Rooney Capstone Integration April 29, 2022 Moreau FYE This Essay Makes Me Vulnerable...But Isn’t That The Point? I believe that my mission statement accurately describes how I want to orient my life. Throughout the entire school year, we have slowly learned how to form the perfect mission statement. Starting with self reflection during our first week, we dove into searching for what lives we wanted to live. Although there are times where I feel that the life I am living changes everyday, I believe that my life is one of adventure and love. With my values that I find from my family and friends, I have learned to love and appreciate the life I live. “Half the confusion in the world comes from not knowing how little we need.” (Why we need to slow down our lives by Pico Iyer- Moreau FYE Week One). It is true, there is so little that we need but our minds are always in a rush to think ahead to everything we must accomplish or what we think we need. We want so many things, we think that we need so much to happen at rapid speed. While thinking about my mission statement, I want to focus on what really matters and slow down. Additionally looking at something that inspires my mission statement and a life well-lived, it is important to understand that “it’s impossible to have a complete and honest human story if one doesn’t speak of human failings as well as human successes.” (Hesburgh Film Produced by Jerry Barca and Christine O'Malley-Moreau FYE Week Two). If there is any quote that was able to stick with me all year, it would be this one; simply because I agree with it so much. I used to look at my failures with my head down, however now I understand that it is those failures that got me to where I am today. There are still many questions I must ask myself in order to live a life well-lived, but I believe people must always ask themselves what and where are the sources of https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=10159379-7eca-4549-8581-ab9500c9ecd9 joy in their lives and how can we use those sources to better ourselves? In order to do this we have to ignore the fact that we as humans “naturally tend to think of our lives as kind of continuing and continuing.” (Meet the Nun Who Wants You to Remember You Will Die -by Ruth Graham- Moreau FYE Week Three). After reading this article from week three, I have gained a different perspective on the quote above. There once was a time where I did indeed think that everyday, we must simply push through to get through our hours in order to get through our days, weeks, months, and years. In other words, I used to think that our lives were just “continuing” on some imaginary timeline. With having the ability to intentionally think about our own deaths every day, what we learned from Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble, we will slowly be able to appreciate the present and focus on the future. With these ideas in mind, we eventually will be able to find meaning and focus on what really matters to us as individuals. I believe that others are able to see my mission statement in action. People are able to see me exploring a life well-lived because I like to examine all my options. This is the time in our lives where we are supposed to discover what feels right! With this benign said, taking the “7 Clues To Help You Get Started With The Career Development Process” during week four, I felt a sense of exploring sides of myself that were at first a little quiet. “Learning your own unique pattern of interests, motivation, satisfaction and meaning is an important first step in career development” (7 Clues: An Interactive Assessment Activity by Meruelo Family Center for Career Development - Moreau FYE Week Four). Not only is this important for career development, but it is important for developing our mission statements as well. Continuing around this idea of others being able to see our mission statement in action, we must think back to the question: what roles do others play in our discernment? At first, I had the idea that discernment was all about me and my own thoughts and views. However, after the conversation I https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/us/memento-mori-nun.html https://nd.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0NyUlYVK9JdsUrs had with my mother during the discernment conversation activity, I have realized that my discernment is affected by others around me. I learned that hearing how others view my strengths and weaknesses allowed me to widen my horizons. “Often, others can help us see things we cannot see ourselves.” (Week Five Discernment Conversation Activity by Moreau First Year Experience course - Moreau FYE Week Five). This was a beautiful, yet new idea for me to think about. Who would have thought that in order for us to better understand ourselves, we needed to hear from those around us? After all, we all have obstacles in order to get our life well-lived and we’re going to need some help from others. Over the course of this school year, I can say that I have accumulated my own personal obstacles. However, I have not been the best at responding to these obstacles. This is something that I learned during the conversation with my mother from week five, and I was able to look back on my life and I realized there were many times where I found myself with a simple problem and thinking it was forever going to affect my future. After watching the video, “5 Minutes,” from week six, I was hit with the reminder that your problems only have the effect your responses create. In other words, a problem is only a problem if you make it one. (5 Minutes by Grotto - Moreau FYE Week Six). I believe there will be difficult times when trying to live out my mission. Relationships that fill you with confidence and build you up are ones you should keep. To me, a life well-lived is acceptance, tenderness, and the ability to communicate. When you can communicate well, you are able to express how you feel and discuss your jurisdictions and feelings, however, when communication is lost, it can be difficult to focus on your own mission. “Life is not time merely passing by, life is about interactions.” (Why the only future worth building includes everyone by Pope Francis, TED Conferences - Moreau FYE Week Seven). To me, this quote encaptures the need for others' creativity and how surrounding ourselves with others provides a sense of hope. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yZ7hqvx-u4EuW2nlK-fRbWFiurQm1mZv_KpoeeiN4So/edit https://grottonetwork.com/make-an-impact/transform/why-does-god-allow-suffering/?utm_source=moreau&utm_medium=class&utm_campaign=spring_2022 https://www.ted.com/talks/his_holiness_pope_francis_why_the_only_future_worth_building_includes_everyone/transcript When Pope Francis was discussing how every individual can have hope, but a group of people with hope creates the idea of “us” having hope, this “us” creates a revolution. It is this revolution that is able to guide us down the path of humility. I believe that with humility and tenderness, as the Pope states, people have power. In the end, if we make relationships, we are able to surround ourselves with others to build our sense of humility in order to have the power to live out our missions. While living out our mission, we are able to define a life well-lived, which is exactly what we were able to do during week eight. I was able to define that my life was well-lived when I simply revolve my priorities around me being happy (Integration Three Assignment - Moreau FYE Week Eight). I am going to need to learn a lot more before I truly understand that, but as long as I know that happiness is my first priority, my mission is already halfway complete. I believe that my mission may be challenged with suffering. Engaging with accompaniment in a suffering world is a difficult task. There were many times in my past where I have found people doing acts of kindness, not because they truly wanted to accompany suffering, but because they felt they needed to. For example, during my junior year of high school, I would always overhear people taking part in community service; however, the conversation usually ended with, “Boy, this will look really good on my college application.” I participated in Girl Scouts, kindergarten through my senior year and always received the question, “Why are you still doing it?” or “I wish I did that so I could put that down on my college application.” These statements always startled me because the reason I did Girl Scouts was not to partake in a “grand gesture of generosity” to look good on paper, I did it because I wanted to. “They did not see their caring for me as a grand gesture of generosity; they simply did, in the moment, what needed to be done.” (A Learning Journey Together, Steve Reifenberg by Steve Reifenberg - Moreau FYE Week Nine) I feel that this quote shows the real meaning of https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SkhkzZIMH2UwJauu5J_yq76rGV0GcG_lVd8KPBLTFF0/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hZbSdVImfn2hZDqMrdL96dZCNOtHuf6C-lg3sH-Rs30/edit true kindness and describes how to have true intentions in order to strive for a life well-lived. Advancing this idea, learning how to embrace humanity can help us break down our “walls” that prevent vulnerability. While looking at “The Spirit of Inclusion at Notre Dame,” it is obvious to see how students are able to embrace humanity here at school. I can say that my personal beliefs already agree with most of the statements discussed in that reading. I condemn harassment of any kind; all learning, service, how we treat others are founded upon Jesus Christ; and we should welcome all people, no matter their background (The Spirit of Inclusion at Notre Dame by the University Mission and Vision - Moreau FYE Week Ten). With this being said, I have to mention that although there were many statements involving inclusion on campus here at Notre Dame, I feel that I often hear people talking about how they do not feel included. It may be extremely difficult to have the ability to please and make everyone feel 100% included. However, in comparison to other college campuses, I think that we can always strive to be better. Keeping this in mind, I always try to create a space where everyone can feel comfortable and appreciated. If every individual student on campus can keep that mindset, the overall feeling of inclusivity will increase. It is clear to see there are many people dealing with things we may never see on the surface, so always treat people with kindness and respect in all that we do. I believe that my mission may be strengthened by growing in wisdom and courage. I have always loved learning about gaining wisdom because the root “soph-” means wise. Of course, the Sofia that I am, finds this fascinating. Another thing I found fascinating when diving into growing in wisdom was echo chambers and how “echo chambers are more dangerous than bubbles” (How to Avoid an Echo Chamber by Dr. Paul Blaschko - Moreau FYE Week Eleven). Now, I have a better understanding on how echo chambers have the ability to lock people into certain world views. With this being said, I understand how to get out of them. Once we are out https://dulac.nd.edu/university-mission-and-vision/spirit-of-inclusion/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaIVxQcqnLs&t=1s of them, we can act with courage. “There are networks of privilege, prejudice and power so commonplace that often neither oppressors nor victims are aware of them” (Constitutions of the Congregation of Holy Cross - Moreau FYE Week Twelve). I have learned that I must become more aware that within our world, there are networks of privilege, prejudice and power. With these networks, we have learned and adapted to live within them, and we have become aware of how to act courageously against the negative effects of them. With hope of the mutual understanding for human appreciation that was stated in the Constitution, I strive to act courageously towards a better world for all people. I believe in my mission statement. “We encourage you to consider your own articulation of a life well-lived and how to best pursue and live such a life” (Writing a Personal Mission Statement Activity - Moreau FYE Week Thirteen). My mission is to make everyone feel that they are loved and appreciated. I want to leave a mark, knowing that I smiled at everyone I could have smiled at. I hope that I learn how to always live courageously so that my voice is able to be heard in times where it is needed. I strive that my little sisters and all those younger than me can see that I lived a life well-lived, resulting in them wanting to do the same. I aim that every relationship I make allows for both people to grow and if there are times of trouble with another person, I am able to discern and make the right decisions. I wish to gain wisdom each and every day…after all the root “soph” means wise. I am a person who grew up with no religious background. I am a person who came to Notre Dame and entered RCIA. I am a person who will end the school year Catholic. https://holycrosscongregation.org/holy-cross-resources/constitutions/2-mission/ https://holycrosscongregation.org/holy-cross-resources/constitutions/2-mission/ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ur4b9oFy7Mh8adNrwRTIFcanUIJUAI6wnAczkxW-H3I/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Ur4b9oFy7Mh8adNrwRTIFcanUIJUAI6wnAczkxW-H3I/edit