Week 8 QQC


Using My Past to Shape My Future
I am searching for the roots of my history in a society of cultural

genocide and the destruction of history. In "Danger of a Single Story” by
Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Moreau FYI Week 7), Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
discusses how dangerous the e�ect of a single predominant narrative can be.
The single narrative is often constructed by the majority, which in this case are
middle-aged, upper-class, white men. Due to this majority also being the ones
in power this allows the spread of misleading and often life-threatening
narratives to spread about minorities and people of color. In addition to that,
this leads to the eradication of history and the reconstruction of what is known
as the truth. This is why it is essential to seek out what is the truth. Personally,
I thought I knew everything there was to know about African American history.
However, the pandemic opened my eyes to a lot more of the su�ering of my
people than I had imagined before and made me realize what darkness I was
living in. This is what started my hunt for the truth. I believe this avid hunt for
the truth is ingrained in every aspect of my life beyond just finding out about
my history and has founded my curiosity for what the world has to o�er.

A lot of this curiosity about my history as an African American majorly
comes from my desire to know where I am from. In Georgia Ella Lyon’s poem
“Where I’m From” (Moreau Week 6), she discusses the untold stories of her
life that make her who she is, in turn, demonstrating how where she’s from
makes her memories and essentially her. Being black has always been the core
of my identity. Having grown up in an impoverished urban community, I know
what it is like to feel like a stereotype. I grew up in conditions and elements
that some people could not even imagine and that has been and always will be
a core function of my being. I believe I am still searching for who exactly I am
in a society of artificial standards and prejudice, but, the life I lived to get to the
moment I am at right now is a fundamental piece of who I am and who I am
going to be in the future.

These stories have shaped who I am, both the positive aspects ingrained
into my personality as well as the negative. While my upbringing has taught
me how to be resilient and determined with my goals and aspirations, many of
the shortcomings of my personality stem from how and where I grew up. It has
taken a lot of self-reflection for me to accept that I put guards up against those
who love and care for me, unwilling to be vulnerable, due to a series of
challenging situations I faced as an adolescent and preteen. However, as I have
gotten older my new relationships, paired with a little bit of therapy, allowed

https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story


me to grasp the true concept of vulnerability, much like described in "The
Power of Vulnerability" by (Brené Brown, TedxHouston) (Moreau Week 1). In
this speech, Brown goes on to say “Vulnerability is the core of shame and fear
and our struggle for worthiness but it also appears that it's also the birthplace
of joy, creativity, belonging, love…” When I was younger, I would have sco�ed
at such a claim. However, even though I still have much more self-reflection to
undertake as a young adult, I believe that even though society paints
vulnerability as a weakness, allowing yourself to be vulnerable helps you grow
as a person, not just in your own social circle, but in society as a whole, as
being vulnerable is learning to accept yourself and all your shortcomings.

Shortcomings like this include analyzing those around me, as
surrounding myself with people who do not actually love me is a form of
self-hate. It can be hard to scrutinize the people around you that you care for,
especially when they have become a foundation of love in your heart and mind.
But much like in the video "Because I Love You, Double Whiskey" by One Love
Foundation (Moreau Week 4), love can be blinding to the toxic and detrimental
traits of a person in your life that you care for displays. While this is more often
than not publicized within romantic relationships, the same applies to
friendships and business relationships. I believe that in order to love yourself,
you have to build around yourself a circle of genuine love, even if it is just you
in it. I believe that every aspect of your life is ingrained with the component of
love and in order to experience it to its fullest extent, you have to reconstruct
what definitions of love you are being exposed to, even if it is painful.

The reconstruction of how I see the world, comparatively from when I
was younger to now, is how I plan to structure my future and my goals for
success. With my very ambitious goals, it is often at times hard to remember to
live for myself and not my career goals. David Brooks, in his speech “Should
You Live for your Resume or Your Eulogy?” (Moreau Week 2 ), highlights the
self-analysis required to consciously construct your life to prioritize your
loved ones and morality over the desire to be successful and your ambition as a
human. Even though “most of us...would say the eulogy virtues are the more
important of the virtues...Are they the ones I think about the most? No.” As a
college student, especially a freshman, I often get caught up in the race against
time to build my credentials and make connections, often forgetting that I am
more than just a machine built to work for the rest of my life. A part of growing
into adulthood is learning how you want to live your life, and more particularly
how to be satisfied with the life you’re living. If I were to die, I do not want to

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4Qm9cGRub0&list=PLmiPsabET-W_hjesjTZaITh2s1WbM-Kd0&index=3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4Qm9cGRub0&list=PLmiPsabET-W_hjesjTZaITh2s1WbM-Kd0&index=3
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwQ5ur9OZ-g
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MwQ5ur9OZ-g
https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/23733/modules/items/108816
https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/23733/modules/items/108816


be known as just a good worker. I want to be known as a high-spirited
individual who was dedicated to making society a better place for those who
come after her, be that in her family or in the world. While I simultaneously
want to work hard to make the e�ort I have displayed so far to be more than
just a number in my hometown, I believe in learning to make time for those
who love me and time to love myself with my own passions and interests.

An obstacle I often faced in my journey of self-discovery was the role of
religion in my life. While I am now a renounced Christian and self-declared
agnostic, I still find the presence of religion in several aspects of my life, most
significantly in the principles of my morality. Professor David Fagerberg, in his
text “Faith Brings Light to a Dark World” (Moreau Week 3) talks about the
light of life in the form of a metaphor to portray the misdirection often seen
with the direction in which your light reflects. I thought this was interesting
because he makes it a point to acknowledge that not all light reflecting upon
one’s self is egotistical. This shows a duality that comes with having a light like
this as your soul and, I believe it reflects human nature, displaying everyone is
born with the ability and potential to be morally just and have to be taught
negativity. Furthermore, in Kevin Grove’s speech “Two Notre Dames: Your
Holy Cross Education” (Moreau Week 5), he illustrates the many e�orts Holy
Cross priests have allowed their faith, which in turn impacts their morality and
human nature, to construct what they choose to do with their careers, making
avid e�orts to benefit society. Grove goes on to emphasize “[their] lives are not
[their] resumes… It’s just being who they are… letting faith and reason both in
their fullness be applied to every part of life.” This was particularly appealing
to me because, while I do not allow faith to actively guide my life in the same
way these priests do, we both still stand by similar moral codes and both want
the light of our souls to shine in positive ways. As I make the journey towards
my future, I want to construct my life around the duality of being a benefit to
my society, making the change I want to see for future generations, as well as
building a stable successful foundation for myself so I can provide my family
with the same opportunities to do so when the time comes. I believe that living
your life solely for success isn’t living up to the true potential of your
humanity, and in order to do so, you have to construct a just moral compass, be
that by religion or some other influence.