Moreau Integration One Navigating the Complexities of College Life and Beyond I believe that I forge life-giving relationships by allowing myself to be emotionally available and vulnerable. At Notre Dame, I feel like I have emotionally grown; while it is difficult to meet and make new connections with people, it has afforded me the opportunity to be emotionally open. After performing poorly on an exam, I initially hesitated to confide my feelings to one of my dorm mates. As I struggled to handle feelings of stress and failure, I deemed it best to reach out to my floor RA; in my moment of vulnerability, I was able to connect and build a better relationship with my floor RA. I think the biggest, yet most rewarding challenge is allowing ourselves to be vulnerable; in order to form a deeper connection with ourselves and the people around us, we must allow ourselves to be vulnerable. According to Bréne Brown, people who “fully embrace vulnerability” experience greater feelings of self-love. (“The Power of Vulnerability” by Bréne Brown - Moreau FYE Week I). When we fully recognize our self-worth, we enable ourselves to create deep, supportive relationships. Too many times, people find themselves in the midst of a toxic relationship; in the article “5 Signs You’re in a Toxic Relationship”, provides students with information on how to identify a toxic relationship and how to deal with these toxic relationships (“5 Signs You’re in a Toxic Relationship” by Olivia T. Taylor - Moreau FYE Week IV). So far the best aspect of Notre Dame is the people I have met and connected with; while I am wary of forming toxic relationships, I still allow myself to be vulnerable with those around me. Part of the college experience, and, on a greater scale, the human experience is connecting with people who will support you and build an atmosphere where mutual growth can happen. I hope that in not only my future at Notre Dame but wherever life takes me I allow myself to emotionally connect with people around me, and develop relationships where not only I can grow, but the other party can, too. I believe that I pursue truth by listening and understanding other people’s stories and perspectives. From my short time at Notre Dame, I have already experienced the diversity the university is able to offer; I have connected with people from different cultures and learned about the traditions and customs which shape the individual and their story. In a specific instance, I connected with a peer from India, and he offered a personal as well as a different perspective of India. While I initially did not know much about Indian culture, I was able to gain a better understanding by simply listening to my peer’s story. Actively seeking different perspectives enables an environment to grow; according to Chimamanda Adichi, if we reject the single story, we “realize that there is never a single story” (“The Danger of a Single Story” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, TED - Moreau FYE Week VII). While we should take the time to explore other people’s stories, it’s important to also explore our own stories. Participating in an activity similar to the “Where I’m From” poem, allows us to explore ourselves which is just as important as exploring other perspectives; when we can understand ourselves, we can understand other people (“Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon - Moreau FYE Week VI). Notre Dame has provided me the opportunity to go beyond not only my single story, but the single story of others. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iCvmsMzlF7o https://grottonetwork.com/navigate-life/relationships/signs-of-toxic-friendships/ https://grottonetwork.com/navigate-life/relationships/signs-of-toxic-friendships/ https://grottonetwork.com/navigate-life/relationships/signs-of-toxic-friendships/ https://grottonetwork.com/navigate-life/relationships/signs-of-toxic-friendships/ https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story http://www.georgeellalyon.com/where.html Maintaining a singular perspective of the world only offers a microscopic way of thinking; when we limit ourselves to a singular story, we limit our capacity to understand others. In the future, I hope I can maintain an open mindset, where I am free to explore not only my stories but the stories of other people; I hope that by engaging in other stories I can formulate a better understanding of myself and a better understanding of the world. I believe that I grow by learning from my failures and building off my successes. In the early weeks of the semester, I experienced my first dose of failure; one of the worst aspects of failing is how unexpected it can be. Going into my first college exam, I felt confident that I would perform well, considering that it was a math exam and that I am a math major. I will say it is a very humbling experience to not only fail, but to fail at what you love to do. In Carla Harris’ Laetare Medalist address, she says that “failure always brings you a gift and that gift is called experience” ("2021 Laetare Medalist Address" by Carla Harris - Moreau FYE Week V). From my experience of failure, I can undoubtedly say that this is true. From my failure I learned multiple things, I learned the ways I handle and respond to failure as well as learned that failures provide opportunity. One important thing to learn from failure is to know and understand why you failed; when we understand our mistakes it makes a path to success just a little bit easier. Failing allowed me to improve my study habits; it taught me that my response to failure makes me who I am. Failure did provide me experience, and when that second math exam rolled around I was ready for it and conquered it to the best of my abilities. In the future, I hope that I can maintain a positive outlook on failure; I hope that when I encounter these failures I have the ability to grow from them and understand myself better. I believe that I am made to serve as a vessel for compassion, love and support. Sometimes people focus on material success, and forget to live for the things they genuinely care about. From my time at Notre Dame as well as in the past, I often spent too much of my time working for material and academic success; however, at Notre Dame, I found that to truly live and to truly be happy comes from the people we love and the things we love to do. I find purpose in emotionally supporting a friend who misses home or helping my roommate simply organize her side of the room. David Brooks talks about how we often ignore our side to live for others (“David Brooks: Should you live for your résumé ... or your eulogy?” by David Brooks - Moreau FYE Week II). When we live for others, we live compassionate and loving lives. David Fagerberg writes that bringing light into a world of darkness requires hope, love and faith (“Faith Brings Light to a Dark World” by David Fagerberg - Moreau FYE Week III). I think heeding the advice of both Fagerberg and Brooks has allowed me to search for a more meaningful and humanitarian purpose in life. I hope that in my future at Notre Dame I am able to be a person people can go to for support; I hope that I can lead a life where I not only live for myself but live for others. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjSwjn-SyB4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlLWTeApqIM https://grottonetwork.com/keep-the-faith/belief/faith-brings-light-to-dark-world/?utm_source=fall_2021&utm_medium=class&utm_id=moreau https://grottonetwork.com/keep-the-faith/belief/faith-brings-light-to-dark-world/?utm_source=fall_2021&utm_medium=class&utm_id=moreau