Integration 2 Lopez 1 Professor Chan 3 Dec. 2021 Moreau First Year Experience Section 10 It’s About Time One of the most important questions I have asked this semester is, “What should I do now?” I ask this every time I have to decide if I should eat (if, so what and where?) or if I should do homework (if so, what kind and for how long?) or if I should go to a social activity (if so, for how long should I stay? All these questions determine how much I take care of myself physically and emotionally and the extent to which I excel academically. Respectively, examples are how much sleep I get, how much time I allow for fun, and if I finish my homework. This question has forced me to change the way I manage time . . . many times. Some ideas for how I should spend my time have come from listening to classmates and other people relate how they use theirs. However, this led me to believe that most people were working ahead, and were therefore never as stressed as I was, scrambling to meet deadlines within minutes. I then set this expectation for myself, thinking that this was the perfect model for doing work in college. It seemed to me like if I was not working ahead, I was making a mistake somewhere. But, as I quoted in my Week Nine QQC, “where did the belief come from that we can never make mistakes?” (“Why Letting Go of Expectations is a Freeing Habit” by Julia Hogan - Moreau FYE Week Nine). People set so many standards for themselves that they need to realize what is and is not achievable, or what goals are motivational or discouraging. For me, this https://grottonetwork.com/navigate-life/health-and-wellness/letting-go-of-expectations/?utm_source=fall_2021&utm_medium=class&utm_id=moreau Lopez 2 expectation was discouraging because no amount of homework I could do would be enough. It was not realistic for me to be a week ahead on Chemistry homework-- I did not have a strong background in chemistry like that person may have had! Instead, I had to realize that only I can come up with the best way I need to work, and if something was not easy for me, it would not be working ahead in a subject. Recognizing my strengths and weaknesses would allow me to see that maybe I can cut time from other places by doing my math homework first, because that freed up time to understand chemistry and really get to know the material so I could succeed. Although I encountered many people who were working ahead, I also encountered people in the same situations as myself concerning the timeliness and understanding of homework. Realizing that I was not the only one experiencing different things helped me feel more in community with others. “Intimacy is neither possible nor necessary across this entire range of relationships. But a capacity for connectedness is both possible and necessary if we are to inhabit the larger, and truer, community of our lives” ("Thirteen Ways of Looking at Community" by Parker J. Palmer, Center for Courage & Renewal - Moreau FYE Week Eleven). In this sense, I was able to find community with others. I have encountered a great change in the decisions I give thought to. For example, in high school, I was concerned with petty things like if I should wear gold or silver jewelry that day. If I picked gold, then I might have to change my necklace to gold, but if I did not have a chain in that color, then I would have to reconsider . . . which just made me late to class in the morning for a silly reason. In my time here, where my time has become more limited than ever before, I realized that this daily question did not matter at all. I responded by deciding to wear the same earrings and necklace every day. Previously, I had thought that it was not vanity. However, looking back, I think that if something like that was such an impediment to my daily life, then it http://couragerenewal.org/parker/writings/13-ways-of-looking-at-community/ Lopez 3 probably could have been excessive. In Week Twelve, I quoted, “Readers are advised to remember that the devil is a liar.” (“A Brief Introduction to The Screwtape Letters” by C.S. Lewis - Moreau FYE Week Twelve). Justifying our actions is often easy because of lies. Since picking jewelry is not really a big deal, this is just a small example of this. But, nonetheless, it made me realize that if I want to live without vanity, I can become more simple by just wearing the same kind everyday if I choose to wear it. I have spent time with and have encountered many different kinds of people, and I have been open to having lunch with classmates from many different backgrounds. The website article from Week Ten mentioned St. Paul’s embrace of Greeks and Gentiles (“Should Catholic Schools Teach Critical Race Theory?" by Christopher J. Devron, S.J. America Magazine - Moreau FYE Week Ten). This made me think about how the Catholic faith sees people united as sons and daughters of God. Whether Greek or Gentile, people were still called to turn to God, to become close to Him, and listen to His voice, living out His plan for us in our daily lives. I am also called to listen to him by living a life of Christian charity. I find that by being kind to others, we can share His love with others. Previously, time had been something I took for granted. I think about all the time I spent on my phone or watching television in high school and think about how much I would have rather spent that time learning a skill or being productive in another way. Our time is really limited, so we should do the most we can with it by putting effort into everything we do as well as always living in the best version of ourselves. Time spent eating alone could be time spent learning about another person. Time spent making decisions and planning for things in the future often wastes more time than doing the actual activity would have been, such as deciding where I https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/23692/files/187465/download?download_frd=1 https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2021/06/03/critical-race-theory-catholic-high-schools-black-lives-matter-240792 https://www.americamagazine.org/faith/2021/06/03/critical-race-theory-catholic-high-schools-black-lives-matter-240792 Lopez 4 should walk in order to study. All these things have shown me the importance of time like I have never experienced before.