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- [00:00]
A
Hello and welcome to College Bound with Notre Dame Admissions. My name is Nicole Campbell and I am a current senior here at Notre Dame, studying neuroscience and education, schooling and society. And I am from Fairfield, Connecticut.
- [00:13]
B
Hi, guys. My name is Liz Mereshek and I'm also a senior from Buffalo, New York. I live in Welsh Family hall, and I am studying film, television and theater with a concentration in film and a minor in musical theater.
- [00:24]
A
So today, for our episode, we wanted to speak, the two of us, a little bit about our college experiences. So, as you have heard, we are both seniors here at Notre Dame and we're getting pretty close to the end of our time here. And so for those that are interested in Notre Dame or living through their time at Notre Dame, right now, we wanted to give kind of some retrospective advice slash reflection on our own experiences that'll hopefully help you learn a bit more about Notre Dame. So, to begin, I guess, Liz, one big question I have for you is what is one thing you think you're going to miss the most about Notre Dame?
- [00:55]
B
I would say the thing I will definitely miss the most is just randomly running into people on campus. My favorite thing in the entire world about this community is just walking down the quad and running into someone you haven't seen in a year and a half and then having a 20 minute conversation with them, or having random meals with people, or slightly getting distracted from your work, but having a lovely conversation. And I just. I love living in such close proximity to all of my friends, but then also how genuinely excited everyone is always to see each other. So. So it just makes for a lot of random, cute, little spontaneous moments, and I'm definitely gonna miss that. And then, Nicole, what is one thing that you are going to most miss about entertain?
- [01:31]
A
I feel like you took a lot of what I would have said, but I think a lot of the, like, niche opportunities and the people that I've gotten to meet through those opportunities. So I am not planning on pursuing a career in, like, music or event planning or whatnot, but I've had the opportunity to engage in a lot of that through my time at Notre Dame. And because of that, I've gotten to meet a lot of cool people and have a lot of really, really cool experiences. And through that, I feel like I formed a really strong sense of just, like, familial bond and community with a lot of people at Notre Dame in a lot of different spaces. And it's given me a really cool perspective on like, all that goes on in the world and all the different things that I can do. And even though it's not, those might not necessarily be what I'm planning on pursuing. Like, having such ease to explore so many cool opportunities has been amazing and it's something that I really have not taken for granted. Awesome.
- [02:22]
B
And then the next question is, if you could go back and do your entire Notre Dame experience again, what would you do differently?
- [02:29]
A
Oof. We're getting into the deep questions. I guess. For myself, I wish that I had not been afraid to try something new sooner. So a lot of the things that I've gotten into in college are things that if I were to go back and honestly tell like my freshman fall self that I was involved in, whether it be like planning a concert, running a half marathon, like etc. Etc. I don't think I'd believe myself that these would be things that I'd be interested in and also having the opportunity to do. And honestly, a lot of them probably would have terrified me had I tried to do them really early on. So I think I wish that I had known that I was capable of doing hard things a lot sooner in my time at Notre Dame. In addition to that, I also wish I had made some connections with professors sooner. I think my learning at Notre Dame got enhanced as soon as I was able to reach out to professors and form relationships and find cool new opportunities through them. Whether that be pursuing research, learning more about topics that I'm interested in. And I think I was very intimidated when I first got to Notre Dame, but it's something that I am really capable of and I think everybody that comes to Notre Dame is capable of and it's something I wish I had done sooner. And Liz, I guess same question back to you. What would you do differently in your time at Notre Dame?
- [03:37]
B
This is always easier said than done, but I would probably remind freshman year, Liz, to not over commit. There are a ton of fun, awesome, cool things to get involved with and a lot of them are a semi large time commitment, but they're all great. But you also need to prioritize like your social life and your mental health and all of that fun stuff. So I think finding a balance sooner would have been a great thing because I, I don't know what I would cut out of my schedule right now. I love everything that I'm doing and all the people that I get to work with in my jobs, in my clubs and extracurriculars and stuff like that. But at the same time, like taking time for yourself is also super important and you know, just having time to appreciate this lovely place that we live in is also really, really a good thing to keep Central in your schedule, I guess.
- [04:24]
A
Oh, for sure. I think a lot of that, like, the great memories come in that downtime, too, and remembering to just have moments to breathe is really nice.
- [04:30]
B
Absolutely.
- [04:31]
A
I guess. Then off of that, what advice would you then give Liz, to those that are just starting their time at Notre Dame and then also to those who kind of are winding down on their time and only have a year or so left?
- [04:41]
B
Yeah. So to those who are just starting out, I would say keep an open mind. Obviously, like I said, like, don't overextend yourself. But a lot of the things that I have so most enjoyed in my time at Notre Dame or things that I think have been the most, like, fruitful to me as a person were things that I never thought I'd be involved with when I first joined the university. So I think just like saying yes to new things that maybe are a little bit out of your comfort zone, like, you're only going to be in college once, and you're only going to be around all of these new, exciting people once. So, you know, just make the most of all your opportunities and join that random class that you kind of want to take or join that random club or go to that random meeting, and you're never going to be mad that you tried something new. You're only going to be mad if you didn't go for it. So, yeah. Nicole, what about you?
- [05:27]
A
I guess my advice would kind of be on a similar vein. So for first years that are coming in, definitely take the opportunity to try something new. I have had the opportunity to do so many cool things at Notre Dame and things that I would have never even dreamed of being able to do. And a lot of my favorite things that I've done at Notre Dame weren't anything that I thought I would ever try. And you never really know what sorts of opportunities can open up if you're willing to put yourself out there. And then, honestly, for those that are kind of winding down on their time at Notre Dame, I'd give the same advice. Like, just because you're nearing the end of your time at Notre Dame doesn't mean that you should stop seeking out new experiences. I feel like for myself, I've made a lot of my best memories and my most meaningful connections in those times where I least expected it this year. Like, you would think as you're winding down on your time, you kind of know what you do already, but there's always something new to try, and there's always new people to meet, new experiences to be had. And I think it can be easy and it can be tempting to shut yourself off from those as you're getting closer to graduation, but really making sure to always keep an open mind and take advantage of everything that Notre Dame has to offer.
- [06:28]
B
I'm just realizing I didn't do my to those who are finishing, I would say to those who have one year left, just be as reflective as you can. I guess in this last year, one of my favorite things I've done this year is I've had a notes or a note on my notes app the entire year of just writing down little things I love about Notre Dame. One of my friends who was a senior when I was a freshman told me to do that, and it's been so lovely just to have a nice little happy thing to look at whenever I'm getting a little bit swamped with work or whatever, and it's just a nice little reminder of why I'm happy to be here. So on that note, Nicole, what would you say your favorite class at Notre Dame has been?
- [07:05]
A
I think I'm gonna cheat here and I'm gonna give two classes because how could I pick only one at this point? So the two that come to mind for me are either developmental neuros with Dr. Nancy Michael or education, law and policy with Dr. John Schoenig. So I've talked a lot about ed Law and policy in various admissions platforms, but that class really opened my eyes to a new field of education that I had never really thought about, and the ways that, like laws and court cases shape the way that the education system works today. And it really got me interested in what goes into creating education policy and made me even more excited to pursue research that can hopefully inform policy in the future and continue to shape the landscape of education. And then that class also solidified how much I love the education, schooling and society department at Notre Dame because I made a lot of my really close friends in that class. There were only 15 of us, and we all got super close and we would go over to our professor's house for dinner with his family, and it was just super wholesome. And I always felt really comfortable engaging with the discussions in class, and it was really due to the community and the culture that was built there. And then, in addition, Developmental neuroscience was the class where I think my neuroscience major really clicked for me. So I'm a neuromajor in the College of Arts and Letters and I've never really been pre med, so sometimes I think I questioned why I was involved in neuroscience specifically, especially if I wasn't planning on going into medicine. But developmental neuro really opened my eyes into the ways that we can use scientific research to fuel better social change. And we used a lot of our understanding of the development of the brain and the way that environments influence that development in order to inform better practices in various community partnerships that we have through Notre Dame and through South Bend. And that class was really, really cool in realizing the ways that I can apply my love of science and my love of the brain into making the world a better place.
- [08:59]
B
Yeah.
- [08:59]
A
And then I guess back to Liz. What was your favorite class in Notre Dame?
- [09:01]
B
Be? This is also very hard to choose. I could list off about a dozen. I definitely think, though, the top at that of that list would be my girls. Media and Culture studies class I took last spring with Professor Mary Kearney, who's actually now my thesis advisor. She's lovely.
- [09:18]
A
But it was just such a cool
- [09:20]
B
class because I feel like for the entirety of my film classes prior to that, I was always, always really interested in, like, film history and obviously, like, film production and, like, process of actually putting together films. But I felt like one thing that was missing from that was kind of the intersectionality between media viewership and gender. And this class was exactly that. It was, like Nicole said with her class, like, very small class. And it just kind of opened our eyes to, like, being reflective on our own media viewership, especially as children, and just seeing how that translated into how we live our lives now as young women and how the media portrays female identifying characters and roles in different. Different kinds of media. And it was just really, really interesting. We looked at a lot of cool modern films. We looked at a lot of cool older films, different kind of mixed media things. So it was just really interesting and just always, like, spawned really great conversation and dialogue. And it never really felt like work. Like, for the amount of essays that we had to write, it honestly never felt like work. So it was just a fantastic class.
- [10:23]
A
I love hearing classes like that because I'm like, dang, I could have taken that at some point. Yeah. There are so many at Notre Dame that I wish I'd had the time to take.
- [10:30]
B
I always. That's my number one that I recommend. Okay, so segueing a little bit from that, then. Nicole, what would you say your favorite Notre Dame experience has been? I know it's tough.
- [10:41]
A
Oh, I have. So thinking about this, I have a lot of different Experiences that I've had at Notre Dame that I could really pinpoint down for this. But I think overall, my favorite experience has been my involvement in my residence hall on campus. So I was in Kavanaugh hall for three years before moving off campus. Go, Chaos. And in my junior year, I was the vice president of Kavanaugh hall for my fall semester before I studied abroad. And through that experience, I got to plan really, really cool events and meet a lot of cool people on campus. We created a new signature event called the Cabaret, which is a dinner and a show with a lot of student performance groups. And it was super fun because I got to watch awesome students that were super talented show off their. Show off what they had to show for campus. And then I also got to see the dorm community get really, really close in the planning process for this event because it was brand new. And we put it together in about a month. So it was an absolutely chaotic, hot, no pun intended, month of my life. But it was so much fun. And in addition to, like, the Cabaret, we had hall council every week where me and one of my best friends, who is our president, we would dress up in silly costumes and get a ton of cab girls down to the basement to talk about fun things that are going on and ways that we could make our community stronger. And I really had the opportunity to get close with a lot of people in my dorm, not just my, like, friends in my year, but a lot of the first years in CAB at the time. And it really helped me make a lot of super close connections. And the residence hall system in Notre Dame in general is just so, so special, and I'm so glad I got to be a part of it. And then I guess, Liz, same question to you. What has been your favorite Notre Dame experience?
- [12:14]
B
Yeah. Yeah. So I would say probably being involved in pemco, which is a student run musical theater group here on campus. This was one of the things that I almost didn't try out for, and I almost chickened out. And then I did the last minute, and thank goodness I did, because I have met some of my absolute closest friends in the world in this group. I always performed in high school in different shows and musicals and stuff like that, but I never really got the chance to do anything else in theater production. So coming and joining pemco, I still got the chance to perform, but I got to direct a show. I was the marketing producer. I did some costume design. One time I was an assistant stage manager somehow, so kind of just got to wear a lot of different hats and learn a lot of, like, hard skills, but also make the best friends and just have such a blast every semester. So that's been just very wonderful.
- [13:07]
A
That sounds so much. Funko shows themselves are so fun to watch. So kudos to you, I guess, kind of segueing from that. Then how, Liz, do you feel like Notre Dame specifically compared to, like, other schools and experiences you may have been able to have the opportunity to pursue? How do you feel like Notre Dame has prepared you for postgraduate life?
- [13:26]
B
I would say. I know people say this a lot, but it really is true. Like, Notre Dame's culture as a student body is exceedingly collaborative, I would say. And obviously I'm not in a STEM major where, like, maybe it's a little bit more like, you know, longer classes and labs and stuff like that, but, like, from the classroom experience to outside classroom experience and working on projects and just preparing for things post grad, everyone really is so willing to help and genuinely like wanting to learn alongside others. And it's not a culture of you wanting to get ahead and you wanting to get the best grade by yourself. It's really like you want to help others, you want to see each other succeed, and you're learning from your classmates. Like my, when I came in freshman year, I was just so impressed with everyone I was meeting and how passionate they were and how smart they were, but also just how kind they were. So I think something that Notre Dame does really well is just developing students that are not only super smart and passionate about their own things, but they want to help others find their own passions and help them work towards an end goal together. So that is just going to carry through really well, I think, in later in life and in the workforce. So, Nicole, what are your thoughts on that?
- [14:38]
A
I mean, I absolutely echo all of the sentiments there. Like, as somebody in a STEM major, I feel like that collaborative environment really, really has showed itself in a lot of my classes and a lot of the opportunities I have. But then, in addition, I think the professors that I've been able to work with at Notre Dame, and especially the connections I've made with them, have allowed me to be exposed to the field of academia and research, which is something I hadn't fully considered prior to coming to Notre Dame, but now is what I want to ultimately pursue my career in. And it was because of the connections that I made with professors who really pushed me to my potential that I feel like I'm really prepared to engage in a competitive field. And I have discovered and understood kind of My niche interest in research. So as a neuroscience and education major, I'm now really interested in the field of educational neuroscience, which is how we can understand the brain to better inform educational interventions and instruction, which is a field I had no idea existed even a few years ago. And it's now something I want to make a career out of. And it's because of the really cool connections and stories I heard from professors and the people that I got to meet through my professors and the research I got to engage in. And it's something that because I was at Notre Dame, I really had the opportunity to explore, which has been really, really fun.
- [15:54]
B
I might echo something on that real quick. I think something that also is said but you don't really understand until you get here is just like, how impressive the professors actually are. Like I mentioned my girls media professor. She's like, one of the top girls media scholars in the world. I would do research for my thesis and read articles that she wrote. So it's just. It's so inspiring, but also, like, such a privilege to get to learn from these people that are so willing to share their knowledge with you and so excited to do so. So it's just really exciting. It's really cool.
- [16:22]
A
We've got cool professors here. We're really lucky.
- [16:24]
B
Yeah. On that note, Nicole, how do you speak? See yourself participating in the Notre Dame Community and, like, Alumni network now almost as an alumni yourself.
- [16:34]
A
That's a terrifying thought. Scary. But I'm gonna kind of go with a soft graduation. So I'll actually be pursuing my master's through Notre Dame for the next two years in a program called alliance with Catholic Education. So I'm still going to be pretty actively involved in Notre Dame and making the conscious choice to come back and pursue my master's through here because I really love the values of this school school so much. And I guess beyond that, then I really want to be able to serve as a role model for future students who would be interested in attending Notre Dame and be able to connect them with all of the really incredible people and resources on campus. I think back to family members that I had that have been huge Notre Dame fans or attended Notre Dame. I love just seeing the passion that people that have attended Notre Dame have for the school and just the genuine love and spirit. And I really hope to be able to pass that on to anybody else that wants to. To share it with me. And I guess, Liz, same question to you.
- [17:24]
B
Yeah, I would definitely second that. I think since my first, like, admitted students thing and like, every time I'd ever visited Notre Dame before, the alumni were just so incredibly welcoming and excited to be a part of, like, the Notre Dame family. Like, once you're in the Notre Dame family, you're in it for life. And that really is so true. And so I just am excited to start passing that along to future generations of Notre Dame students. All the alums I've met so far have just been so lovely and willing to help, so not only hoping to use those connections, but also one day hope to be a connection for other students. So. And, of course, coming back for. For football games and seeing friends.
- [18:02]
A
Oh, for sure I am. So that'll be fun, too, I guess. Liz, then, now that you're almost your four years here, almost done, are you happy that you chose to come to Notre Dame?
- [18:11]
B
Absolutely. I cannot say that without smiling 100%. Notre Dame was my dream school since I was, like, 8 years old, because I saw the campus and I thought it was gorgeous. And I knew nothing about college, but I just knew that that was the pretty place with the trees. And after learning about college, I realized it was, like, a great fit. And it has never ceased to amaze me since I've been here. And just the people, the school itself, the campus, the lovely professors and classes and everything has just been completely beyond what I could have expected for college. So I cannot imagine where I'd be besides Notre Dame. Nicole, how about you?
- [18:46]
A
Oh, goodness. I mean, I chose this job to work at admissions for a reason. I'm absolutely enamored by Notre Dame every single day. And like you, it had been my dream school for a large chunk of my life. And it really has continued to push me to grow as both a student and as a person the whole time I've been here. My comparison point is I was able to study abroad at another university. And while I loved the experience, something that I really missed when I wasn't here, here was how much Notre Dame really, genuinely cares holistically about its students. Like, I really feel that all of my professors care about me and also care that what I'm learning is going to make the world a better place and that I'm going to use what I'm gaining at this school to make the world better. And I think that's something that no other school really does as well as Notre Dame. And I'm just so, so grateful for my growth as a person, but then also for all the incredible people and the incredible friends and the incredible opportunities that I've had. And I genuinely cannot picture myself anywhere else. And I am so, so, so grateful for my time at Notre Dame. Yeah, I'm a cry talking about this. Good.
- [19:51]
B
Good vibes only. Okay, well, thank you guys so much for listening in. We had such a great time chatting with each other and you. So, yeah, thank you guys so much. And tune in for more podcast episodes coming soon.
- [20:05]
A
Amazing. And go Irish.