Microsoft Word - Olkiewicz_Michael_IntegrationThree.docx Professor Taylor Moreau 1 March 2022 YOLO The majority of the world today views a "well-lived life" as universal or similar for everyone. This view consists primarily of materialistic achievements such as money, a large house, and fancy cars. With advancements in technology, globalization is happening at exponential rates. People thousands of miles away bolster their success on all types of digital media platforms to achieve a sense of satisfaction of accomplishing a well-lived life. Until recently, I had been solely focused on future materialistic accomplishments, but this view has begun to diminish in my head. Although I still want to be wealthy, discerning what makes me happy in life has made me no longer have complete tunnel vision. I still can't entirely grasp this idea of a well-lived life because of my lack of experience, but it begins with unbiased self- reflection. When actively reflecting and seeking answers, the guidance of a well-lived life unique to yourself begins to become a bit less foggy. As previously stated, figuring out a well-lived life began for me with proper and unbiased reflection. This meant not sugarcoating failures such as schools I wasn't accepted into or bad test grades but holding myself accountable for things I could control. I obtained this perspective very early on in Moreau when Pico Iyer stated, "It's only by stepping farther back and standing still that we can begin to see what that canvas (which is our life) means, and to take in the larger picture" (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week 1). In other words, if we're constantly on "go mode," then we never will see the bigger picture, but only the fixations of the moment. We need to slow down our lives and zoom out to get a deeper understanding. Coincidentally, the next week of our Moreau curriculum displayed an individual who could grasp the bigger picture. This individual happens to be the most famous president of the university, Father Hesburgh. Father Hesburgh's unique well-lived life is one that inspired me. Father Hesburgh defied norms, broke negative relationships, and persistently fought to make the world a better place, making him one of the most well-respected individuals ever. He has inspired me not to follow the norms, battle evil, and be ambitious. This translates into my perception of a well-lived life: always giving full effort, making a difference in this world, and never giving up things you find passion in. As of now, I'm passionate about my career, family, and friends, so I've been trying to apply these inspirations to my circle. Although I might not have made a difference to the world yet, I like to think I've had positive influences on the people I love the most, teaching them concepts that they won't forget. To expand upon my career, I'm a finance and economics major, meaning that I deal with this concept of money on a day-to-day basis. This choice of major fits into this idea of monetary success because of the usual drive to become rich from these careers. Although I intended to become wealthy essentially, I have figured out some jobs that translate to my new "well-lived life." I have recently begun Venture Capital Research with Platform Venture studio. This company was founded by two Notre Dame Alumni, Jeremy Burton and Tim Connors, who is on a mission to combine finance and morals. They believe the VC field should be investing in profitable companies and companies that make the world a better place. I've begun integrating this mindset into my career choice, looking to combine the world of finance with sound morals. Our Moreau curriculum stated, "Studying what you love is a core value of the CCD's - it is not something to which we merely pay lip service. There is no "best major" out there - but there is a "best major for you "(“Navigating Your Career Journey” by Merulo Center for Career Development - Moreau FYE Week 4). Money makes the world go around, and this fascinates me. I've always wanted to study the economy and financial markets to learn how to manage money and understand its value. A combination of understanding how money works on top of doing what's right is a life that I want to live. I want to use money as a source of good, not leverage. Another aspect of my idea of a well-lived life is understanding what loved ones around you perceive of you and taking advice. In Week 5 of Moreau, we did a discernment activity in which we asked a series of questions to someone close to us. I chose my mom for this because of her excellent insight into life itself. In this, one of the questions was 'What is difficult to say but important for me to hear?" (Moreau FYE Week 5). In this, I got an interesting yet honest response. She told me it's tough for her to go against me, so she tends to sugarcoat scenarios that she shouldn't. This made my head go rapid-fire and related to this idea of a well-lived life. Should someone always try to please you, or should they hold you accountable? This response from my mom made me realize that accountability is a significant aspect of a well-lived life. If someone never tells you when you're wrong, you never learn from poor decisions and won't change. Living a good life means seeing the good in bad situations and making the most out of it. This also relates to relationships, which is I've always pondered this idea of negative and positive relationships. The idea of having negative relationships seems poor at first, but if you only experience positivity, you're not experiencing life. Life means dealing with people that give you a hard time and overcoming this adversity. Relationships are necessary to a well-lived life and can't be avoided. Pope Francis exercised his views of relationships as "None of us is an island…and we can only build the future by standing together" (“Why the only future worth building includes everyone” by Pope Francis - Moreau FYE Week 7). The human race develops by working together, helping us achieve a well-lived life. Many people want to use success to measure a well-lived life, which isn't the most accurate proxy. With this in mind, even if you do use success, the definition is much more meaningful than monetary success. Within a text a couple of weeks back, it says, "After so many years of researching the subject of insight, I've come to believe that the qualities most critical for success in today's world — including emotional intelligence, empathy, influence, persuasion, communication, and collaboration — all stem from self-awareness." (“The right way to be introspective” by Tasha Eurich - Moreau FYE Week 6). This definition of success catches my eyes because it says all of these favorable qualities, such as empathy and emotional intelligence, lead to success. There is nothing about a drive for money or test scores, but it's people skills. In other words, having emotional intelligence, empathy, influence, and the others labeled leads to a well-lived life. A quote I read that resonated with me was "suffering and death are facts of life; focusing only on the "bright and shiny" is superficial and inauthentic" (“Meet the nun who wants to remember that you will die” by Ruth Graham - Moreau FYE Week 3). I decided to save this until the end because it's an excellent way to wrap my writing up. Death is a challenging topic to think about, but it's necessary to live a well-lived life. It would be best if you discerned what's essential for you because you're not here forever. Whether traveling the world, living on the beach, or being in an important urban center, do it because you only live once. Everyone has a unique life, so their perception of a well-lived life is unique. All of the topics I discuss are methods to figure out the best-lived life for a specific person. Many people might have very similar well-lived lives, but everyone differs slightly. There is no reason to measure yourself against anyone else to discern whether you lived a well-lived life. Reflect upon yourself unbiasedly to determine if you're satisfied and happy in life. In addition, there's never a wrong time to do the right thing and don't use monetary value as a proxy. More so, take advice from your loved ones and make the world a better place. In my opinion, quality of life, self- fulfillment, and making a difference.