Integration 2 Sanya Jain Discovering a Home Away from Home My journey at Notre Dame has been nothing but inspiring in so many different ways. It has shown me the potential I have as well as the willingness of it’s giving community to help me reach my potential. Prior to coming to Notre Dame, I was very skeptical about fitting into the community as I was a Non-Catholic student. However, ever since I have come to the university, I have learnt to understand the differences, and appreciate the similarities which has made me a very open-minded person. Coming to a catholic school as a non-catholic, colored individual was daunting in the beginning. This fear was heightened due to recent events in the United States where racial injustices were witnessed like the George Floyd incident. However, to my surprise at the university of Notre Dame, I was able to find diversity and I was accepted into the community without any racial judgement made by any of my friends. People may have been ignorant towards the Indian culture, but I think I haven’t faced any problem in terms of my social or academic life, which was a great relief. Notre Dame’s community has been open and welcoming which has made my experience more fun. Moreover, as time passes I see people as more responsible and aware citizens which I believe is what the world needs right now. Moreover, I realised that the commencement address touched on important points which made me feel accepted into the community. One such important quote was “Love is the greatest commandment — and hatred is at the heart of the greatest sins.” I couldn’t simply not choose this quote which was a part of the commencement address because it states something so simple, but meaningful. Love is the greatest commandment, because it should be the way we live our life - to give and receive love. Love helps a person grow, Love fosters relationships and Love paves a happy and good life. While hatred is the poison that spoils the broth. Hatred at heart is the Sanya Jain greatest sin because it makes an emotion as pure as love impure. Hatred clouds one’s mind and prevents us from being rational and critical thinkers. (“Wesley Theological Seminary Commencement” by Office of the President - Moreau FYE Week Ten) More importantly, reading perspectives and talking to students, especially upper class men really helped me understand the process of adjusting to a new community. All the upperclassmen were very supportive as they shared their experiences, helped me through every obstacle including choosing my classes and making me aware of the new opportunities on campus. “With Voices True” articles also gave me a new perspective, which showed me I was not the only one feeling out of place initially and that everyone regardless of their religion or nationality went through the same process. I read an Indian perspective from one of those articles because that would be one I would be able to resonate with. I found Noble Patidar’s story called “Framing a positive story” where he speaks about racism back home in the Indian Community as well as his experience of Notre Dame where he learnt to accept the differences people have and moved on. This university provides opportunities to us students to create a diverse environment. I surely think that after looking at the various opportunities described by the student voices, I will be part of this change at this University. (“Voices True” by University of Notre Dame - Moreau FYE Week Eleven) As I became more comfortable with the community around me, I discovered that the strong community actually held the power to change me. The Five Principles of the university have truly become a part of my beliefs and experiences here . The five principles are Mind, Heart, Zeal, Family and Hope. The definition of these 5 principles, which form the 5 strong pillars of the university’s character are mentioned below: https://president.nd.edu/homilies-writings-addresses/wesley-theological-seminary-commencement/ https://president.nd.edu/homilies-writings-addresses/wesley-theological-seminary-commencement/ https://voicestrue.nd.edu Sanya Jain Mind: seeking understanding through the integration of faith and reason; Heart: discerning our personal vocation in service to the Church and world; Zeal: enkindling the desire to use our gifts to boldly proclaim God’s Word; Family: embracing Christian community as the context for lifelong formation; Hope: trusting in the cross and God’s promise of the kingdom (“Holy Cross and Christian Education” by Notre Dame Campus Ministry - Moreau FYE Week 12) * (It was a PDF file and hence the link may not work since it is linked to my canvas account) The university of Notre Dame aims to influence all their students based on these 5 principles as they think this is what would help them shape individuals that are vital for our future. These 5 principles have influenced my beliefs since I have come here in the following way: The mind which is the most important is not limited to academics only. While the academic essence of Notre Dame is important to their character, a greater emphasis is placed on using our knowledge and integrating it with faith and understanding. I assumed that the faith they would constantly emphasize on was the Catholic faith. However, since I have come here I have realised the various meanings of faith which aren't similarly linked to Catholic beliefs. Integrating logical reasoning as well as one’s personal beliefs with academic knowledge, is what makes me a critical thinker and at this university I have learnt to think critically and holistically using my mind which is an important tool. The heart is important because it is the origin of emotion. It is the origin of emotions such as love, admiration and respect. Using these emotions, this university emphasizes on service which makes us giving and caring humans. Through my time at this university, I have been presented with several opportunities to give back to society. For example, Operation Smile Club at Notre Dame is an international medical charity and Notre Dame is affiliated with them. This https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/23692/files/187465/download?download_frd=1 Sanya Jain semester on Campus there were various events where students got the opportunity to raise funds for the community. Not simply clubs, but even residential halls have yearly events where they raise money for organisations that need help. McGlinn Hall this year had McChristmas where we raised money for a school in south bend for the underprivileged. Such activities across the semester have helped foster my heart and have taught me the importance of service. Zeal is a quality that I have noticed in all students at Notre Dame. There is always a burning passion in every student to reach their full potential. Being a part of such a community where Zeal is given so much importance, makes me want to work harder towards achieving my goals. This semester I have been motivated by individuals just by being inspired by their work ethics or passion with which they carry out every activity. The next pillar is Family. I think it is fair to agree that unlike any university Notre Dame provides each student with a residential life that becomes our family not just for the next four years but forever. McGlinn Hall has made me feel like I am at home - from sister Mary always being present to help me out, to the close knit bond between the girls of section 2B to having a big sister at McGlinn. The comfort of a family has always been given to me which has made living at Notre Dame easier as the emptiness of not having my family has reduced. The last principle is Hope. I think this is very different from the others because it is something very personal to each individual and abstract at the same time. Hope for me is the Hope to turn into an individual that can become a change-maker. Using all the 4 principles, I aspire to become a global leader, trend-setter and change-maker. This belief and hope has been fostered by being at Notre Dame. Hence even through these Catholic principles, I have been able to discover my way of interpreting them and I have understood how these have changed my perspective in the last few Sanya Jain months. While I have learnt so much from the university, it was not a very straightforward and easy path. A strong take away from week 9 was to “trust yourself” because a person is the best judge of themselves. In life, everyone may come across different obstacles where they feel pressured to act in a certain way or achieve something, but the most important thing to keep in mind is to trust yourself. Personally, there have been times when instead of doing what I think I should do, I go with what my family and friends expect. An example would be my college applications. I was expected to apply to the top Ivy schools and many of which I didn’t want to go through. In this process I forgot what I really wanted to study and conformed to what my parents and counsellors would expect from me. The only time I made my own choice of what I really want to do was when I got into the universities and had to decide. Notre Dame was the best choice for me and that is the reason I came here despite any other pressures. Through this experience I learnt to trust myself. The same applies for decisions I take at this university. While there are many people to help guide me when I am struggling, an important learning for me was to figure solutions to the problems by myself and trust myself. One problem that I did face was that of expectations. Coming here I had very high expectations. Being the topper of my school made me think that I had to excel in everything at university too and I thought I would. However, I failed to realise that competing with 40 classmates was very different from a couple of thousand students at university. Hence in the first week when I didn’t get chosen for the EY SIBC project, I felt dejected and lost. I began questioning if business was something I was capable of pursuing and if that's what I truly wanted to do. That was the moment I began to doubt myself. However, correctly pointed out by Julia Hogan in her article “Expectations are the bars we set”. (“Why Letting Go of Expectations is a Freeing Habit” by Julia Hogan - Moreau FYE Week Nine) I think we often get caught up with expectations and feel the pressure to conform to them which prevents us from understanding what we truly want. Moreover, as a freshman I think the imposter syndrome is a very common phenomena because coming into a new environment with so many people often makes one question their own https://grottonetwork.com/navigate-life/health-and-wellness/letting-go-of-expectations/?utm_source=fall_2021&utm_medium=class&utm_id=moreau https://grottonetwork.com/navigate-life/health-and-wellness/letting-go-of-expectations/?utm_source=fall_2021&utm_medium=class&utm_id=moreau Sanya Jain abilities and casts doubts. Therefore, I believe we are in a vulnerable situation where we should not fall prey to this syndrome and simply trust our abilities and instincts. Hence, trusting myself and backing myself was an important quality I learnt through my semester at this university. (“What is Imposter syndrome and how can you combat it” by Elizebeth Cox- Moreau FYE Week Nine) Through the various obstacles, and the various means of support that I received throughout the semester, I have finally discovered the true essence of this university. This university is one that I can call HOME, for it fosters a community that is so giving and accepting, like no other. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQUxL4Jm1Lo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQUxL4Jm1Lo