Moreau Integration 2 Paper - Victor M. Trejo Gonzalez Victor M. Trejo Gonzalez Professor Andrew Whittington Moreau FYS 10101 December 02, 2021 Internal Hardship with Academic Struggles My whole life I have been praised for my academic success and hard work. I never once struggled in school and accomplished all my goals including coming to Notre Dame! However, I had a reality check when college life became more difficult and I began to encounter academic hardship. It became hard for me to adapt and grow from my past ways in which I naturally succeeded in school to now having to really implement myself and study for academic success. Having never experienced academic hardship before, it has become hard for me internally to accept that I am doing my best and there is nothing more for me to do than just push forward and grow from this experience. To begin, on our first week back from fall break we discussed encountering internal dissonance. A major topic we talked about in this discussion was the effect of imposter syndrome and how it affects students heavily. We articulated how students tend to be a big target to imposter syndrome because of our common feeling of failure from the pressure of needing academic success. Imposter syndrome is very prevalent but due to a lack of exposure it doesn't seem as a grave issue. Therefore, “to call it a syndrome is to downplay how universal [imposter syndrome] is” (“What is Imposter Syndrome” by Elizabeth Cox - Moreau FYE Week Nine) because many encounter imposter syndrome but feel discouraged to talk about their experiences with this issue. For instance, I have experienced extreme imposter syndrome especially now that https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQUxL4Jm1Lo I am struggling academically to attain my goals. I never believed I was qualified to come attend Notre dame. I never believed I deserved my scholarship. And I never believed in my own well deserved success. I kept comparing my accomplishments to other students' success not allowing myself to grow but instead keeping myself grounded by my own “limitations”. It was because of these bottled emotions that I began to have internal struggles accepting my academic hardships. I am trying my best and the switch from high school to college has been hard but I never allowed myself to accept the fact that it is okay to not be okay and having this discussion in Moreau really helped me understand that sometimes I just need to take a step back and talk things out. Furthermore, in week ten we touched on the topic of encountering brokenness. We learned of the art of Kintsugi to learn that facing brokenness is totally fine and a good thing. Kintsugi is used as a means of visual imagery to teach us that broken items can become even more beautiful than they were before. Therefore, feeling brokenness is a good thing “worth celebrating because it allows [us] to grow and expand” (“Women Find Healing Through Kintsugi Workshop” by Grotto - Moreau FYE Week Ten). This taught me that it is okay to feel out of place and experience hardship because it only makes us stronger. For example, after this class I learned that just because I had a rough patch in starting college it didn't mean it was the end. Instead I picked myself up and tried harder and gave myself room for failure because it only makes me wiser. I learned that it will be fine and that I have time to bounce back and try harder. To continue, In week Eleven we learned about encountering community. We learned that sometimes we need to confide in others to help us grow. It also never hurts to have people who want you to succeed in your back corner. We learned that “community is not a goal to be achieved but a gift to be received” (“Thirteen Ways of Looking at Community” by Parker J. Palmer, Center for Courage and Renewal - Moreau Week Eleven). We must not take community https://grottonetwork.com/make-an-impact/heal/find-healing-through-kintsugi-art/?utm_source=fall_2021&utm_medium=class&utm_id=moreau https://grottonetwork.com/make-an-impact/heal/find-healing-through-kintsugi-art/?utm_source=fall_2021&utm_medium=class&utm_id=moreau http://couragerenewal.org/parker/writings/13-ways-of-looking-at-community/ for granted because it is a blessing and a gift to be able to have people like you surrounding and backing you. When I started encountering my hardship of academic struggle the most I outsourced for help and some of my closest friends now helped me by giving me courage and allowing me to confide in them for when i'm stressed and hurting. Now we are more than just friends and confide in each other for anything. This depicts how community is not something you seek, it is something you gain and earn because the relationships build themselves but there needs to be a connection and I am blessed to have found my people. Finally, In our last week in Moreau we learned about Encountering Hope. We learned that hope is wonderful and an amazing tool that helps us get through our day to day lives. For instance, I tend to stick strong to my faith and my hope in God to allow me to grow because “striving for completeness means spending one's life as a citizen of this world imitating the person of Christ as the gateway to citizenship in heaven” (“Hope - Holy Cross and Christian Education” By Fr. James B. KIng, C. S. C - Moreau Week Twelve) meaning that if we live through God then we'll make it to heaven. My faith in God is something that helped me overcome my internal struggle with my encounter with academic hardship because it let me put my faith and trust in God and take some weight off of me because God is helping me get through the hard times that come with life. It's like how Jesus carried the cross and gave his life for us to live and survive. It is beauce of Moreau that I have grown in my faith in God and have grown in my hope of the world and life overall. Moreau taught me that hope is wonderful and should be cherished. As a final point, I have to state that it has been hard to get used to the pace and life in college. However, Moreau has helped me grow as a person and as a student giving me insight into my own internal identity, community, and belief in hope and faith. I am very thankful and https://campusministry.nd.edu/assets/105621/ https://campusministry.nd.edu/assets/105621/ grateful for the ability to grow through this class and I am proud to say that my internal encounter with my hardship with my struggle with school has gotten lighter and I owe it all to my new Moreau community and my Professor Andrew Whittington.