Week 13 - Integration



Moreau
11/30/2021
Integration Two

A Unique yet Difficult Situation

Integration two, at first glance, seems much more broad in comparison to past
assignments. Being prompted by the open-ended question of “What have I encountered and how
will I respond?” is certainly difficult to tackle, but is also enticing due to the challenges,
triumphs, etc. that I have experienced through my first few months at school.

I believe that it goes without saying that the program I opted to join, in that of the
Gateway program, is certainly isolating in essence. We are on different campuses, different
dining halls, dorms, classes, and many more. Obviously, this makes sense; we were given a
chance to attend a prestigious university, and these were our conditions. Regardless, that does not
make the transition any easier, holding onto expectations and a mindset of “one and done” at
Holy Cross. When it comes to the Gateway program, it is certainly hammered into our heads that
we are not real Notre Dame students, which I understand. However, with this mindset brings
repercussions, and these repercussions can be readily related to the course material discussed and
written about in Moreau. So, let’s start!

Week nine of the Moreau course required content was most likely my favorite collection
of materials throughout the later part of the semester. It discussed topics that were the most
relevant to our lives, as students, and the struggles of truly encountering dissonance. The first
piece of content that I thought was extremely engaging was the “Advice From a Former Lonely
College Student” article, written by Emery Bergmann. The article details the struggles of a
Cornell student who struggled with making friends in college, thinking she was “weird” or “an
outsider” in a student body where friend groups were seemingly being formed left and right.
However, she ultimately acknowledges that creating close relationships comes with time,
patience, and a willingness to embrace change and rid comparison. (“Advice From a Formerly
Lonely College Student” by Emery Bergmann - Moreau FYE Week Nine). The article shed light
on an almost taboo topic, which is that transition is hard. Every student from the high school
class of 2021, who is attending college, has most likely experienced the nuanced feelings of
worriness, anxiety, fear, of not making friends. In my case, I was extremely nervous to join the
cohort of Gateway students and the differences we had as a group from the regular Notre Dame
students. I knew that we were different, almost outsiders, similar to how Emery Bergmann felt.
We were not given the same opportunities as normal students, for example, our housing situation
for this year and next. And, I know these problems are trivial in comparison to other issues
globally; however, the point is, it is normal to feel like an outsider at certain points in
transitioning. We were uprooted in a summer, from our home, friends, family, to be thrown into a

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/09/well/family/advice-from-a-formerly-lonely-college-student.html
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/10/09/well/family/advice-from-a-formerly-lonely-college-student.html


180 foot dorm knowing no one, taking rigorous academic classes, and managing a social life.
These times can be difficult, but it is in our response where we find ourselves and our power to
move forward.

In this integration assignment, I hope to almost build a story through integrating the
different week’s content. I laid out the troubles that I have encountered throughout the semester
at Notre Dame/Holy Cross, and now, I want to explore how I came about finding remedy to these
troubles. The article “Women Find Healing Through Kintsugi Workshop” was a piece of content
that I found to be especially helpful in understanding how to respond to my encounters in
college. The Kintusgi workshops were essentially a process of putting together brokenness with
gold, using a staunch juxtaposition of sadness, exhaustion, defeat, with a material so elegant in
its design, with gold. The repair methods were unique, and they helped individuals combat
extremely serious problems in their respective lives. (“Women Find Healing Through Kintsugi
Workshop” by Grotto - Moreau FYE Week Ten). I chose this piece of content because it
discusses how to deal with brokenness. In my case, I felt a feeling of brokenness at points in my
journey. For example, I struggled with making genuine connections with others in the Gateway
program at the start of my year. I worried that if I did not have friends in the program, I would be
lost, because all other students are so distant at the main campus. We would not have overlapping
times, schedules, etc. In order to cope with these feelings, I began working out again. I had
always loved to workout in high school, but for the first few months in college, I felt
overwhelmed and put the thought in the back of my mind. However, I finally had a realization
about the importance of working out, and I decided to make the change. Its benefits are amazing,
and it has helped me stay focused, happy, and busy at the same time. Overall, the two pieces of
course content in weeks nine and ten hold the common theme of struggle and response. While
we may undergo loneliness, pain, loss, confusion, we must find ways to heal, which can be done
through patience and mental strength, or through physical responses, such as Kintsugi.

I have now explained a few of my encounters and responses throughout this semester at
school. Although I have felt brokenness, I have also experienced growth in the community
around me. In Parker J. Palmer’s article “Thirteen Ways of Looking at Community,” I learned
concepts about community that I had not previously known. The article detailed how community
is a beautiful gift, formed by a web of individuals that endure difficult times together. A key
lesson that parallels between the Gateway community and the lessons taught in the article is the
idea that a “community that can withstand hard times and conflict can help us become not just
happy but “at home” (“Thirteen Ways of Looking at Community” by Parker J. Palmer - Moreau
FYE Week Eleven). As a cohort, we (and past gateways) are the only individuals who understand
the process of being a Gateway student. The long walks to and from campus, the different course
registration schedule, etc. Overall, any outsider can read about the program, but not everyone can
be directly a part of this community. The troubles we experience as a group turn us from just a
group of students into a family.

The first semester of Gateway has been filled with ups and downs, as detailed before.
However, one prominent idea that I have gained is the ability to have hope, both in the process

https://grottonetwork.com/make-an-impact/heal/find-healing-through-kintsugi-art/
https://grottonetwork.com/make-an-impact/heal/find-healing-through-kintsugi-art/
http://couragerenewal.org/parker/writings/13-ways-of-looking-at-community/


and in the results. In Week 12 of the course content, “Holy Cross and Christian Education,” the
concept of hope was touched on. A quote that I especially enjoyed, that I also discussed in my
QQC, was “the contemplation of new ideas and needs beyond our comfort zones requires a
sacrificial willingness to put at risk everything that we think we already know. We need to have
hope in that process to stick with it…” (“Holy Cross and a Christian Education” by Campus
Ministry at University of Notre Dame - Moreau FYE Week Twelve). This quote was special to
me because it mainly focused on breaking comfort zones through risking everything we know.
At the point in my life where I had to make a decision on where I would be attending school, I
decided to take a risk with coming to South Bend. I had no family who went here, no friends
here, and came in having never even seen the campus. However, I was willing to leave my
comfort zone, take a risk, and ultimately have hope in the process and result of this risk. I felt
that this piece of course content encompassed the overall idea of this integration assignment very
well, while also perfectly tying together week eleven’s lessons. With the creation of community,
it is crucial that across all situations, we employ hope. We must hold onto the expectation and
desire to succeed in our future classes, relationships, athletics, etc. While it can be nerve
wracking, we must continue to hope for a brighter and more fulfilling future. Overall, our
response to our encounters can be a range of actions. However, the one methodology that I keep
at the back of my mind is hope; the belief that everything will work out how I desire.

https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/28124/files/192714?module_item_id=109541