). Every single experience, whether menial or pivotal, impacts who we are, how we behave, and what we believe in. Our “past history” can unconsciously or consciously shape our personal development and our root beliefs. Through my transformative high school experience and the start of my journey in college, I have reflected upon my past experiences and my future desires, and have formed my root beliefs. By understanding my personal root beliefs –– using my passions to find a meaningful profession that has the ability to change lives, living my life in the presence, feeling confident to become vulnerable in order to forge life-giving relationships, understanding the origin and importance of both the negative and positive stories and never surrendering no matter how enticing giving up may be –– I can better understand my identity and shape my life in a way that can aid in finding meaning and purpose. Even though I have spent just a short amount of time at Notre Dame, I have understood that my passion for helping others can coincide with a career in medicine in order to help me live a life of meaning and purpose. After watching the Ted Talk in which Brooks explains how a number of people unconsciously live for their resume instead of their eulogy impacted the way I began to think about my choices and my priorities. Throughout high school, I focused on my external successes and accomplishments, specifically in regards to my academics or my Pierpoint 2 performance on the tennis team. I became obsessed with Adam One’s intentions and I connected my self worth with academic validation. Looking back on it now, I wish I could have prioritized Adam Two’s goals and pursued more of my passions (“Should You Live for your Resume or Your Eulogy by David Brooks - Moreau FYE Week Two). Because of this recent realization, I am now committed to make a conscious effort at Notre Dame to pursue my passions and focus more on what will lead me to find authenticity and happiness. My mom has always told me that my most apparent personality trait is my “big heart.” Through high school and the beginning of college, I have come to understand that she is correct. I care for my friends and family on a deeper level where I can feel their pain, their happiness, their discomfort. I believe that my purpose is to help others, whether that lies in the medical field or just volunteering my time to help those who are less fortunate. I find that I am most satisfied and fulfilled when I know that I have made a difference and an impact on that person’s day, week, life, etc. Through this attribute of mine, I realized that a career in medicine will allow me to use my strengths of kindness, empathy, humility, and honesty, found through the VIA Character Strength Survey (Moreau FYE Week Two), to find my full potential and help others recover theirs. In retrospect, my high school experience went by in a blink of an eye, and I wish I could have cherished more of the time that I spent doing the things that led me towards meaning. It is so incredibly easy to be focused on the future –– future problems, future goals, future relationships –– and to ignore what the present offers. While watching Carla Ann Harris give her Laetare Medalist Address, she mentioned how we should be intentional with our time and spend it in a way that we can get the largest return on our time (Notre Dame Commencement 2021: Laetare Medalist Address by Carla Ann Harris - Moreau FYE Week 5). Time is something that I can never get back, so whenever I have the good moments, I should appreciate them, and https://www.ted.com/talks/david_brooks_should_you_live_for_your_resume_or_your_eulogy?language=zh https://www.ted.com/talks/david_brooks_should_you_live_for_your_resume_or_your_eulogy?language=zh https://www.viacharacter.org/survey/account/register https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjSwjn-SyB4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjSwjn-SyB4 Pierpoint 3 whenever I have the bad moments, I should appreciate their importance in actively shaping me. In order to obtain this “largest return on time,” I believe that I should spend it creating the stories that will help me find my meaning and purpose in life. In order to forge life-giving relationships, it is imperative to have the ability to lower your guard and become vulnerable with others and yourself. I find that I struggle to be vulnerable in front of others as our society has led us to believe that we are weak if we show any sign of weakness or emotion that is not happiness. During Week 6 of Moreau, we talked about the various influencing factors that have helped form our present self (“Where I’m From” by Ella Lyon - Moreau FYE Week 6) and I wasn’t cognisant of the magnitude to which my family impacted who I am as a person today. I come from a family where hard work ethic and sacrifice is valued and complaining is rarely an option; this isn’t always necessarily a bad thing, but it has come to affect the way I handle my emotions and express them to others. Ever since I was young, I struggled with expressing my emotions and unfortunately, this cycle continues. However, after listening to Brené Brown and her viewpoint on vulnerability, I recognize that I have to change the way I view my vulnerability: rather than perceiving vulnerability as a weakness, I need to embrace it as a key point to finding connection and meaningful relationships. I need to let go of who I think I should be, and accept who I am in order to have the most positive connections. Dr. Brown explains that people who have a strong sense of belonging and love are those who have the courage to be imperfect (“The Power of Vulnerability” by Brené Brown -Moreau FYE Week One). I believe that my fear of unworthiness or connection is simply the one ingredient that keeps me out of connection. I numb myself to the feeling of being vulnerable because I lack the courage to be imperfect. I believe that I can forge life-giving relationships by understanding that I am enough; once I can accept that I am perfectly imperfect, http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4Qm9cGRub0 Pierpoint 4 I can establish the confidence I need to feel vulnerable. Becoming vulnerable is a new addition to my root beliefs because in order to have deep and meaningful relationships with others, there needs to be a sense of vulnerability in which we can trust one another. Once this sense of vulnerability is established, I can understand the qualities of a healthy relationship using the “Healthy Vs. Unhealthy Relationships” PDF–– respect, honesty, equality –– so that I can maintain a beneficial relationship and differentiate those from the toxic traits (Healthy Vs. Unhealthy Relationships by The Red Flag Campaign - Moreau FYE Week 4). Opening up and surrendering to vulnerability will help to build these healthy attributes and form a stronger bond (one that could not be found without vulnerability) that will provide a deep satisfaction in life. Our lives are defined by every single story and experience, both negative and positive, but in order to better understand ourselves, we need to understand how these stories play a role in our development as a person. As humans, it is only natural to focus on the negative aspects that develop our daily lives. It is easier to think of the worst because we can prepare ourselves for the possible outcomes, therefore it would make sense why people tend to focus more on and remember more of the negative experiences in our lives. But Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie reminded me that to only focus on these negative stories is overlooking all of the other stories that have shaped who I am (The danger of a single story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Moreau FYE Week 7). I am not going to deny that my learning disorder or my struggle with anxiety has not shaped who I am but there have been so many amazing positive stories in my life: meeting my best friends, traveling the world and appreciating the world’s different cultures with my family, or growing up in a loving household that supports me. All of these stories have a significant impact on my maturation. Both negative and positive stories morph me into the person I am today, but the negative stories don’t solely define me, and the positive stories don’t https://drive.google.com/a/nd.edu/file/d/0B93cIKOnINCLS1JpUzZ5Q1JseGs/view?usp=sharing https://drive.google.com/a/nd.edu/file/d/0B93cIKOnINCLS1JpUzZ5Q1JseGs/view?usp=sharing https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story/up-next Pierpoint 5 solely define me, they contribute equally. But one thing has remained constant in regards to my stories, I have never surrendered. Because of this, I have learned how to endure a variety of struggles and resist their influence in the formation of my stories. “Hope is confident because it rests upon God’s power, not our own” (Faith Brings Light to a Dark World - Moreau FYE Week 3). This quote directly correlates to when I received my letter informing me that I was accepted into the Gateway Program. At first, I was disappointed, but now I can’t even imagine what it would be like to not be a part of this amazing program. I had hoped that my Gateway experience would be positive and because of this hope, I accepted the program’s offer and jumped into an unknown abyss. Now eight weeks into my Gateway experience, I know that ND is going to write me a story that will dramatically shape who I am going to be in the future. https://grottonetwork.com/keep-the-faith/belief/faith-brings-light-to-dark-world/?utm_source=fall_2021&utm_medium=class&utm_id=moreau https://grottonetwork.com/keep-the-faith/belief/faith-brings-light-to-dark-world/?utm_source=fall_2021&utm_medium=class&utm_id=moreau