Integration 3 Bossone 1 Maria Finan Moreau 4 March 2022 Dear 9th Grade Self: Good luck. Dear 9th-grader Aria, Believe it or not, we made it to Notre Dame! In the next four years, you will work immensely hard to achieve your goals; you will have to take two years of calculus (unfortunately), write your senior these (which you passed with distinction!!), but most importantly, further develop and understand who you are as an individual. I am so proud of where you are now, and where you will go. At Notre Dame, there is a class for first year students that I know you will love; it is focused on so many topics from mental health to anti-racism to relationships to goodness. This second semester, the entire focus of the course is on a life well-lived: what is is, what inspires it, what guides it, the roles of others in it, and possible obstacles in achieving it. I think that your idea of a life well-lived right now will certainly develop as you move up through high school, but will drastically change even more when you are thrown into a new environment at college. To help you out a bit with this process, I want to take you through my semester in class and explain what we learned but also incorporate my understanding and experiences. Our first week was titled “Practicing Self-Reflection” and we sought to answer the question: "What life am I living?" Much of this week was focused on reflecting both to Bossone 2 understand the past and to decide in what way we will take that information and apply it to our daily lives. When we are so focused on the present, we tend to make the same mistakes that we have made in the past. As we read in one of our readings that week, “it’s precisely those who are busiest [...] who most need to give themselves a break” (Iyer). I remember the huge burden that work took on me throughout high school; we were all working, not for the sake of working, but to get into a good college. It was so exhausting, so I advise you to reflect and take breaks. Our second week was titled “Inspirations of a Life Well-Lived” and we sought to answer the question: "What inspires a life well-lived?" This week, we were assigned to watch the movie “Hesburgh,” which described the phenomenal contributions that Fr. Ted gave not only to Notre Dame, but to the country and even the world. This movie reminded me of you, a person who has struggled with empathy. I urge you to look more deeply inside yourself, and realize the true empathy that you have; I know it’s there. It took a global pandemic (be prepared) and a worldwide movement for the justice for black lives for me to open up that empathetic side of me. Our third week was titled “Questions of a Life Well-Lived” and we sought to answer the question: "What questions guide a life well-lived?" This week was pretty dark, but necessary nonetheless. We talked a lot about death and I thought much about the question “If I die right now, or even in the next couple years, would I say that I lived a good life?” Now, it’s not the most fair question to ask since I’ve only really made conscious decisions for only a decade, but it’s still a hard question to ponder. I’m more confident in Bossone 3 saying yes to that question now than when I was in your shoes. One of our readings was from Fr. Himes who came up with three questions that could help us make decisions that could lead to a good life: “1) Is this a source of joy? 2) Is this something that taps into your talents and gifts—engages all of your abilities—and uses them in the fullest way possible? 3) Is this role a genuine service to the people around you, to society at large? (Himes). I remember asking myself similar questions during the college decision process. However I know that they can apply to all areas of your life, so I encourage you to ask yourself these questions. Our fourth week was titled “Exploring a Life Well-Lived” and we sought to answer the question: "What are possible ways of living a life well-lived?" This week was very much focused on career choices, something that neither you nor me is confident about. We looked at an article from Notre Dame’s Undergraduate Career Services office that explained, “There is no ‘best major’ out there - but there is a ‘best major for you’” (Career Services). It is okay for us to major in a humanities major. It is okay not to be scientifically inclined. We will get through it. Our fifth week sought to answer the question "What role do others play in my discernment?" and we had an activity for which we talked to someone that we felt knew us well. As you could probably imagine, I picked Mr. Neely! I hadn’t talked to him at all since I came to ND, and much of his response actually lined up with some previous Moreau concepts, such as the importance of taking breaks and how important it is to be Bossone 4 intersectional in our thinking. It was an insightful conversation, so I urge you to go and ask people more about their perspectives on a good life. Our sixth week was titled “Obstacles to a Life Well-Lived” and we sought to answer the question: "What are personal obstacles to living a life well-lived and how do I respond?" The quote from this week that intrigued me the most was from Tasha Eurich and her way of describing what questions we should be asking ourselves that allow for the most growth: “Why questions can draw us to our limitations; what questions help us see our potential. Why questions stir up negative emotions; what questions keep us curious. Why questions trap us in our past; what questions help us create a better future” (Eurich). The biggest obstacle that we often struggle with is ourself. Most of the time, I will be the one to overthink things and avoid situations that might make me uncomfortable. But if we can rephrase the way in which we reflect, we will mentally be more set up for success in living a good life. Lastly, our seventh week was titled “Relationships of a Life Well-Lived” and we sought to answer the question: “What relationships are characteristic of a life well-lived?" We actually read two assignments for this week, one from Pope Francis and the other from Fr. Boyle. While both had similar messages of striving towards a world of unity, their deliveries and experiences were pretty much opposite. In his book, Fr. Boyle said “We have a chance, sometimes, to create a new jurisdiction, a place of astonishing mutuality, whenever we close both eyes of judgment and open the other eye to pay attention” (Boyle). Judgment is something that we struggle with, but I encourage you to open your eyes and Bossone 5 realize that, even though you are an introvert and you like being alone, relationships are very necessary to living a good life. I hope you enjoyed this letter from me, and best of luck in high school (even though I already know everything that happened)! Good luck, Aria from the future (freshman at ND) Bossone 6 Works Cited Week 1: Pico Iyer, “Why We Need to Slow Down our Lives” https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ Week 2: Hesburgh Movie Week 3: Fr. Michael Himes, "Three Key Questions" Week 4: Undergraduate Career Services, “Navigating Your Career Journey” https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ Week 6: Tasha Eurich, “The right way to be introspective (yes, there’s a wrong way)” https://ideas.ted.com/the-right-way-to-be-introspective-yes-theres-a-wrong-way/ Week 7: Pope Francis, “Why the only future worth building includes everyone” https://www.ted.com/talks/his_holiness_pope_francis_why_the_only_future_worth_buildi ng_includes_everyone/transcript Fr. Boyle, “Tattoos on the Heart” https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ https://ideas.ted.com/the-right-way-to-be-introspective-yes-theres-a-wrong-way/ https://www.ted.com/talks/his_holiness_pope_francis_why_the_only_future_worth_building_includes_everyone/transcript https://www.ted.com/talks/his_holiness_pope_francis_why_the_only_future_worth_building_includes_everyone/transcript