1 Archuleta My Path Towards Acceptance and Growth In my first semester here at Notre Dame I have encountered many struggles as well as opportunities to overcome those struggles. Although there are no solutions for everything I still know that I have resources that will help me guide me on my path towards finding a good response. Being here I have encountered truthfulness as well. I know that the truth is sometimes hard to face but I understand that I need to accept the truth because it will make me progress and prosper as a student and good person overall. The most challenging question I have encountered in my first semester is, “Do I belong?” Before moving here I knew I would face a lot of new changes but I felt optimistic and was excited for what was to come, after all high school had prepared me for college. Although I felt ready and prepared to endure a new adventure of a lifetime, I grew to understand that nothing can truly prepare you 100% for college. That is why college is called an adventure because it’s full of surprises filled with ups and downs. The academic portion in college was different for me and I felt like I was not good enough but Notre Dame reassured my presence and performance. Accepting my failure has been a turning point in my education and my life. I felt dissatisfied with myself and seeing so many bright classmates outperform you was discouraging. In high school you can study right before a test and get an A but I learned the hard way that college is nothing compared to high school academics. The majority of my life I did many things that I thought would make others proud and the following sentence revealed to me the truth in doing so, “You can’t live your life according to the expectations of others. When you do, you aren’t living your own life — you’re living someone else’s life” (“Why Letting Go of Expectations is a Freeing Habit” by Julia Hogan - Moreau FYE Week Nine). I understand that always trying to make others happy instead of partaking in activities that would contribute to my 2 Archuleta own happiness was what took me so long to understand to accept failure and learn from it. Being content with my own work and effort is what will further my own health. I believe that growing up I had an internal stigma about having to ask for help with school work. For the first time in my life I don’t feel embarrassed to say that I am getting tutored and receiving aid to help me perform well in classes. Living my life to satisfy the needs of others was something that I have done for too long in my life and I understand it is good to fail sometimes in order to succeed. I felt disconnected from my identity and being a minority forced me to feel like an outsider when I first came to campus. But I believe what has helped me the most is finding friends who share similar interests with me. I even have a friend here who is also Native American and went to school in the same city as me. I can relate to her about many things here at Notre Dame, but she, as well as many other people here, have taught me to step out of my comfort zone and create friendships with people from all different backgrounds. “Known in C.S.T. as imago Dei , it holds that each human person is created in the likeness and image of God and is therefore deserving of dignity and respect.” (“Should Catholic Schools Teach Critical Race Theory?” by Christopher J. Devron, S.J. - Moreau FYE Week Ten). Notre Dame has taught me to accept myself and others which is a large emphasis they provide here on campus to create an inclusive community. As a result I do have friends that are from all over the world and country with different stories and upbringings. “...community is not a goal to be achieved but a gift to be received. When we treat community as a product that we must manufacture instead of a gift we have been given, it will elude us eternally” (“Thirteen Ways of Looking at Community” by Parker J. Palmer - Moreau FYE Week Eleven). It’s truly inspiring to see how we all share one thing in common and that is being able to share the Notre Dame experience with one another. 3 Archuleta Unlike some of my friends at other universities I feel like Notre Dame provides a close knit community that allows you to express yourself and supports you for who you are. Lastly, the most difficult challenge I have faced was learning how to be vulnerable. I never felt comfortable opening up and putting myself in situations where I had to truly be myself. I thought that I could force myself to get through anything without having to ask for help or be real. But these past several weeks I have and still am learning how to go outside of my comfort zone and accept vulnerability, accept everyone, and accept myself. “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” (Holy Cross and Christian Education by Rev. James B. King, C.S.C. - Moreau FYE Week Twelve). This quote stood out to me the most because it defined my situation. Having the willingness to accept change and truthfullness is what has been a response to many of the hardships I have endured, but through it all I have endured many positive results. Accepting and learning from my failures, understanding that it is ok to be vulnerable, and knowing that my differences are what make me human and unique has allowed me to grow. Notre Dame is a hardworking school to say the least but all of my experiences I have encountered so far on campus have only strengthened me and have pushed me to work on becoming a better student and person overall. I believe I will succeed in these next four years with the Notre Dame environment that I am privileged to learn and live in.