10/15 Integration 1 Assignment A New Perspective 1. I believe that I need to overcome my fear of rejection. I’ve never been good at opening up to people. This likely stems from my speech impediment when I was younger, as my unique way of speaking made me feel like an outcast and any attempt I made to reach out to people risked me being made fun of. As I grew older, I recognized that I needed to reach out to people if I wanted to make friends, however the mental walls I erected prevented me from doing so. However, this class has encouraged me to challenge this fear, and has put me in an environment where I’m able to do so. After finishing the first QQC and listening to Brown’s advice that “vulnerability is kind of the core of shame and fear and our struggle for worthiness, but it appears that it’s also the birthplace of joy, creativity, belonging, and love” (“The Power of Vulnerability” by Brené Brown - Moreau FYE Week One), I challenged this fear by choosing to share my story after the original speaker couldn’t make it to class. I hope I can continue to push myself to overcome my fear of rejection going into the future. 2. I believe that I am obligated to be my best self. Why am I here? That’s a question I’ve never been able to answer. I could never understand why out of the trillions of possible genetic possibilities contained by mixing my parents DNA I was the one that came into existence. I don’t even know if there is a reason. However, the fact that I was lucky enough to be born has made me feel obligated to make the most of the opportunity. The way I feel best accomplishes this goal is to focus on developing my best self. Fortunately, Moreau has allowed me to learn and practice how to do that. In Moreau, I’ve learned that Adam I is built by building on your strengths. Adam II is built by fighting your weaknesses” (Should You Live for you Resume or Your Eulogy by David Brooks - Moreau FYE Week 2). In order to be my best self, I need to develop both aspects of my person, whether that be by developing my Adam 1 in search of an internship or developing my Adam 2 by trying to connect with others. I plan on continuing to pursue the best version of myself. 3. I believe that I am searching for the way I want to live my life. Ever since I moved to Minnesota, religion has played an increasingly smaller part in my life. Without my weekly attendance to mass with my grandfather, I’ve become increasingly secular. While I wouldn’t call myself an atheist, I’ve found that my isolation from religion in addition to my busy schedule has left me without a clear idea of how I want to live my life. Father McCormick highlights the reasoning for my problem, saying that “If you’re in a hurry, faith becomes so much harder to understand” (The Role of Faith in Our Story by Fr. Pete McCormick - Moreau FYE Week 3). While I don’t know if the practices of Catholicism will be my framework, I am confident that in practicing Fr. McCormick’s advice, I’ll be better able to find the framework for how I want to live my life. 4. I believe that my community should stop seeking out drama. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4Qm9cGRub0&feature=youtu.be https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlLWTeApqIM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcZMeqWWOIs In high school, I had the reputation of being a drama seeker, looking for people who were having beef and trying to watch it unfold. It made me feel important when someone confided in me about their problems with someone else.And I wasn’t alone. It seemed that drama hunting was a favored pastime of those in my high school as well as nearly everywhere else throughout the country. However, after entering college, I’ve realized that that aspect of my personality was not a good one, and I didn’t want to be known as the friend who says they hate drama when they actually relish it. Olivia Taylor puts it succinctly when she says “Beware of the friend who says they ‘hate drama’” (5 Signs You’re in a Toxic Friendship by Olivia Taylor - Moreau FYE Week 4). After some reflection, I recognize that instead of looking for drama I should be more empathetic to what people are going through and only involve myself in other people’s situations if they explicitly ask me to. 5. I believe that I grow by teaching others. Coaching debate this year has been one of the most fulfilling challenges I have undertaken. Watching my mentees succeed in their debates this season has brought me more joy than many of my personal successes. While I hope I’ve taught them a lot, I’m sure that they’ve taught me more. Whether it’s about their high school’s unique way of doing things or what it’s like to be a woman in the debate space, I’ve been able to learn things I would have never known otherwise without being their coach. This sentiment was also shared by Sorin when he acknowledged that “this college will be one of the most powerful means of doing good in this country” (Letter to Father General Moreau by Edward Sorin - Moreau FYE Week 5). I’ve also found that I learn academic information better this way as well. Doing study groups with my peers in my dorms and helping others understand certain concepts has helped me gain a better understanding of the information I’m learning, and I’ll continue to make it a part of my studying habits. 6. I believe that my purpose is to provide for my family. Coming from a family with two parents, five kids, and three dogs, my home has never been quiet. However, this also means it’s never been boring. Coming from a relatively large family, I’ve developed deep connections with my relatives. Consequently, I believe that it’s my job to use the opportunities I’ve been given to ensure that they all live a comfortable life. I hope to emulate my grandfather “who clawed his way out of poverty to build a better life for his family” (9/27 Where I’m From Poem by Kian O’Connor - Moreau FYE Week 6), so that no one in my family has to worry about financial instability during their lifetime. 7. I believe that I pursue truth by trying to examine every angle of an issue. In debate, I quickly introduced to the idea of looking at an issue from more than one angle, because I was required to learn how to debate either side of a given topic. While that helped open me to new perspectives, looking at an issue from two sides didn’t tell the whole story either. This is because most issues have more than two sides, so it requires more than two https://grottonetwork.com/navigate-life/relationships/signs-of-toxic-friendships/ https://drive.google.com/file/d/1o56woQDq3QrRkziT8eYrvYly5CQaP2Vb/view https://docs.google.com/document/d/1btR9MsWBngfIYhzkTtWAfwdd15y2Q1oN4IKH33ST3Ws/edit?usp=sharing stories to get the complete picture of the issue. This is highlighted by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie when she says, ““When we reject the single story, when we realize that there is never a single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise” (The Danger of a Single Story by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Moreau FYE Week 6). Moreau has given me the opportunity to listen to the stories of others, and consequently, has broadened my perspective on certain ideas. For example, I’ve only ever seen New York City as a glamorous tourist attraction, so it was interesting to hear Mushfiq describe what it was like to live there as an immigrant. I hope that more people continue to share their stories so that I can continue to pursue the truth. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D9Ihs241zeg