Microsoft Word - Moreau First Year Integration.docx


Moreau First Year Integration 
 
What do I believe? 
 
 Beliefs are always innately particular to each individual – commonly because of their 

personal circumstances. Personal circumstances trace out the path that will guide one to 

discover what they believe in and why they chose too, being the reason why people believe 

what they believe in.  

I can say that for myself it has been no different, as personal circumstances helped forge 

my moral compass which has always guided me to find what I truly believe in. Since my 

upbringing I have always had a strong and loving relationship with my family. From a young age 

my fondest memories have been with my family members, not only my direct family but also 

my cousins, grandparents’ uncles, and aunts. Coming from a big family the seemingly 

“unsurmountable” number of cousins helped me learn many virtues that are helping me deeply 

over my time in college.  I have learnt values that help me out in my daily life, a family 

background has helped create a lens through which I see the world in a nurturing and loving 

manner always trying to see the positive side of things. From the stories I have lived with my 

family I can easily assert that I believe in optimism and happiness not only because of my 

background but because of all the positive things that have come out of my positive approach 

towards life. Not only circumstances but stories I have heard from past generations and stories 

which came from memories I made with my family. Within positivity there are several believes 

which I cherish – I believe that I forge life-giving relationships through compassion, humour, 

and forgiveness. Those 3 beliefs have helped me not only help myself but help others which is 

something I truly cherish. In week 5 we listened to the commencement speech by Laetare 



medallist Carla Harris, and she said that “We are blessed so that we can be a blessing to 

others”. This particularly struck me as I recalled on my core beliefs, and I believe that I grow by 

a similar purpose and that I am responsible for spreading joy through humour and compassion. 

Harris explores the notion of generosity of spirit something which I’ve perceived as incremental 

within the Notre Dame experience. She cites that one must “treat others in a way that I want to 

be treated” – reminding me of one of Notre Dame’s incentives towards students which I heard 

in my first week here, to help others in any way that you can, even if it is a small action, you can 

make a difference. Ms. Carla Harris’ is a true example of how to lead through kindness and 

positivity, which I truly admire, and she represents the spirit of Notre Dame perfectly. 

Compassion, generosity, and humour help make life light, and relationships fun forgiveness is 

the glue that helps hold those relationships together in moments of disdain. Thus, I believe in 

those core beliefs because of personal circumstances and life situations which helped me 

understand the benefits of a familiar approach in ones hodiern life.  

One piece of content that stood out to me was Chimamanda Ngozi’s Ted Talk regarding 

the danger of a single narrative. Within her talk she explains this danger by evidencing it 

through literature. She discusses the nature of a Eurocentric version of literature surmounting 

African narratives. The story was particularly meaningful as I recalled the danger of one-sided 

stories and its addon’s to misinformation. Over my time in Notre Dame, I have developed a 

close connection with a Brazilian friend group. The group has recently had a moment of disdain 

because of a one-sided story and misinformation – which helped me reflect of the dangers 

embedded within this problem, something I had learnt in Moreau. During this situation, I 

looked towards my core beliefs and recalled on what to use to help combat this issue. The 



answer was compassion and forgiveness. It was through those beliefs that I realized I could fix 

this issue. Even if measured I also appealed towards humour who is essential in tough times.  

In week 4 we studied the search for life giving relationships and the danger of toxic 

relationships. I thought this section has a particular connection with the integration as a true 

relationship is based upon belief – and it is common that a relationship will be held with 

someone who shares similar beliefs such as faith and passion. The four content pieces of that 

week’s study evidenced the dangerousness of toxicity within relationships one can have. The 

content instigated me to reflect about my current relationships, if any of them had any toxicity 

and if so, how could I fix it for the sake of my personal wellbeing and that of others. The 

handout from the red flag campaign illustrated the traits of healthy and unhealthy 

relationships. One particular trait stood out to me which I really appreciate and strive to live by 

it, which is humour. The belief may seem unconventional at first as it isn’t what one would 

consider the centre of relationship as superficially it escapes the conventional aspects of 

kindness, trust, and love. Though at a deeper perspective it is evident that it is the glue that 

holds a relationship together. I see humour as a counter agent to toxicity, as it can optimize the 

conduction of a relationship in a more playful manner. As I mentioned before I strive to 

approach life through a positive manner and humour is the best way to do so. Even though I 

see humour as a blessing and oftentimes helpful I sometimes overuse it and construct 

unnecessary situations. The main attribute of humour is that it is different for every person – 

meaning that not all will find the same thing humorous. Thus, I have had some issues even if 

minor with this here at Notre Dame. Notre Dame is a cultural melting pot which gathers people 

from all the corners of the globe. This means that my peerage boasts a myriad of variations of 



humour. A few times I have issued jokes which weren’t funny for those who heard, and I felt 

the compulsion to apologize – fortunately no one was offended, and the relationship wasn’t 

severed. Even though this belief of mine has created some impasses my humour has really 

opened doors for me and helped me make positive relationships and friends whom I’m sure are 

for life even if it is sometimes misconstruing. 

My beliefs have also had an impact in my search for belonging at Notre Dame, as an 

international student I am in a new and unfamiliar environment which presents many issues 

who are foreign to me. Though trusting my innate beliefs and being myself has helped me truly 

connect with people whom I have now made meaningful connections. I have met people with 

similar humour and even those who share a strong familiar background pertaining a nurturing 

and caring approach to a friendship. During an in-class discussion a peer stated that “the 

average Notre Dame student is friendly, and extremely easy to get along with” – after being 

here for almost 2 months I fully agree with this statement and am truly grateful for the 

connections I have made thus far. Moreover, I believe that this search for belonging is directly 

associated with authenticity which we’ve studied in week 2. The goal to find yourself and where 

you belong can only be properly achieved if you are true to yourself as an authentic individual. 

The eulogy within Week 2’s commentary highlighted how to find one self-authentic version 

demonstrating that it can even be a contrasting one – giving the example of it being humble 

and ambitious.  

For many finding one’s truth is based in one core believe which is faith. I am having a 

troubled period in figuring out my faith and what I believe in when it comes to it. Though during 

week 3’s Moreau assignment I reflected upon how can an individual who is not from a 



background of faith make use of it to inform how they see the world? Which pertains to me. I 

particularly have not come from a background of faith and thus have not been as exposed yet 

to elements of faith that guide many of my peers. Despite this factor I’m keeping an open mind 

and am ready to learn about faith and be informed on how it will model the way I see the 

world. From all that was read during this study it is possible to conclude that faith is essential to 

inform an individual on how they see the world as it is the lens through which will shape the 

focal point of their journey. Faith not only guides us, but it empowers and informs to teach us 

that the greatest journey is one of self-discovery. I learnt that you don’t have to be religious to 

have faith, and now I believe that I need faith to pursue my own truth.  

Overall, from all that has been studied and my experiences in Notre Dame I believe that 

I have grown as a person. I learned life lessons in less than 2 months. I now believe that I search 

for both success and happiness, not only for me but also for those I care about, I shall make use 

of my core beliefs to help me thrive in this journey.