Kazimour1

Professor Retartha
Moreau
3 December 2021 

Encountering and Responding to College Life
	We encounter challenges on the daily, as well as, positive experiences that shape who we are as individuals. We all take challenges in different ways. Some fight through it to solve the issue, while others let it go and do not worry about it. These challenges allow us to grow and develop to make us a better person. Even with positive experiences we are able to expand on those experiences and hope for even better things to happen. I think the best way to overcome a challenge is to make sure you have people supporting you through it, having no judgement towards others, and hope. With having these three things in mind and hopefully practicing them, it can help the process of your personal development and entry into a new chapter of your life. 
There was a specific time during my Notre Dame experience where I needed someone to be there for me. Before I entered college, I did not think friends were as important as they are now. In high school, I was able to get through struggles by myself without talking to anyone. As soon as I got to college that changed. That specific example was when I had my first microeconomics midterm and my biology midterm on the same day. I was overwhelmed and stressed. I immediately thought I was unable to do it. My roommate was there for me. She encouraged me and told me that I was going to “kill it!” This relates to what we learned in week 9 of Moreau class. In week 9, a specific quote that stood out to me was “you have talent, you are capable, and you belong” (“What is imposter syndrome and how can you combat it?” by Elizabeth Cox- Moreau FYE Week 9). We all have our own talents that we are capable of doing, yet we doubt them. We have feelings of self-doubt and personal incompetence that happen despite our education and experiences. I think the best way to show our talents is to not care what others think and do the best you can do. I also learned that we need positive people in our lives in order to have confidence in ourselves. Without my roommate, I do not think I was going to make it past that day. I am glad that I learned that you need people in your life that encourage you through tough times. In the future, I will try to better myself and support people through their rough days. It is important to be able to rely on others and I want to be one of those people. 
At Notre Dame, I sometimes get a feeling that we are all divided. What I mean by that is that we divide ourselves into groups of friends and do not expand our friend groups after they are formed. I have also seen that people with the same race usually stick together. This causes our community to not work as a whole. A personal experience that I encountered was when my friends and we went to a black dance group performance. When we arrived, we were the only white people there. It felt off. It felt like either we did not belong or that they did not want us there. In high school my school was primarily a white group. When I thought about college, I had a black and white picture as to how diversity was such a part of college life. I thought we all do things together and work together. That is not how I felt during this performance. It is almost an internal challenge. In week 10, we talked about the catholic community and racial injustices. I learned that there is hatred everywhere (“Should Catholic Schools Teach Critical Race Theory?” by Christopher Devron- Moreau FYE Week 10). Hatred is taught not bred. We are taught by family and friends to have hatred towards people whether it be race, religion, or just what they have done in the past. The place that needs to be fixed is the catholic community. Catholic churches and schools are the reason why people have hatred towards people of color. The catholic community needs to teach others and recognize all forms of racism. Once all hatred is solved, all communities will be able to come together and continue to grow as one whole community. In the future, I plan to continue not to judge anyone, continue to fight to make us one community, and hope that the catholic community will fix all these hatred issues. 
	I have learned with my time so far at Notre Dame that sharing stories goes a long way. What I mean by this is that I have realized that to become a close friend who is a supporter you must share stories about yourself. These stories can be the challenges you are going through, funny stories, or sad stories. A specific experience I had encountered at school is that I really needed someone to talk to about things happening with school. I was afraid to talk to my parents, I did not want to talk to any adults, and my only option was to talk to a friend. It was the beginning of the year. I did not have anyone to talk to on a personal level. I started hanging up with one of the girls in my dorm, which I can now call my best friend. I opened up and started many many stories about myself. I felt relieved once we got super close and we got comfortable around each other. In week 11, a quote that stood out to me was “every story is a testament of personal truth” (“With Voices True Snapshot Summary”  by Klau Center - Moreau FYE Week 11). Stories tell you how someone really is and what is happening in their life. When sharing stories and experiencing moments together, it grows the community closer together with all races. Race should not be an issue towards anything. Stories that are told are just smaller stories that are put into a bigger story. We all need to come together through thick and thin and pretend like we are all one big family and care for each other. In the future, I will do my best to share stories with others and try to learn more about them through their stories. You never know the challenges that people are going through without sharing stories.
	Hope. That is a strong word. Before entering college, I watched videos and documentaries in the hope that I would have the same experiences in college. I had the perfect image. Now that I have been in college for a semester it is not like that at all. There are tons of ups and downs. There are people that want to hurt you; there are people that want to see you succeed. I am still currently looking for the people that will be there for me through anything. In week 12 a quote that stood out to me was “to decide what the best use of it is, you must ask what use the Enemy wants to make of it, and do the opposite” (“The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis - Moreau FYE Week 12). I think people do not realize what the enemy is trying to do. They believe the enemy is “the good person”. After they realize the good is not in the end, they end up doing the opposite of what they say. In order to grow and live in hope, you must speak the truth to yourself and to others. You must look for the best possible outcomes that can come into your life. I think all people think about is what the worst thing can happen in life rather than thinking of the best outcome and possibility to come. In the future, I have hope that my college
experience will get even better than it is now knowing there still will be some downs in my life. 
	The daily experiences we encounter in our life, either good or bad, have an impact on who you become as a person. The thing that matters the most is how you respond. In my opinion and with my personal experiences, you have to be open, be there for each other, and have hope. By having those things in your life, you will succeed.