Kyle, Integration One Moreau FYE Professor Taylor 15 October 2021 Word Count: 1321 “I Believe that I will succeed” A clash of golden helmets. A sea of green and navy. The cheers and chants of my family, classmates, teachers, and almost anyone you asked. These are my earliest memories of Notre Dame; to me it was little more than a football team, connected to those in my hometown because we share the state of Indiana, and a faith in the Catholic Church. But now, after years of Notre Dame being in the back of my mind, as I was exposed to new people and ideas, had my faith tested, and matured into a young adult, Notre Dame is now my home. While I likely cannot say why I choose Notre Dame, besides the obvious answers of wanting to be successful and be with like minded individuals. To me, choosing to come to this wonderful university was me choosing to open myself to new people and new opportunities, it was me choosing to confront and fully connect with my faith, and it was me choosing to join a community of very different people now in the same boat. This new experience, a life at Notre Dame, has truly pushed me to consider what I believe. I believe that I am looking for long lasting connections and relationships here at Notre Dame When I decided to come to Notre Dame, I had to make the conscious decision to go to a different school than all of my friends. Growing up, I have always been shy and more on the quiet side, which at times has made it difficult to branch out and connect with others. When coming to Notre Dame, I was prepared to change that, I was ready to force myself into the uncomfortable and put myself out there, trying to make friends. With the key idea in mind that everyone has similar struggles in this way, worded wonderfully by Dr. Brown, “When you ask people about love, they tell you about heartbreak; when you ask people about belonging, they’ll tell you about their most excruciating experiences of being excluded; and when you ask people about connections, the stories they told me were about disconnection,” (“The Power of Vulnerability” by Brené Brown - Moreau FYE Week One) which highlights that everyone experiences the same fears of rejection, I can force myself to just except that this is the way things are and push myself out there. I’ve gone to parties (which I had never done before), I’ve stayed up, and most importantly I’ve made new friends. Specifically, despite it being only two months so far, I have made a friend that I already consider to be one of my closest friends. My section mate Collin, who I have spent night after night hanging out until early morning talking to each other about anything and everything, he is someone that I feel I can rely on, and I feel good knowing I can do the same for him. “A good, healthy friendship is one where two people are mutually growing and on a path toward becoming better people,” (“Healthy Vs. Unhealthy Relationships” by Red Flag Campaign - Moreau FYE Week 4), this puts into words what it means to be a good friendship, and our mutual helping of each other through our problems makes me confident this is a healthy friendship, which makes me happy knowing I’m already completing the goals I set out to do. I believe that I can grow at Notre Dame as a person by balancing fun with my studies and development of faith. Arriving on campus, I was ready to engage in the academic community and dive head first into my advanced education. But one thing that I truly was not ready for was how strongly I was confronted by faith. Not necessarily being forced into anything accept for a beautiful opening meeting at the Grotto, just the general presence of chapels in every dorm, the Basilica in view from my dorm, priests going by on the sidewalks on the day to day, I have found myself considering my own faith more and more. I have realized that despite challenges I have faced in regards to religion, going to a very secular public school where kids could even be heard criticizing religion, these challenges do not stop me from connecting with faith. In fact, as Fr. Fagerberg said, “And yet even tribulations can advance us toward the Kingdom of God.” (Father Fagerberg - Moreau FYE Week Three). Keeping in mind that I can still approach religion despite past disconnect from my faith, and be welcomed with open arms by God, gives me an astounding reassurance. In addition to developing my faith and friendships, I have also jumped straight into school work, and have taken to putting every ounce of myself into my studies. I have found that the best way to succeed and to truly learn is to get deep in the topics and truly try to understand what I am learning. But I do this with David Brooks’ TEDtalk in mind, in which he says, “The problem is this turns you into a shrewd animal, who treats life as a game, and you become a cold, calculated creature who slips into a sort of mediocrity where you realize there’s a difference between your desired self and your actual self.” (David Brooks - Moreau FYE Week 2). And considering how I do not want to become an unfriendly person too ingrained to appreciate life, it gives me a greater appreciation for the time I am spending with my new friends, and my time approaching faith, to make me a holistically balanced person. I believe that my community here at Notre Dame should embrace our differences and move on to conquer this stage in our life together. These most recent weeks have been an amazing opportunity of meeting so many new people from so many different backgrounds. Especially in week six, when we were able to listen to all of the “Where I’m from” poems, and I could hear about the diverse places people are coming from, and the diverse experiences that everyone has had. I understand that it is critical to understand the perspectives and stories of others, to appreciate and embrace our differences, and as stated in Scientific American, “It isn’t nice to think we aren’t very nice,” (Scientific American - Moreau FYE Week 7). This quotation is so important to me because it encompasses the ideas behind the social injustices of the world today, that people view problems in a us versus them mentality. To move past this and towards an inclusive future, I believe that it starts here at Notre Dame. Even Carla Harris spoke on this at the commencement speech, saying, “I rejoice that we have all found a new common ground in that we have all truly had a shared experience,” (“Commencement Speech” by Carla Harris - Moreau FYE week 5). Despite so many people having such different stories, we are all now in the same boat, all of our journeys have brought us to Notre Dame. With this new connection I hope that the Notre Dame community will remain united and move forwards together. Upon stepping foot at The University of Notre Dame, I was confronted with new opportunities, possibilities to expand my knowledge about a plethora of things, possibilities to go out, have fun, and make long lasting friendships, the possibilities to expand my faith while surrounded by all of these religious structures and symbols, and the possibilities to connect with people dissimilar to me. All of these possibilities make my time here at Notre Dame valuable beyond measure, I truly believe that being here at Notre Dame is the perfect next step in my life. Looking forward to my hopes and dreams, of becoming a surgeon and having a family, the relationships and knowledge that I gain will help me along further than anything else could. At Notre Dame, I believe that I will succeed.