10/14/21 Moreau Integration The Power of Faith and Love My root beliefs shape who I am. I stand by them, and they are my backbone when I make decisions in life. I believe that in order to forge lifelong and meaningful relationships, it is crucial to be vulnerable and be yourself. I think that we should search for ways to be more vulnerable and have the courage to stop being shameful of who we are. We need to accept any differences that we may have and love ourselves. If someone does not accept us for who we are, that person is not worth our time. For me, this is the only way that we can form deep, lifelong relationships and emotional connections with others. I believe in this because if we act differently in front of others in order to try to impress them, we can never get to that next stage in the relationship. Acting differently will lead to an artificial relationship in which nobody in the relationship is being truthful and vulnerable to the other. I came to believe this with a lot of trial and error in my life. Whenever I would act differently to make friends, I noticed that the friendship would never last long, and I would never get very close to the people. My parents have also told me to always be myself because that is how you form relationships in which the other genuinely appreciates and loves you. This belief is challenged frequently in that many times I may want to try to “fit in” by changing who I am as a person. However, recently I have stuck to this belief of staying true to yourself and it has made me much happier and allowed me to make some amazing friends who value me. We must truly think that we are worthy of being loved and belong (“The Power of Vulnerability” by Brene Brown- Moreau FYE Week One). Another root belief that is very important to me is that I believe that I grow as a person by having faith, being loving towards others, and being honest with myself. I think it is very important in life that we journey and strive to become our more authentic selves. I think one of the first steps we can take to become our more authentic selves is to love others. The reason for this is because loving others leads to a variety of things for yourself, including empathy and the ability to prioritize the needs of others over our own needs. This will allow us to become more genuine, open minded, and most importantly more authentic. Faith is also very important in that a relationship with God can humble us in nature and allow us to turn towards redemption. When we have a strong relationship with God, we realize how we are nothing compared to him and that we should follow his word (The Bible). I found what we learned in class very interesting, especially the video on our Adam I and Adam II. A quote that I found very inspiring from that video was “"Nothing that is worth doing can be achieved in our lifetime; therefore, we must be saved by hope. Nothing which is true or beautiful or good makes complete sense in any immediate context of history; therefore, we must be saved by faith.” This quote reinforced my root belief and showed me the importance of turning away from the ambitious side of our nature and towards the more humbling side (“Should you live for your Resume or Your Eulogy?” By David Brooks-Moreau FYE Week 2). I have come to believe this over time and through my strong backbone which is my family. My family has helped me with my faith and has shown me how loving others can help you grow as a person. I also believe that being honest with your self is very important. I believe that every once and a while, we should reflect on ourselves, where we are from, and our decisions. I enjoyed the “Where I’m From” poem that we had to create because it gave me this opportunity to reflect on myself and who I am as a person. This assisted me in growing as my more authentic self (“Where I’m From Poem”-Moreau FYE Week 6) (Class Discussion and Peer Sharing-Moreau Week 6). One root belief that is extremely important to me, is my belief that my purpose is to spread the word of God and help others grow in their faith. I believe that faith is extremely important in our life journey. Without a belief in God, many of the obstacles that life brings to us will be difficult to face. For this reason, I think that God has given me the gift of faith so that I may spread it to others and show them the beauties of it. I think this root belief came from God. He gave my parents this gift and they in turn gave it to me. However, this belief is challenged very often. Many times, I am tempted to ignore God and not stand up for him when my friends or others make fun of myself or others for having faith. However, this root belief has allowed me to overcome many of the challenges I have face, and help spread the word of God. I really enjoyed this week of Moreau because I learned a lot from the texts, videos, and in class discussions. I especially enjoyed the video that talked about how faith brings light into a dark world. One quote that I found particularly interesting was: “Faith sees God’s face peeking through every creature, like some divine game of peek-aboo between our heavenly Father and ourselves. We don’t have to look elsewhere for God; we only need to look around. He’s there, and the dawning faith sees him everywhere.” I believe in the message of this quote because I think that we are not going to see or hear God if we do not truly believe in him. God is in everything we do, but we must look for him and have faith to see him (“Faith Brings Light to a Dark World” by Professor David Fagerberg, Grotto- Moreau FYE Week 3). Avoiding toxic friendships and relationships are essential and I believe that good friendships can help us improve as a person and choose the correct path. I think many people underestimate the power of having friends that truly care about you and love you. I believe in this because the people you surround yourself with are extremely influential to who you become as a person (Moreau Week 4 Class Discussion). This belief originated especially because of my parents. My mother always used to tell me a quote, “tell me who you are hanging out with, and I will tell you who you are.” This belief is challenged often, especially here at Notre Dame. Sometimes I am tempted to hang around individuals that are seen as “cool”, even if it will negatively affect who I become as a person. Every time I am tempted by this, I remember this root belief and my mother’s quote. This belief has allowed me to form relationships that help me grow in a positive manner and make me happier. For class, we read an article about signs that you are in a toxic relationship and one of the quotes really stuck with me. The quote was “Friendships should make you feel positive and like you’re investing in something long-term. Think back to a time where you felt uplifted, hopeful, and happy after hanging out with a friend.” This quote showed me what to truly look for in a friendship which is one in which I am happy and feel good about myself after hanging out with them (“5 Signs You’re in a Toxic Friendship” by Olivia T. Taylor- Moreau FYE Week 4). I believe that the members of our community should utilize faith and reason together, to grow close and become more united. I believe in this because religion binds us together and can help form strong communities. I have learned that having love and belief for the Lord will allow us to be better neighbors. A community that shares similar values will also create a sense of unity and similarity in that community. For our QQC, we had to watch a video from Fr. Kevin Grove, and I really enjoyed a specific statement in his speech. In the video he says, “Faith and reason together, place us always in relationship to each other.” This hit me deeply and reminded me about the importance of faith and loving others (“Two Notre Dames: Your Holy Cross Education” by Fr. Kevin Grove, C.S.C- Moreau FYE Week 5). Once again, I came to believe this because of my parents. My parents have a very strong relationship with God. Over my life they have taught me the importance of becoming close to God. I have also observed how their faith has strengthened their marriage and relationship with the fellow members of my community. I also believe that reason is important because we should not enforce our beliefs on anybody, and we should respect all the members of our communities’ beliefs. This belief has influenced my life a lot especially here at Notre Dame. Going to my dorm mass on Sunday is such a great feeling. I love watching everybody singing along and being very passionate in the mass. I have become very close with many of the people in my dorm because of this and other activities such as bible study. This example alone, proves how faith can strengthen a community (Moreau FYE Week 5 Class Discussion). I believe that I pursue truth by being more conscious, educated, and taking action on world issues that deal with bias, discrimination, and lack of equality. By being more educated and taking action on these issues, we help pursue truth in the world. I think we all have to try to decrease our implicit bias and treat all people with a sense of equality. Human beings must be more conscious in their decisions to help reduce bias in our world. By doing this we can make the world a better place. This belief influences my actions because I make sure to be extremely conscious of my decisions before making choices or taking action. I learned a lot from the article dealing with implicit bias. One statement that hit me deeply from the article is, “It sets people up to overgeneralize, sometimes leading to discrimination even when people feel they are being fair.” This statement alone shows us that we could be bias even without knowing it. For this reason, we must educate ourselves more and be more conscious in our decision making process (“How to think about ‘implicit bias’” by Keith Payne, Laura Niemi, John M. Doris, Scientific American-Moreau FYE Week 7).