Integration- Santiago Jazmin Inner Peace and Experience My beliefs have usually been pretty static throughout my life. Usually, they are impacted by the people around me and my experiences while growing up. Although I don’t expect to change my beliefs in the future (I cannot predict this 100%), my experiences in college and in the workforce should continue to build on and reinforce my current beliefs. I believe that I am responsible for myself and my actions in school, at home, and within my community. My parents raised me to value self ownership and to shape my actions around their respective consequences. Something that has changed, however, is that my parents used to guide me in my decision-making. Now that I am away from home, I have more authority over what I do and how I live my life. I know that I will inevitably make plenty of mistakes, but I can’t wait to learn from them and do better. I believe that I grow by building on my previous experiences and by being more vulnerable with myself about my own weaknesses. I think that it is especially important to remember that there are resources I can reach out to when I need help. Previously, I had issues with being vulnerable (and to an extent I still do), but during Moreau, one of the main things that stuck with me was, “vulnerability is the birthplace of joy, creativity, belonging, and love.” 1 For this reason, I am more willing to experiment with vulnerability in my life. In terms of building on previous experiences, I think it is important to learn from failure and not view it so negatively. For example, I have gotten pretty sick during my time here. I think this is because I did not eat or sleep enough and I learned my lesson the hard way. I plan on using fall break to catch up on rest and eat good food, and then I plan on changing my habits when I come back. This made me think about week two in our classes. “Adam I is built by building on your strengths. Adam II is built by fighting your weaknesses.” 2 Although I need to focus on my weaknesses, I think it is important to build upon my existing strengths and take advantage of being able to nap anytime and anywhere in order to catch up on sleep when I need to. I believe that I am searching for experiences that will help me grow through exposure to the world. I am also searching for people that I can depend on and also help. Lastly, I believe that I am searching for inner peace. I have always wanted to travel the world and I have a great love of learning (especially by experience). I think that I am sure to meet people that I can form long lasting relationships with 2 https://youtu.be/MlLWTeApqIM David Brooks, “Live for resume or eulogy?” (Week 2) 1 https://youtu.be/X4Qm9cGRub0 Brene Brown, “Power of Vulnerability” (Week 1) https://youtu.be/MlLWTeApqIM https://youtu.be/X4Qm9cGRub0 while traveling. That being said, I think it is important to avoid toxicity in these relationships and I thus found this quote to be useful: “Beware of the friend who says they hate drama. Unfortunately, this is the friend who actually loves drama and frequently finds themselves in the center of it.” 3 I think that being involved in needless drama is not a very good thing, so I will definitely keep this in mind when meeting a lot of people (while maintaining respect and decency of course). One of the main reasons I came to Notre Dame was actually to find inner peace. When I visited campus for the first time during my sophomore year, everyone I met seemed very friendly, welcoming, and calm while going about their everyday lives. “Their very voices and faces are different from ours; stronger, quieter, happier, more radiant.” 4 This quote accurately describes how I viewed the students at Notre Dame, and this is what I aspire to achieve by the time I graduate. I believe that I forge life-giving relationships by respecting others and finding people with common values and aspirations. I must be open to meeting new people and recognizing when relationships aren’t going too well. I think that if I end up traveling, I will meet a lot of people that are different from me. It is therefore important to keep in mind that stereotyping is common and I will likely engage in bias and be on the receiving end as well until I can gather enough information to form more accurate conclusions about groups of people. This is what I learned from the following quote: “If you are like most people, it happens all the time [bias]. That doesn’t make you a racist, sexist, or whatever-ist. It just means that your brain is working properly, noticing patterns and making generalizations.” 5 So far, I have met a lot of people at Notre Dame because there are students from all over the country and world. I have become friends with people who were raised completely different from me but generally have similar values. I am excited to get to know more people during my time here. Lastly, I believe that my community should help everyone grow and contribute to the upbringing of others. A community should be welcoming and make me feel like I am at home. Throughout my life, I have been a part of many different communities, and these are the traits that I’ve enjoyed the most. So far, my experiences at Notre Dame have aligned with these traits that I look for in a community. Everyone is friendly and welcoming, and although our values are not exactly the same, we all have an inclination toward service and doing good. For this reason, I was fascinated by the story of the school’s founding, and this is what stuck 5 https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-think-about-implicit-bias/ Payne, Doris, Niemi, “How to Think About Bias” (Week 7) 4 https://grottonetwork.com/keep-the-faith/belief/faith-brings-light-to-dark-world/?utm_source=fall_2021&ut m_medium=class&utm_id=moreau David Fagerberg, “Faith Brings Light to a Dark World” (Week 3) 3 https://grottonetwork.com/navigate-life/relationships/signs-of-toxic-friendships/ Olivia Taylor, “Signs of Toxic Friendship” (Week 4) https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-think-about-implicit-bias/ 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 https://grottonetwork.com/navigate-life/relationships/signs-of-toxic-friendships/ with me the most: “the lake, particularly, appeared so beautiful. This college will be one of the most powerful means of doing good in this country.” 6 During my time here at Notre Dame, I want to continue exploring my beliefs and see how my experiences will further reinforce them. I look forward to meeting new people, having new experiences, and keeping an open mind to anything that comes my way. 6 https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o56woQDq3QrRkziT8eYrvYly5CQaP2Vb/view Fr. Sorin, “Letter to Bl. Basil Moreau” (Week 5) https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o56woQDq3QrRkziT8eYrvYly5CQaP2Vb/view