Moreau FYE Integration Two
Encounter and Response
	So far at Notre Dame I have encountered a lot. I have encountered a lot of people from a lot of backgrounds with a lot of ideas, some of which I agree with and some of which I don't. The content presented in Moreau has been representative of some of the ideas that I have encountered, but I believe that the majority of encounters and learning concerning what Moreau teaches occur outside of the classroom. However, the class provided some good information and sources, which I will use to reflect on this first semester.
	Coming from an all-male high school, I have never really been surrounded by a community which cares so much about mental health. Here at Notre Dame, however, the student body and administration seem to care a good amount about it, and the content from at least two Moreau weeks touched on it. I think that this is a good thing; I don't tend to struggle with mental health problems myself, but I think it is important for those who do to feel supported and have resources.
	Week 9 contained some advice and wisdom for students transitioning into college. In a Grotto article, Julia Hogan discusses the discrepancy between what people feel pressured to do and what actually brings them happiness. At the end, she states, “Instead of asking, ‘What should I do?’…  ask yourself, ‘What do I want to do?’ and ‘What do I think is best?’ (“Why Letting Go of Expectations is a Freeing Habit” by Julia Hogan - Moreau FYE Week Nine). I do not believe that what someone wants to do or thinks is best in a specific moment is always actually best. However, I do agree that it is generally good for a person to pursue what he actually wants to do rather than what others around him are pressuring him to do. Doing what is both good and pleasurable is a good way to promote good mental health. Furthermore, this week’s content touched on imposter syndrome and the fact that transitioning to college can be hard. Discussion about imposter syndrome is important to let people know that they are not alone in how they feel and that they actually do belong. Also, discussing the fact that the college transition can be hard can help people struggling with this. Overall, content from week 9 was encouraging to those struggling with different pressures, and helped me learn about different problems that my peers could be dealing with.
	Week 10 provided information on how we can care for those dealing with mental health issues. Overall, I think that the best way to do this is to love. Fr. Jenkins emphasizes the importance of love in his speech where he states, “Love is the greatest commandment… Hatred is the great destroyer” (“Wesley Theological Seminary Commencement” by Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C. - Moreau FYE Week Ten). Although there are many different challenges in the world, and in the Notre Dame community, today, I believe that all of these can be overcome by love. Love is the choice that enables us to meet our brothers and sisters where they are at and help support them through their challenges. As mental health issues are a big challenge people deal with today, love can help us help and encourage people through them. Based on things I have heard from friends, loving and caring for someone going through this is often the best way to help them. An example of loving people who may be dealing with mental health issues is seen in this unit was the woman who ran the Kintsugi workshop. The people who came to her classes were broken for different reasons, but she encouraged each of them with the logic that brokenness does not define anyone, and that it can make us better people if we make the most of it (“Women Find Healing Through Kintsugi Workshop” by Grotto Network - Moreau FYE Week Ten).
	This information has helped me to better understand how I can help friends struggling with mental health. It seems that often, the best thing to do is to listen to them and encourage them. While I personally don't struggle with mental health issues, many people do, and knowing this can help people get through it.
	Notre Dame is a much more diverse community than the one I grew up in, both racially and politically. I am pretty convicted about my beliefs, so I would not say that I have changed my mind about anything here, but I have discovered that I really enjoy hearing other people’s perspectives. I think that growing in relationships with people of different beliefs has expanded my knowledge and understanding of different stances that people hold on things, which I think is a good thing. The content from Week 11 emphasizes the importance of hearing different perspectives: an article from the Center for Courage and Renewal proposes, “The concept of community must embrace even those we perceive as ‘enemy’” (“Thirteen Ways of Looking at Community” by Parker J. Palmer - Moreau FYE Week Eleven). I believe that growing in community with people is a necessary component of learning and becoming a better person. Obviously, we often learn more from engaging with people different from ourselves, as they have different perspectives and experiences. The people who we consider enemies are often the people most different and most separated from ourselves. Accordingly, these people can provide perspectives very different from our own. Another video from this unit stressed the point that each person’s story matters in the quest to understand the world around us (“With Voices True” by The Klau Center Archive on Race - Moreau FYE Week Eleven). Both of these pieces support the concept that branching out and talking to people different from oneself is a great way to expand one's horizons and understanding, so I will continue to do this.
	Week 12 dealt with hope. I have found that hope is important, particularly when schoolwork or friendships or life in general is overwhelming. Hope has allowed me to strive (to an extent) here at Notre Dame, since, when I am stressed, I know that I will be fine and that this world does not actually matter that much because there is a much longer one after. In Chapter 8 of The Screwtape Letters, C.S. Lewis indirectly promoted the ideas that hope is important to have, especially when it is hard, and that having hope can help us to choose the good. Having hope in the hard times helps us to make it through them and enables us to love others through it.
	While I did not really change my opinion on matters here, I have heard many different opinions of different subjects, and I have been loving that so far. I look forward to continuing to have hope, learn from others, help others, and above all love others through the rest of my college experience.