Week 8 - Integration Three Moreau FYE - Integration Three Remembering Ella’s Live Well Lived Ella had a loving family, she was an only child, surrounded by loving hard working parents who did everything to have her life be one well lived. She fought tears with laughter, love with hate, and obstacles with a smile. She drove with the sunroof open in all seasons. She had a random taste in music. She had a love for walking, a love for all things food, a love for period pieces, a love for the in-between seasons, and a love for a life well lived. She began her life with a close knit family who loved her and had a love of exploration. She had a childhood of imagination, one that could sometimes run rampant. She was encouraged and challenged to explore, and so she did get to know her surroundings and herself. She was guided through schools that taught her to challenge that relationship and that led her from Montgomery School, to the Episcopal Academy to The University of Notre Dame. Ella was guided by teachers, professors and mentors who forced her to be her best in every circumstance. This is where she was challenged: academically, socially, physically to be her best person. While at Notre Dame she learned about Hessburg and the Domer Dozen (Week 2). She wondered how she could lead a life similar to the former head of school and get her name on the list of twelve. She knew that by doing that she would live a life well lived. She was determined. She was challenged at a young age to do whatever she wanted to do with her life. With an open world for exploration and a strong family support system she navigated her life. She told people she could not do one thing for her whole life, knowing that there is too much to do in one lifetime. Practicing the “Three Key Questions” that she learned at Notre Dame of asking herself what she wanted to do with her life, she tried everything she wanted (Week 3). She knew her limitless opportunities and tested what she loved most by completing surveys and activities like the “7 Clues: An Interactive Assignment Activity” about her future career that started in her time at college to see what she most wanted (Week 4). She knew there was too much and too little time. She tried reading, writing, music, and sports. Bouncing from becoming the first female president, to a lawyer to a dentist to a United Nations Ambassador to a chemist. Tried everything she could. She knew that besides what her resume stated about herself her above goal was to be happy and not have any regrets and that to her was her best life well lived. With everything she did and tried to do she knew to pause and slow down. She knew the effects of burnout and mental health. She had experienced and saw it with her own eyes, so she took a break. Reading the text “Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer she knew that slowing down was beneficial and would make her stronger (Week 1). She meditated, loved the silence in her life, saw the beauty in silent moments, loved being by herself. She knew how to pause. She wrote in her journals, filling the pages with things she was too scared to think about or say to others. These pauses and vulnerable moments she shared with others, she knew that this would only make her stronger. These pauses to take in the moment made her life one well lived. She was inspired by characters in novels, comic book Marvel characters in stark bright colors, parents who are her real-life superheroes. She read and heard stories of people who gave their whole selves for others and hoped she could do the same without sacrificing herself. She created relationships in which each person grew and acted like their best selves, but knew that being their best selves did not always mean faking a smile. She laughed, and sometimes cried but most importantly she did it with friends who were there until the end. She followed Pope Francis' words of helping others no matter the cost (Week 7). From her experience at Notre Dame she was challenged and determined to live through his words. She knew that loving herself and others was the true key to the life she wanted to lead. She cared about making truly loving relationships in her life well lived. She knew that she was not perfect. She did not take criticism well. When she asked others what she needed to work on for self reflection and she did not hear what she hoped for she did not take it well. She knew that talking to others might not always give her what she wanted to hear but what she needed to hear it by using the “Discernment Conversation Activity” (Week 5). After learning this tool in college, she kept practicing these reflections with those who she knew well, knowing that although she sometimes did not want to hear the words they were saying, it would make her a better person for herself and others. She carried this tool throughout life, which allowed her to live a life well lived. She also fought herself throughout her life. She had this amazing imagination that fueled her, but it kept her from the real world. She often resented herself for the past. Which hindered her from reaching her future goals. She often played back the past in her mind hoping she did something different. She was fortunate to learn however that not asking herself “why” questions but rather “what” questions would help her best for her future using the article “The Right Way to be Introspective(Yes, There’s a Wrong Way)” by Tasha Eurich (Week 6). This guided her to live in the present and look forward to the future and she carried that from college and throughout life. She was able to be her best self and live her best life knowing that she was growing in the quiet moments of reflection. This in mind she knew how to make adjustments to live a life well lived. She passed leaving behind a legacy of what someone should follow in their lives. She was curious, cautious, but most importantly she knew that there was an entire world of people and places to see. She knew that a life well lived may differ for others but strove to live hers the fullest. She lived a life well lived. Citations (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week One) (“Hesburgh” produced by Jerry Barca and Christine O’Malley - Moreau FYE Week Two) (“Domer Dozen” - by University of Notre Dame - Moreau FYE Week Two) (“Three Key Questions” - by Fr. Michael Himes - Moreau FYE Week Three) (“7 Clues: An Interactive Assessment Activity ” by Meruelo Family Center for Career Development - Moreau FYE Week Four) (“Week Five Discernment Conversation Activity” by Moreau FYE - Moreau Week Five) (“The Right Way to be Introspective(Yes, There’s a Wrong Way)” by Tasha Eurich - Moreau FYE Week Six) (“Why the only future worth building includes everyone” by His Holiness Pope Francis - Moreau FYE Week 7) https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=10159379-7eca-4549-8581-ab9500c9ecd9 https://domerdozen.nd.edu https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/39614/files/469056?module_item_id=144382 https://nd.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_0AGRyH4SWX0bz38 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yZ7hqvx-u4EuW2nlK-fRbWFiurQm1mZv_KpoeeiN4So/edit 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