FYS Integration 2 Professor Pruitt Integration 2 28 November 2021 Growing in Community Through my first semester here at Notre Dame I have encountered a difficult academic environment as well as a new and welcoming community. Using lessons I have learned in Moreau as well as my own experiences, I have responded to this challenge and surprise through learning to be confident in my abilities as well as embracing the Notre Dame community. The first true struggle I encountered while here at Notre Dame was the academics. Like many students here, in high school I worked hard to have so-called “perfect” grades and a lot of involvement. I worked hard, but school was always my strong suit andI was used to having good grades and striving for perfection. However, when I began classes at Notre Dame I realized the caliber of students with whom I was surrounded and the difficulty of the courses offered here. At first, my inability to perform at the level I could in high school took a toll on me. It was an obstacle I had not encountered before, and at times I felt unequipped to handle it. My fear that I would let down my parents and myself made me doubt if I would be able to succeed here. However, I have learned to respond to this challenge by taking the pressure off of myself to always be perfect. As we discussed during Week 9, “We all make mistakes. We will disappoint people. We’ll disappoint ourselves. But the world doesn’t have to end when that happens.” (“Why Letting Go of Expectations is a Freeing Habit” by Julia Hogan - Moreau FYE Week Nine) This realization was crucial to my growth here at college. It is an accomplishment in and of itself that I am able to go to school here and rather than see the classes and my peers as strictly challenges and obstacles I can turn them into opportunities. I can learn so much from the skill of my classmates and professors. Looking at my education as an opportunity has allowed me to https://grottonetwork.com/navigate-life/health-and-wellness/letting-go-of-expectations/?utm_source=fall_2021&utm_medium=class&utm_id=moreau forgive myself when I make mistakes and use college as a time of growth. This time has also provided me with an opportunity to grow in my faith through trusting in God’s plan for me and my own abilities to keep up with the work. I have also recognized the importance of hope as a part of my everyday life. As we discussed in Week 12 in Moreau, hope allows us to understand that things will get better in the future as well as forgive ourselves when things don’t always go as planned. When I have not done as well as I had hoped on an exam, I am able to continue to live in the hope that everything will work out the way it is supposed to. “We need to have hope in that process to stick with it, to believe that what is born of questioning beliefs previously taken for granted will lead us to a new and better understanding of our vocation as citizens in this world and for the next.” (Holy Cross and Christian Education - by Rev. James B. King, C.S.C. - Moreau FYE Week Twelve). As the quote explains, I have learned that responding to struggles in a hopeful manner will be crucial to my success here. Despite the academic struggle I have encountered, what has been so much more impactful is the incredible community I have encountered here at Notre Dame. Throughout my whole life I have been immersed in a tight-knit community from school to my home life. I attended a K-12 school with my graduating class containing 60 students and am the oldest of five children. My school was truly a community and I became extremely close with not only the kids in my grade, but most people in the school. Attending the same school for my entire grade school and high school meant that the community I belonged to remained the same for my whole life. Before coming to Notre Dame I had never really had to find a new community, it felt as if everything was “built-in” for me at home. Coming to Notre Dame I was very excited to join the community that I had heard so many positive things about, but was also nervous because everything would be new and different from home. However, what I found here was better than I could ever imagine. I found myself surrounded by students, staff, and professors that genuinely cared about me and worked toward my best interest. I think the quote, “My concept of community must be capacious enough to embrace everything from my relation to strangers I will https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/23665/files/190606?module_item_id=107411 never meet), to people with whom I share local resources and must learn to get along, to people I am related to for the purpose of getting a job done.” (Thirteen Ways of Looking at Community - by Parker J. Palmer - Moreau FYE Week Eleven) sums up what I have learned here at Notre Dame. I have been able to join a community where I do not know everyone as well as I did back home, but can still play an important role and look out for everyone. Furthermore, within the large Notre Dame community I have been able to find smaller communities within my dorm, clubs, and close friends. I have learned to respond to this positive change in community by completely immersing myself in it. By doing this I have met people I would not have otherwise, made close friendships, and have constantly felt welcome and accepted. While I have had such a positive experience so far in the Notre Dame community; I know that it is inevitable that at one point I will encounter people who may disagree with me or are completely different from me. It is important that I respond to these differences with love because as we discussed in Week 10, “Hatred is more dangerous to us than any other threat, because it attacks the immune system of our society — our ability to see danger, come together and take action.” (Wesley Theological Seminary Commencement by Fr. John Jenkins C.S.C - Moreau FYE Week Ten). It is important that I surround myself with people who are different from me because I know that I can learn alot from them; but at the same time prevent the differences from altering relationships with others and the community built here by working through them together. Reflecting on the time I have spent here at Notre Dame, I have encountered struggles as well as an incredibly supportive community. I have learned to be grateful for the opportunities I have here and respond to challenges in a positive way as well as embrace the Notre Dame community. I am confident that this mindset will set me up for success here in college. http://couragerenewal.org/parker/writings/13-ways-of-looking-at-community/ https://president.nd.edu/homilies-writings-addresses/wesley-theological-seminary-commencement/