Capstone Integration Applying My Life’s Mission My first year at Notre Dame has led me to believe that my personal mission in life is to help others. During the first week of Moreau this semester, I heard the saying, “Don’t just do something. Sit there” (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week One). In addition, during week six I learned that “‘Why’ questions trap us in our past; ‘what’ questions help us create a better future” (“The Right Way to be Introspective [Yes, There’s a Wrong Way]” by Tasha Eurich - Moreau FYE Week Six). These two statements tell us how to be introspective. We have to take the time to look at ourselves and the world around us in order to understand who we really are. While doing this, we have to ask ourselves the right questions to achieve the best results. In my introspection and through reading the perspective of others, I concluded that my goal in life is to help as many people as possible. As I stated in my personal mission statement, “I feel that everything I have done in my life has either been to help people or to lead me to a place in life where I can help people better” (My mission statement - Moreau FYE Week Thirteen). However, while that is true, I do not have a plan for what exactly I want to do for a career. During weeks four and five of Moreau this semester, we discussed discernment and picking a career. The center for career development says, “The idea is that the best career choices for a person are those that allow him/her to implement as many parts of his/her self-concept as possible. If a person only focuses on one or two parts of his/her self-concept for a career, that person will eventually hit a wall” (“Navigating Your Career Journey” by Meruelo Family Center for Career Development - Moreau FYE Week Four). My self-concept (which consists of my values, interests, personality, and skills) is somewhat contradictory. While I value helping others, I am a very introverted person who frequently deals with social anxiety, making it difficult for me to interact directly with people. However, in an interview with my mom, she affirmed that my anxiety does not have to define me and what I want to be (My mom - Moreau FYE Week Five). She reminded me that getting help from others can help with this anxiety, and just because I want to help others does not mean I do not need help. Because of her guidance, I am confident that my self-concept will no longer contradict, which will allow me to find a career path where I can help people in many ways. One of the ways that I want to help people is by bringing people together. Pope Francis said in a TED talk, “Quite a few years of life have strengthened my conviction that each and everyone’s existence is deeply tied to that of others: life is not time merely passing by, life is about interactions” (“Why the only future worth building includes everyone” by Pope Francis - Moreau FYE Week Seven). He firmly believes that the purpose of life has a lot to do with interacting with others. This allows you to see different perspectives and live a full life. In addition, in the movie “Hesburgh” about the great president of Notre Dame, Father Hesburgh, the current president, Father Jenkins, says, “The Latin word for priest is pontifex, [which means] bridge builder. Ted was a bridge-builder between people and God and among people'' https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ https://ideas.ted.com/the-right-way-to-be-introspective-yes-theres-a-wrong-way/ https://ideas.ted.com/the-right-way-to-be-introspective-yes-theres-a-wrong-way/ https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-the-only-future-worth-building-includes-everyone-pope-francis (“Hesburgh” by Jerry Barca and Christine O’Malley - Moreau FYE Week Two). Using the Pope’s view of life’s purpose alongside Father Hesburgh’s example of how to live, I hope to be the type of person that elevates the lives of others by bringing people together. I hope to be a bridge-builder between different people to help them live life to the fullest. Another way I hope to help people is by changing the way the world works for the better. We live in a society that is prejudiced toward many different types of people. One of my goals is to help change those people who are openly racist, sexist, homophobic, etc. In a podcast about politics, one of the speakers said, “If they wanted to actually participate in politics seriously, they would go about this all differently. Instead of hating the other side, instead of hating a random person who says they're Republican or says they're Democrat, they would say, hmm, is this a neighbor that I can convince to move in my direction?” (“Passion Isn’t Enough” by Hidden Brain Media - Moreau FYE Week Eleven). While this quote is about politics, I think it can also apply to bigotry. Instead of just looking at bigots as awful people, I think we have a responsibility to try to educate them and make them better people. That way, society can improve one person at a time. However, society is not solely flawed because of prejudice. As Dr. D’Angelo says, “This distinction — between individual prejudice and a system of unequal institutionalized racial power — is fundamental. One cannot understand how racism functions in the U.S. today if one ignores group power relations” (“Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism” by Dr. Robin D’Angelo - Moreau FYE Week Ten). We live in a systemically racist society, where white people have an inherent advantage over other races. Due to how society is run, black people have to struggle every day with a disadvantage. Dean Marcus Cole describes a story where he was impacted directly by systemic racism. He was pulled over by a cop and dehumanized just because of his skin color. He said, “Yes, I am alive, and George Floyd is dead. I can breathe; he cannot. But just because a police officer did not murder me or my children does not mean that he did not harm us” (“I am George Floyd. Except, I can breathe. And I can do something.” by Dean Marcus Cole - Moreau FYE Week Twelve). We need to change the way the world is run so that people do not have to worry about randomly dying just because of the color of their skin. It will not happen overnight, but I hope to be a part of the movement to end systemic racism. The final way I hope to help people is through accompaniment. Accompaniment is a concept we learned during week nine of Moreau, and it essentially means just being there for someone during times of hardship. It does not necessarily mean doing everything you can to fix their situation. It is just about being with them. An example of this in action was when Professor Reifenberg went to a foreign country to try and help underprivileged children, but he got sick. He said, “Even though I had landed on their doorstep with plans to be ‘their helper,’ they accompanied me, and during those first two years and the many intervening ones, I think I have learned – and am still learning– to accompany them as well” (“Teaching Accompaniment: A Learning Journey Together” by Professor Steve Reifenberg - Moreau FYE Week Nine). Like the professor, as someone who always wants to help people, I hope to learn how to accompany people better. https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=10159379-7eca-4549-8581-ab9500c9ecd9 https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/passion-isnt-enough/ https://www.huffpost.com/entry/why-its-so-hard-to-talk-to-white-people-about-racism_b_7183710 https://law.nd.edu/news-events/news/dean-g-marcus-cole-i-am-george-floyd-except-i-can-breathe-and-i-can-do-something/ https://law.nd.edu/news-events/news/dean-g-marcus-cole-i-am-george-floyd-except-i-can-breathe-and-i-can-do-something/ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hZbSdVImfn2hZDqMrdL96dZCNOtHuf6C-lg3sH-Rs30/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hZbSdVImfn2hZDqMrdL96dZCNOtHuf6C-lg3sH-Rs30/edit A nun with a unique philosophy stated, “For almost all of humanity, people died at younger ages than we do now, more frequently died at home, and had less medical control over their final days. Death was far less predictable, and far more visible” (“Meet the nun who wants you to remember that you will die” by Ruth Graham - Moreau FYE Week Three). This nun believes that we need to acknowledge our own deaths because that allows us to live our lives the best way possible. For me, living while understanding that I will die only strengthens my idea of my mission in life: To help people. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/us/memento-mori-nun.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/us/memento-mori-nun.html