Jack Bailey
8-24-21
Moreau First Year Experience
Week 1 QQC


Focus Question: One focus question that stood out to me was “What are my root beliefs?”, because an important part of the college experience for me is truly finding out who I am. I want to stay true to myself while also growing as a person, and establishing a set of core beliefs can be the foundation to self-improvement.

Question: How can Brown’s findings be applied to the life of a college student?

Quote: I found it interesting when Brown said, “and now my mission to control and predict had turned up the answer that the way to live is with vulnerability and to stop controlling and predicting”. She had spent many years learning how to properly research and control her data, yet her project showed that, sometimes, you have to do the complete opposite. This makes me understand why she decided to receive therapy, as this must have rocked both her work and personal lives. Brown’s research proved that being orderly and controlling may work in her field of study, but not with the human heart.

Comment: Personally, this was not one of my favorite TED Talks that I have watched. I thought Brown spoke too much about her professional work, which caused it to be somewhat hard to relate to. If she shifted the focus of her talk to her findings rather than how research works, I think I would have taken more away from it. However, I did enjoy whenever she spoke about her discoveries. Her examples were especially helpful, such as one waiting for a phone call or a mammogram scan result. I think I’d be much more able to apply this to my own life if she went into more depth about her findings.