Integration 2


First Semester of a new life 
 What have I encountered and how will I respond? This is a very general 
question that I will try to answer today. It basically asks about my experience 
connected to all the moroue topics together. It contains a question about my 
experience here, at Norte Dame and how I feel about it. I believe it is important to 
recognize after this first semester what our experience has been like, whether we 
enjoy it and whether it fits some role in the lifelong pursuit of happiness, which is 
the driving force for most people. It is what what this country is about - freedom 
and pursuit of happiness. When we realize how the Norte Dame experience has 
impacted us and how we feel about it we are able to recognize what we have 
experienced and then decide how will we respond. 
 For me a big part of  the Notre Dame was the majors Chem class that I took. 
It was insanely hard and at the same time very gratifying. I have truly dealt as if I 
am drastically expanding my knowledge of chemistry and that I am getting closer 
and closer to excellence in this subject. I have also realized that I will need to have 
an engineering background so I transferred from Chemistry to Chemical 
engineering, but am still taking the chem majors classes (not because I have to, but 
because I can). I can truly say I have encountered passion. Every time Professor 
Brown was showing us a new subject I was extremely excited and curious about 
the mechanics that govern our world. What before did not seem to me that 
interesting suddenly became fascinating and there wasn’t a time where i did not 
want to be there. I liked the challenge that the class posed and I believe I overcame 
it quite well.  
 I also understood how meaningless partying can be. This was a huge shocker 
for me. I used to love partying in high school. I realized that what is important is 
quality time spent with other people, the connections that you make, the impact 
that you create on your environment ent and how you expand as a person. Having 
momentary fun is meaningless and leads to sadness. Easy and comfortable choices 
lead to a very hard and uncomfortable life. I believe that the true way to achieve 
happiness is the pursuit of excellence. I understood that I have to master something 
that gives me joy or I will not be happy.  
 I have also gained a deeper insight into something that I previously had no 
clue about. as Agustin Fuentes says : “Diversity matters”. I have met a lot of 
people from many different backgrounds and was fascinated to hear their stories. 
Where I come from there is very little diversity. Poland is somewhere around 99% 
white and 96% catholic. Here the community is much more diverse which for me 
was very exciting. I got to talk to people from all around the world and was able to 
experience cultures I would otherwise not understand. This really made me realize 



how important diversity is in communities, since it can provide a new view on 
many things. 
 I also encountered many inspiring people. People much smarter than me and 
have learned the art of listening. Back I’m my high school I was at the top and 
while here I’m still one of the best ones in what I do I am definitely far from the 
best. I understood that in many cases the best thing I can do is just sit and listen. 
Someone once said “speech is silver, but silence is gold”. The professors I have 
encountered have proven extremely knowledgeable and were able to answer every 
question that I have asked them. They were guiding me on this journey and I plan 
to continue it to the best of my abilities. Thanks to them I now know I can do it and 
If I push myself I know I can make it. 
 I also encountered a lot of difficulties. I am going to be honest. None of 
these we social issues. I am a pretty likable person and the first weekend I was here 
I had more invites to parties and other events that was possible for me to attend. 
My problems were of a different nature. It was my first time that I was in a 
professional scientific setting that was in English. This issue at first seemed huge, 
but later became very minor and later disappeared completely. I also had struggled 
with calculus. I did not have calculus before college unlike 99% of students here. 
That was a problem. I might be really good at Chem and Physics, but I never was a 
big fan of Math. It was a big challenge that at the first midterm defeated me. In my 
Mind it was just a sign to change my studying patterns and get better. I think that 
as Kristen Helgeson says in her video on kintsugi a repaired piece “is more 
beautiful for having been broken”. I believe that to grow we nead to “break” 
sometimes. Just like muscles rip during training to grow back bigger and stronger a 
felt that under pressure I would break sometimes only to become better and 
stronger. At first it was really hard to accept but and then I thought what my father 
would say if I told him that although I worked hard I did not get the grade I 
wanted. It would probably be along the lines of “no one cares, work harder”. While 
it may seem harsh it is definitely true, so that is what I did and it worked very well. 
 In general I believe I have encountered who I truly am and I am embrace it. I 
believe that the last few months were some of the toughest in my life, but they 
were also some of the most fun and exciting. I will work harder to become better 
and stronger. The pursuit of happiness never stops.