Moreau Integration Final.docx Park 1 Bona Gayoung Park Apr 29, 2022 FYS Moreau How to live As my time as a first-year at the university comes to its night, I have had the opportunity to reflect on my personal mission statement and how it orients my life. My mission is to develop myself, develop my family, and develop my community to be better and maximize happiness. After everything we have learned and achieved so far, I cannot be prouder of myself and the fellows. For me, my mission statement represents who I am as a person who is curious about learning and emphatic enough to care about others. I have big dreams for the short term and even grander ambitions for the long term, which I hope I will be able to achieve one day. In the shortest term, I will settle with learning as much as possible from the university. Notre Dame has been providing me with the ideal platform I desire to learn more about critical life concepts that’ll allow me to prosper in the future. To achieve any of my goals, I have to identify personal obstacles and find a way to respond to them. A significant limitation for me to achieve my goals and objectives in the first year has to be the change in the environment. The weather in South Bend has been very different compared to my home. Due to this, surviving in a new environment comes down to how I am able to handle it and move on to my objectives (“The Right Way to be Introspective (Yes, There's a Wrong Way)” by Tasha Eurich, TED Conferences - Moreau FYE Week Six). The living situation in my quad room has also been a bit underwhelming. However, I have been trying to find ways of living a life well-lived, despite all the chaos of being a first-year student. Park 2 It was able because, through the difficulties during my time in high school, I learned it is not a big deal if you fail. And ultimately, genuine comfort and happiness come as a surprise gift when you empty your mind and let go of your greed instead of chasing them. Therefore, I am now a person who goes out for fresh air from time to time. I appreciate the midwest’s sunset, which I personally think is prettier than Hawaii’s. I do some huddle runs very often. I work out regularly at Duncan. I binge-watch K-dramas and read books. Also, I look forward to coming up with more ideas for having meaningful breaks and taking care of myself here at Notre Dame. (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week One). Even though I have had a very complicated life where I have had to move from my home country and live in different countries, because of that, I was able to have some form of resilience and gain a lot of wisdom that can strengthen my own commitment (“Passion Isn’t Enough” by Hidden Brain Media - Moreau FYE Week Eleven). Like I have done so far, I will always be focused on achieving new through learning new knowledge, practicing new skills, and experiencing new things and places. I will be learning various knowledge and skills in mechanical engineering and robotics for the next three years at Notre Dame. I will acquire work ethics and professionalism through internships and research. Also, as I have lived, I will travel to more places. I will always grow into a more mature soul, slowly but gradually. There are many self-reflection questions that we have been able to gloss over in class that has essentially made me think of when it would be the most difficult to live this mission. As a part of it, we contemplated death (“Meet the nun who wants you to remember that you will die” by Ruth Graham - Moreau FYE Week Three). Thinking about death, the prospect of it happening to me eventually is somehow frightening. I once had to contemplate death in past months especially when I contracted Covid-19. After I overcame this, I thought it was essential to live Park 3 my life on my terms, which is why I found inspiration from Father Hesburgh’s achievements and resilience in seeking out social justice in a time when it was controversial to do so which is what I hope to do in the future for the environment (“Hesburgh” by Jerry Barca and Christine O'Malley - Moreau FYE Week One). In addition to that, I find solace knowing that Pope Francis is an advocate of science, as we can see through his speech where he encourages us to do good and help each other out by employing courage and creativity. (“Why the only future worth building includes everyone” by His Holiness Pope Francis - Moreau FYE Week Seven). In terms of academics, I was able to find interest in advanced level engineering classes with the school offering some of the best facilities and best teachers to enable me to succeed (“Muerelo Family Center for Career Development” - Moreau FYE Week Four). My interest in engineering will be key for me to achieve my mission statement of caring for the environment in the future. In my aspiration and career, I got interested in robotics because of my robotics team mentors’ accompaniment to their knowledge in engineering, as they are ordinary engineers who have 9-5 jobs but tried their best to put their free time/money to show the world of engineering to us without getting paid (even spent) and rewarded. Because of this experience, the ultimate goal of my life has been giving my knowledge and technique to young adults in the form of education since I am a person who feels happy and satisfied by helping and giving to others, without considering whether they do that back to me or not. As Gustavo Gutiérrez notes, “Some people are happy only if they are helping,” which is a statement I believe best defines me (“Teaching Accompaniment: A Learning Journey Together” by Professor Steve Reifenberg - Moreau FYE Week Nine). Park 4 Towards community, my mission is clear; I want to develop my family and community, but the scope of my mission might likely expand beyond those set parameters in the future as I interact with many other people outside my race, gender, and sexual orientation. (“Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism” by Dr. Robin D’Angelo - Moreau FYE Week Ten). Learning Moreau, we have been able to engage and indulge in various conversations that have allowed me to give an opinion on various issues. My engagement with the different conversations gives me a perspective on how my mission statement can be enhanced and improved. To our only home Earth, I will always work for the sustainability of the planet and to save the ocean. From regular beach cleanups to SCUBA divings to the bottoms of the pacific ocean, I will never stop loving the pacific island and our mother Earth. I will try my best to reduce plastic and disposable items in my life and in my dearest’s. I will always think of the sacrifices of animals just for our appetite and the beautiful creatures held in constricted tanks instead of a boundless ocean. Trying my best to follow these pledges of my life philosophy, I look forward to the dawn of my another year at ND.