Integration One.pdf


What Moreau Has Taught Me

I believe that I forge life-giving relationships by being vulnerable.

Brene Brown emphasized this root belief in her TED Talk, The Power of Vulnerability, as she

said, “The thing that underpinned this was excruciating vulnerability, this idea of, in order for

connection to happen, we have to allow ourselves to be seen, really seen.” (“The Power of

Vulnerability” by Brené Brown - Moreau FYE Week One) I saw so much truth in this, as I got to

truly learn and experience this when I first came to Notre Dame in August. I knew close to no

one and I had to make all new relationships and friendships. I changed schools my freshman year

of high school, so I had to do this same thing four years ago, but that seems like forever ago, so I

forgot what worked best for me on how I made my high school friends I currently have. That is

why I had to experiment and try different ways on how to make connections. It has been about

two months since we first came to school, and the friends I am still hanging out with are the ones

that I was vulnerable with. These friends are the ones that related to me when I was being

vulnerable because they experienced the same thing or felt the same things I am feeling. For

example, I was talking with a girl in my dorm and I told her I always had trouble making friends

and she said she had the same problem. With this, we got closer, and still hang out everyday.

There is so much power in vulnerability, as we expose our true and authentic selves.

I believe that it is important to acknowledge our faults and use this to determine the person

we want to be.



After watching David Brooks’ TED Talk, Should you live for your résumé ... or your eulogy?, I

put much thought into who my true self is and how I want to live my life. Brooks introduced the

idea of the two Adams, and how one side of us is selfish and the other is good and moral.

(“Should you live for your résumé ... or your eulogy?” by David Brooks - Moreau FYE Week

Two) It is important to realize that we do not need to feel bad that we possess both “Adams”. It is

normal to want things for ourselves or to have temptations. My root belief states that we need to

acknowledge these feelings and differentiate them with the other Adam that displays goodness

and morals. In differentiating them, we can now determine the person we want to be. We can

prioritize what is more important, and in doing so, we can find our true selves. I think this root

belief is so important because it helps me make the right choice in any hard decision that

challenges my morals and ethics.

I believe that we have the power to change a bad situation into a good one.

Throughout the years, I developed this root belief through my experiences in the past, and it was

cool to read that Professor David Fagerberg believes this same thing. He said in his article, Faith

Brings Light to a Dark World, “ When the lighting changes, what I can see changes.” (“Faith

Brings Light to a Dark World” by David Fagerberg - Moreau FYE Week Three) This is basically

what my root belief is saying, as you have the ability to change your perspective, and I believe

this because I use it in my everyday life. For example, if I have a really big test for college, I get

frustrated and stressed and want to give up, as I stay up all night studying. However, when I

think about how fortunate I am that I attend this great institution and that I am able to take this

test in the first place, I see the positives in taking the test, which helps me get through it.



Changing perspective does wonders on how we see the world, and helps us get through hard or

difficult times.

I believe that we, as a community, have a responsibility to keep each other safe.

In the video made by Notre Dame students from Week Four, one of the students said, “Assault

can happen to anyone. Anywhere. By anyone. So it’s on us.” ("It's On Us ND- The Three D's of

Being an Active Bystander" by ND - Moreau FYE Week Four) This is one of my root beliefs

because if I were in a bad situation and I needed help, I would want anyone to help me get out of

it. It is important to realize that in those situations, no one specifically is responsible to help.

What I mean by this is that if you see someone being assaulted, there is no one to help her/him

except for you. Knowing this, it helps us realize it is now everyone's responsibility to help. A big

reason why people don’t help is that they do not want to get involved, but that is just being

selfish. Everyone has the responsibility to protect each other in our community.

I believe that I have the opportunity to choose my future.

This is one of my stronger root beliefs, as I know that this will help me get far in life. Carla

Harris, the Laetare Medalist Award winner, said in her speech, “You have power. Each and every

one of you,” (“Notre Dame Commencement 2021: Laetare Medalist Address” by Carla Harris -

Moreau FYE Week Five) and when she said this, it really hit me on how true it is. I have been so

blessed throughout my life, especially being able to attend Notre Dame. And with this, I am set

up where I have the choice on what I want to do with my life. I have the power to choose who I



want to be, and with this, I know I need to work hard and not take for granted the blessings I

have been given. Only I can determine my future, so I need to put in the work and be grateful I

was given this opportunity because many people aren’t allowed this privilege.

I believe that my parents had a big influence on the person I am today.

I have this root belief because I see so much of them in myself. I have my humor from my dad

and my sleeping habits from my mom. Also, it makes sense why this root belief is true. I grew up

with them for 17 years. They took care of me and spent the most time with me, so it makes sense

that their habits, personalities, beliefs, and values have rubbed off on me. When I was writing my

“Where I’m From” poem from Week Six (“Where I’m From” by George Ella Lyon - Moreau

FYE Week Six), I saw much truth in this root belief. I had to think of who or what influenced me

throughout my life, so I thought maybe my friends, old school, Church, soccer, and family

relatives, but I came to the conclusion that my parents had the most influence on me.

I believe that my community and I should strive to learn new perspectives.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s TED talk explains exactly why we need to strive to learn and be

open to hearing new perspectives. She talks about how her roommate felt pity for her before she

met her because she was African, and the only story her roommate knew about Africa was

“catastrophe” (“The danger of a single story” by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Moreau FYE

Week Seven). This preconceived opinion wasn’t to hurt Adichie, but was because her roommate

had no knowledge of anything else about Africa other than hardship and suffering. Her ignorance



is what led her to preconceived opinions about Adichie. It is important to realize that stereotypes

do not define who we are. We are our own people with our own stories, so it is important to

strive to learn more about others and to hear their experiences and stories. This will broaden our

perspective and help us understand the world better.

This root belief also inspires what I want to do in the future. I want to travel the world, as I know

I will learn new perspectives and cultures that I am not fully exposed to in the United States. I

am from Hawaii, and thinking about it, it is so small compared to the rest of the world that is out

there. There is so much more to learn to broaden our perspectives, which is why this root belief

is very important to me.