Jenna - Collier

Jenna

Collier

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2027

Columbus, Ohio

At an academically rigorous and selective institution like Notre Dame, you are bound to
be surrounded by people like you: industrious overachievers who want to better themselves
while serving those around them. I know that I fit that mold; however, I did not expect to
encounter some of my stronger accompanying characteristics—authenticity and acceptance—in
every individual I have met here.

With maturity, I have found that I am a very authentic person; living as such has
increased my happiness and confidence because I now attract the people who truly value me for
who I am. My authenticity did not work especially well in high school when it came to finding
lasting friends, given their facades and desire to please everyone and gain popularity. I had
hoped to find genuine friends in college but had no idea how many I would actually encounter.
To my surprise, everyone I have met and with whom I have developed relationships also portray
their genuine selves through honest words and actions. My friends and peers do not mask their
academic struggles and pretend to be excelling in every class; instead, we have honest
conversations about our struggles with imposter syndrome. We look at the dome, shake our
heads, and question how we were worthy enough to be in the 11% of applicants accepted into the
University of Notre Dame. We wonder how our grades, ACT scores, extra-curriculars, and
leadership positions gained us admission into such a prestigious university. Although I was
certainly not expecting to encounter such authentic vulnerability in so many people initially, if at
all, I am so glad I found others who openly share this trait.

I have also been pleasantly surprised by the immediate acceptance of everyone here. I
am accustomed to accepting everyone for who they authentically are but unfortunately not vice versa.

This has not at all been the case during my time at Notre Dame.

Here people have accepted me as I am from the get-go, and even if they do not like me or see themselves
being good friends with me, they are nonetheless accepting and respectful. This has been a
healing realization and experience for me—as someone who felt socially broken during and after
four years of high school—and is somewhat analogous to the Japanese art form kintsugi, in
which broken pottery is reassembled with gold. My social life was like broken pottery, with no
hope of being fixed, until the gold that is characteristic to Notre Dame and its members mended
my feelings of loneliness and worthlessness. My social life is the best it has ever been, thanks to
the people I have encountered and the relationships I have built here; it appears as a work of
kintsugi, a lovely piece of pottery with visible, but beautified, scars.

Ultimately, I did not simply encounter the traits of authenticity and acceptance in others
on this campus; I encountered what it means to be a Notre Dame student. I have heard it said
many times that “the people make the place” here, but I have now experienced firsthand that it
takes a certain kind of person to make Notre Dame so unique and special. Despite my daily
struggle with imposter syndrome, I feel that I am meant to help preserve this culture, and I know
that those around me are cut out for the job, too.

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