Mission Statement:

I, Geisen, have made it my mission to foster growth and discovery in the hearts and minds of all, including myself. I will provide space, support, and opportunities for others to learn about themselves and to explore their passions. I have both witnessed and experienced the lack of these things in my community and will devote myself to changing this while and after discovering my identity and my vocation. I will show love, since it is necessary to those seeking the confidence to grow and discover. I will use my energy to motivate myself and others. I will use my ability to throw myself at everything to discover my passions. I will use my sense of leadership to convince others to do the same and to provide a voice to those who are not yet sure of themselves enough to speak up themselves. I will use my vocation to aid in discovery by making discoveries of my own and by designing or tweaking methods of discovery. I do this because I value growth and discovery, I support passion and love, and I believe in people as a whole and as individuals. I will serve others in this way because I know my feelings towards these matters will help me to serve best in these ways. As I fulfill my mission, I aim to keep in mind that I also need to give myself space, support, and opportunities for growth and discovery. I will grow to realize that I too am worthy of what I believe is so important. I will grow in patience for myself and those who frustrate me. I will acknowledge that my weaknesses can be explored and altered and that my ‘quirks’ make my methods of service possible.

My mission statement has a lot to unpack. I decided while writing it to not focus on just one thing but to write about what matters most to me and what I want to do with my life. Throughout the Moreau course, I have been forced to reflect on my life and to use it to discover my values and my desires for the future. One of my realizations is that I am dedicated to service. Growing up, service meant volunteering and going on missions trips, but I’ve come to learn that service comes in all forms, and it doesn’t have to be big. Service can be tutoring during lunch and after school, making discoveries in your field, or even listening to a friend in need. I believe that whatever I do in life, it will involve service. While I believe service is important for everyone, I wanted to ask myself the three questions posed by Fr. Hines and consider if service could be a vocation of mine. Service fulfills me. When I am helping others or contributing to a field or cause, I am happy. Others say that I am good at what I do. According to them, I am a good listener, a good tutor, and good at problem solving in the fields that interest me. And finally, I believe there is a shortage and need of service in our world (“Three Key Questions” by Fr. Hines - Moreau FYE Week Three). My mission statement, in short, represents my dedication to service for the next three years and beyond. If my answers to the three questions are any indication, my mission statement describes how I want to orient my life.
For the next three years, my mission statement will animate my life in the way that I choose to interact with my field and with others. In my field, it is harder to contribute as a student not yet introduced to the workforce, but there are still ways to do this. For example, students at Notre Dame have ample opportunities for research and internships. In these, we can help our team’s progress and contribute to discovery or progress in your field. In regards to how I interact with others and provide space, support, and opportunities for others to learn about themselves and to explore their passions, there are also some concrete things I can do. It is hard to quantify how open someone is to other people, but I will always be available to others, whether through text, call, or face to face. I aspire to be like father Hesburgh, always available to those who want to stop in and chat, except you won’t have to climb through a window to reach me (“Hesburgh” by Jerry Barca and Christine- Moreau FYE Week Two).
I can also continue to take part in LQBTQ groups on campus to better support my peers. This will further allow me to give a voice to those who cannot stand up for themselves yet and to welcome them into a community who loves them. This way, they can have the confidence to grow and discover. I also can be a large advocate to those drawn away from God because of what others have said to them, that they are unworthy to receive human dignity. I can fight this with my favorite quote by Jacob Walsh’s priest friend: “God doesn’t make shit.” (“Growing Up Gay and Catholic” by Jacob Walsh - Moreau Week Ten)As I stated in my mission statement, I have both witnessed and experienced this space, support, and opportunities being taken away. I got away from it, and now have the strength to make sure no one else has their chance at growth and discovery. Because I experienced these things and have overcome them, I am of the same mindset as Dean G. Marcus: “I can do something. I must do something” (“I am George Floyd. Except, I can breathe. And I can do something” by Dean G. Marcus Cole — Moreau FYE Week Twelve).
The hardest part of my mission can be found in the last four sentences. No matter how burnt out I am, I rarely have a hard time serving others.The hardest part of my mission is not serving others, but serving me. I understand, though, that when I take a break from rushing around and spreading myself thin for others, I actually become more available to serve others (“Why We Need to Slow Down Our Lives” by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week One). I am still able to serve others, but I do not have myself all figured out yet. I have not finished discovering or growing yet, and in some ways I never will. To give myself what I find so important to give to others, I will take time for reflection as this class has taught. To grow in patience and to learn how I can use my weaknesses to my and others benefit, I have taken steps to improve my mindfulness. We learned about its importance in this class, but I have also learned from my mental health coach that only seven minutes a day can help me stay grounded and less overwhelmed. Mindfulness can help me get better sleep, which I desperately need, and improve my resilience to better dedicate myself to service (“Mindfulness Menu” by McDonald Center for Student Well-being - Moreau FYE Week Six). That way, I can work on myself and better prepare to serve as best I can.
Over the course of my journey at Notre Dame, I know I will not be alone in my dedication to service. I can find new groups to serve alongside. The people at Notre Dame, for the most part, are incredibly caring and also find service important. At Notre Dame, my mission  will be strengthened by the people around me. As Pope Francis says, the world is a much better place when we work together. (“Why the only future worth building includes everyone” by His Holiness Pope Francis - Moreau FYE Week Seven). When we work together, we can better serve our community. At Notre Dame, because we value service, I will have other people around me to recognize that service is something we do as a team. It is never one person against the other, and we can ask for help from each other. I recall the story by Professor Reifenberg in which he had to receive help from people. At Notre Dame, people want to work together and to serve each other, so that will make my mission a lot stronger. 
My mission is to dedicate myself to service. Completing it in its fullest form will be difficult, but I have come to the conclusion that it is my vocation to serve.