Walking the Walk: Living My Own Beliefs 2




Walking the Walk: Living My Own Beliefs

Entering a new environment is not easy for anyone. In such a transformative time in our

lives, it is important to take time to reflect on beliefs occasionally, so that we can go forth and

live the most authentic lives that we can. These beliefs, however, are subject to change

throughout my time at college. I expect that, much like my decision of what to major in, my life

goals will be impacted by the people that surround me and the experiences that I have.

I believe that I am searching for fulfillment in what I study and how I choose to spend my

time. Upon filling out my applications for college, I knew that I had to choose a major to apply to

that was consistent with my resume and activities from high school. Therefore, due to my mainly

business-oriented activities from high school, I knew I would be applying to Mendoza. Without a

true path in my mind of what I wanted to do for a living, besides “be financially stable and help

others”, I applied as a Finance major. However, learning about the various career options in the

Finance sector was very tempting to pull me from my “helping others” course. It is evident now

to me that “We live in perpetual self-confrontation between the external success and the internal

value” (“Should You Live for Your Resume or for Your Eulogy?” by David Brooks - Moreau FYE

Week Two). I know that I will not be fulfilled if I live a life in which the only person that I work to

help is myself. Therefore, I know that I must continue to strive for a path that fulfills my internal

values and not simply the external revenue.

I believe that I grow by accepting my failures and learning how to adapt for my future

ventures. Like many of my peers, I performed very well in high school. My version of studying

would be maybe a couple of hours the night before if I really didn’t understand the material, but

usually it took the form of simply completing all the homeworks and looking at a study guide the

morning of. This is not how college works, apparently! I knew I had to step my game up, so I

studied for my first Finance exam for multiple hours a night for 4 days leading up to the test and

6 hours the day of (as it was a night exam). All this for a 41%! This was a punch in the gut for

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlLWTeApqIM&feature=emb_imp_woyt


me, as I can never remember a time in which I have scored that low on an exam that is worth so

much of my grade. However, I decided that I should not let this failure affect my overall GPA, so

I admitted to my error in studying and dropped the class. At first, I felt very bad about the whole

situation, however as Carla Harris said, “Fear has no place in your success equation” (“2021

Laetare Medalist Address” by Carla Harris - Moreau FYE Week Five). I cannot be afraid of

failure. I failed a test. And I have learned from it!

I believe that I forge life-giving relationships by allowing others to understand my

background and the ways in which I show affection. Most of my relationships are formed and

maintained through some sort of humor. It is very difficult for me to have more “serious”

relationships with people in which we only interact in formal settings. However, I know that

sometimes this way of forming relationships can sometimes block deeper connections.

Unfortunately, a lot of the time this block is formed by my fear of not being able to stack up,

personality-wise, against many of the people around me. As Brené Brown said, “I ran into this

unnamed thing that absolutely unraveled connection...Shame is really easily understood as the

fear of disconnection (“The Power of Vulnerability” by Brené Brown - Moreau FYE Week One).

Luckily, I have been able to break this barrier with a handful of friends both from my own dorm

and from others. This number is limited, however. In high school, I was involved in certain

relationships with others that felt emotionally draining. It is important to share your experiences

and problems with others. It is important, though, to make sure that if you are sharing your

emotional burden with someone, you are a listener as well. Healthy relationships do not mean

dependency. As we heard from the One Love Foundation: “Because I love you, you listen as I

cry. You hug me and say that it’s okay. And you take all the blame. Because I love you”

(“Because I Love You, Double Whiskey” by One Love Foundation - Moreau FYE Week Four).

This is a perfect example of a toxic relationship that takes an emotional toll on you. So far in my

experience at Notre Dame, I have been able to let others in, up to a level that I am comfortable

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with. They understand who I am and where I am coming from, but they do not know,

necessarily, the harder details.

I believe that as a part of a larger community, I should do everything that I can to ensure

that my peers feel safe and welcomed. In a place like Notre Dame, while there are many

amazing, beautiful aspects of this campus, there is also an acute lack of diversity. This was one

of my main concerns with choosing Notre Dame over some of my other options, as I knew I

wanted to make sure to diversify the people who are in my life. In my hometown, while I do live

in a moderately progressive area, there is very little diversity, as the split between Caucasian

and Asian make up the majority (around 60% to 40%, respectively). The way in which we are

brought up affects the way in which we operate in our day-to-day lives. “One reason people on

both the right and the left are skeptical of implicit bias might be pretty simple: it isn’t nice to think

we aren’t very nice” (“How to Think about ‘Implicit Bias’” by Keith Payne, Laura Niemi, John M.

Doris, Scientific American - Moreau FYE Week Seven). No one wants to be the one to admit

that they have biases, but if I make a conscious effort to change those biases, I know that I will

be aiding in making our campus a better place for all.

Lastly, I believe that I pursue my own truth by taking what I learn at Notre Dame and

being able to apply it to my own life outlook, as well as passing it down. I was raised in a very

Catholic household and went to Catholic school for 10 years before coming to Notre Dame.

However, I am not a religious person. Nonetheless, I can take the religious lessons that Notre

Dame and still get useful messages out of them. Homilies can still teach very powerful lessons,

even if one is not faith-oriented. For example, in Week 4 we read: “ There is such a thing as a

healthy ego, but we’re talking here about egocentricity, an unhealthy sort of self-love that flatters

us with the idea that everything in the world revolves around us” (“Faith Brings Light to a Dark

World” by David Fagerberg - Moreau FYE Week Three). Although the overall lesson was about

using our faith in God to bring us out of darkness, I am still able to take valuable lessons from it.

I can comprehend this as using my faith in goodness or my faith in humanity to help myself be a

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better person. I know that these lessons that I am learning about myself and others through

Notre Dame should not end with my own person. I want to be able to pass what I learn here, as

well as what I will learn in the future, down to my family. In our “Where I’m From” poems that we

wrote in Week 6, I chose to write about the different family traditions that have been practiced

throughout my childhood. I referenced the beach, snow skiing, and camping (“Where I’m From”

by  - Moreau FYE Week Six), as I hope to one day be able to pass down those

traditions to my children as well.

I feel that I have already gained so much insight into the way that I function as an

independent person in these first two months of college. I understand that as I continue to grow

and change through my next three years, I will be faced with new challenges and hardships.

However, with the help of my steadfast beliefs, I know that I can overcome any obstacle that

comes my way.

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