Over the course of this semester, I have determined that my personal mission is to be a beacon to all sorts of other people through building relationships with them and offering support. I reached this conclusion because while reading the school’s mission statement and figuring out what types of values and goals are embodied in mission statements generally, I decided that the primary goal that I seek is helping others because I find it very fulfilling (Notre Dame Mission statement, Moreau week 13). I used the idea of being a beacon rather than saying help because I think it embodies the degree to which I want to help others in that I want to stand out as a person who is known for giving help and providing support. I realized that this was specifically the degree to which I wanted to help others when we were asked to think about our careers in Moreau. I was trying to discern what sort of job would let me help people in a way that would be truly fulfilling, and this notion of being known and recognized as someone who helps others kept popping up in my head (Navigating Your Career Journey, Meruelo center, Moreau week 4).
	There were also a number of moments throughout the semester that I feel affirmed that this mission suits me. One of these moments was the discernment conversation we had during week 5. During the conversation, my friend told me that the things I value the most are my friends and their wellbeing, which is absolutely in line with my goal of being a beacon to others (Conversation activity, Moreau week 5). This idea was again reaffirmed while reading the excerpt of Fr. Greg Boyle’s Tattoos on the Heart because the idea of giving people a second chance through making connections with them is something else in which I believe. I’ve made many interesting friends at Notre Dame by getting to know people who felt isolated and shunned, albeit not because they had a criminal past. (Tattoos on the Heart, Fr. Greg Boyle, Moreau week 7). When we read the article about accompaniment during week 9, I felt that the concept of accompaniment really resonated with me as a good way to make connections through supporting others, which is something very fulfilling to me and is one of the primary focuses of my personal mission (“Teaching Accompaniment: A Learning Journey Together,” Professor Steve Reifenberg, Moreau week 9). 
	During this semester, I also made some discoveries about what will be required of me to become a beacon for others. During week 12, the focus on courage helped me to realize that courage comes in many ways. Realizing that courage can come in the form of being willing to be vulnerable and share experiences, like in dean Cole’s letter, helped me to open my eyes and recognize the times where I acted with courage in my own life, which most commonly were the times where my courage made a situation easier for someone else (Dean G. Marcus Cole, “I am George Floyd. Except, I Can Breathe. And I Can Do Something,” Moreau week 12). Another time I discovered something that was important for me to carry out my mission was during our discussion about humanity during week 10. Accepting the humanity of others hasn’t been something particularly difficult for me in the past but reading it on paper and conscientiously telling myself that everyone is human and struggles helped me to come to a realization. Nobody is better than anyone else and that I shouldn’t be afraid to reach out to someone because I saw them as being more accomplished, talented, or better in any other way. This has helped me a lot in striving to become a beacon for others (“The Spirit of Inclusion at Notre Dame,” Moreau week 10). 
While looking to apply this idea of common humanity in my own life, I found that it led me to learn a lot of new things through the process of building connections with those whom I normally might not have associated with. I talked to a friend of a friend who is an athlete and was curious to learn about what that lifestyle was like, and it was very eye opening for me to learn the struggles that athletes face in college. I never really considered those types of struggles before it before since I tended not to have close friendships with athletes in the past and therefore had built a sort of echo chamber (How to Avoid an Echo Chamber, Dr. Paul Blaschko, Moreau week 11).
	Throughout the semester, there were also many points where I was able to home in on how I want to carry out my mission. One of the biggest of these points came after self-reflection because after thinking about why it sometimes felt better to help some people than others, I came to the realization that it felt better to help people I had long term connections with as opposed to helping someone random in a one-time situation (“Why We Need to Slow Down Our Lives,” Pico Iyer, Moreau week 1). I had struggled with this question for a while, and I couldn’t figure out what the difference was between the situations where I felt the best versus those where I didn’t feel as great. Once I started asking why I sometimes felt better helping than others rather than what was keeping me from feeling as good, I made the realization that in the situations where I felt better, I had stronger connections to the people I was helping and they showed gratitude for my help, and it also helped to make our friendships stronger. This feedback in the form of both tangibly deeper connections and recognition is what gives me fulfilment from helping others (The Right Way to Be Introspective, Tasha Eurich, Moreau week 6). 
Another point where I learned something valuable about how I wanted to carry about my mission was when we were asked to read about memento mori in week 3. Memento mori was a concept I used to think about a lot, but I hadn’t thought about it much since coming to Notre Dame. Revisiting the topic reminded me that not only should I live life to the fullest, but I should also try to help others to the fullest of my capabilities (Meet the Nun Who Wants You to Remember that You Will Die, Ruth Graham, Moreau week 3). This reminder was only strengthened by watching the movie Hesburgh the week before. Learning about the life of someone with so many accomplishments helped me to inspire myself to put in the work every day to try to fulfill my mission.
Coming out of this semester, I hope that I can work hard every day for the next three years as well as for the rest of my life to try to help others as much as possible and build connections through the abundant opportunities that are available on the Notre Dame campus and beyond. I hope that by building these connections with many types of people I can gain wisdom that I can then use to help others and work towards becoming a beacon that others can rely on for help when they don’t know where to turn. I am confident that striving to fulfill this mission statement will inspire me to make the most out of every day during my time here and form strong relationships that will last a lifetime.