Capstone Integration How I am Pursuing My Mission Statement at the University of Notre Dame As I’ve grown from a little girl into a young adult, my various experiences have shaped me into who I am today. So far through these experiences, I’ve lived a good life - but there are still more ways I can pursue a life well-lived: by creating a positive, lasting impact on others’ lives. In fact, this is my main mission in life, and I plan to achieve this by bringing others joy and encouraging them to pursue their passions and prioritize faith (“University of Notre Dame Mission Statement” by the University of Notre Dame - Moreau FYE Week Thirteen). Before attending Notre Dame, I lived a good life by my old standards. After becoming a student here and learning new things about what entails a life well-lived, my standards have been raised - and I am continuing on working to meet those standards every day. My mission in life is to pass what I’ve learned on my journey to leading a life well-lived onto others and work to ensure they are living the best life they possibly can. Someone that has inspired me to adopt this as my mission statement is Father Hesburgh. His dedication toward service and his heart of gold caused him to be a widely known and loved man - a man for the people. How is my mission statement related to Father Hesburgh? Everything he did was to better others’ lives - from providing Congress with what was needed to draft the Civil Rights Laws to supporting MLK Jr. by standing by his side in Chicago despite the major controversy around MLK Jr. at the time (“Hesburgh” by Jerry Barca and Christine O’Malley - Moreau FYE Week Two). Father Hesburgh’s actions were to better the lives of others, not his own. His success in bettering people's lives inspires me to strive to achieve the same. An important precursor to successfully impacting others’ lives is first making sure you are pursuing a good life. An essential aspect of this is self-reflection. When too much seems to be going on in life and you find it hard to count your blessings, taking time to reflect on your life and your actions can help you to gain a more positive attitude and allows you to figure out what changes you can make to better your life (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week One). Once you have focused on ensuring you’re leading a life well-lived, one may wonder how someone stays motivated to impact others’ lives when that time could be spent bettering your own life - for example, taking time to volunteer at a homeless shelter instead of using that time to work more so that you may buy yourself a treat. A unique approach introduced by Sister Aletheia is to intentionally think about your own death (“Meet the Nun Who Wants You to Remember You Will Die” by Ruth Graham - Moreau FYE Week Three). When you die, no one will care about what your shoes looked like or the newest purse you bought. People will remember how you treated them and the impact you made on them, which is what helps keep me inspired to prioritize others’ joy over my own wants. Now, one may wonder how to integrate your own passions with bettering others’ lives. This can be done by finding a career that fits your passions and talents, then using your specialty to impact others. As my finance professor, Carl Ackermann, taught me this semester, you can use your career to help others (“Navigating Your Career Journey” by Meruelo Family Center for Career Development - Moreau FYE Week Four). Ackermann taught his students how and where to invest our money so that we may get large returns and have a lot of money once we’re older. His lesson on personal finance did not end there - he really emphasized the amount of lives we could impact with this money. He provided us with some examples: we https://www.nd.edu/about/mission/ https://www.nd.edu/about/mission/ https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=10159379-7eca-4549-8581-ab9500c9ecd9 https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/us/memento-mori-nun.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/us/memento-mori-nun.html https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ could give some to our parents who worked endlessly hard to ensure we are able to attend this great University, we could donate to cancer research funds, along with various other options - the possibilities are endless! To sum up, Ackermann taught us how to use our money from our career as a force for good in the world, which I’ve also learned by interacting with Notre Dame alumni who also majored in finance (“Week Five IrishCompass Activity” by Moreau - Moreau FYE Week Five). Everyone endures setbacks in life that may make it difficult to pursue your goals. The obstacles we face in life need not be a reason for us to give up. We can instead learn how to cope with our struggles and come out stronger in the end (“5 Minutes” by Aria Swarr - Moreau FYE Week Six). When I sometimes find it difficult to find motivation to keep going, having God by my side and knowing that He wants me to work toward bettering others’ lives helps me to stay motivated and continue pursuing this goal of mine. It is also crucial to understand that others also face struggles - just as you do - and accompanying them during their difficult times can make a big difference in helping them get through it and maintaining a positive mindset. By accompanying someone, you are embarking on a journey with them - you are sharing with them their joyous experiences while also helping them get through any obstacles life throws at them (“Teaching Accompaniment: A Learning Journey Together ” by Steve Reifenberg - Moreau FYE Week Nine). Accompaniment is also a two-way street - in times where you feel the need to be accompanied, you should reach out to others. A difficulty I may face in living my mission is conflict with others, yet I firmly believe that love always perseveres over hatred. If I don’t get along well with someone, I can prioritize love instead of holding grudges and not letting go of past disagreements (“Tattoos on the Heart - Chapter 8: Jurisdiction” by Fr. Greg Boyle - Moreau FYE Week Seven). Learning to overcome these disagreements and to continue working toward bettering everyone’s lives - not just those with which I get along - is an important part of my mission statement. In fact, disagreement is a crucial part of growth. If I were to surround myself with people who always agreed with me, I would never be challenged, and my own opinions, even if they may be wrong, would just be reaffirmed. Yet, when I am exposed to people who may disagree with me, whether it be from different approaches to things or different ideas, I gain knowledge and wisdom from this as I am provided with new perspectives and viewpoints (“How to Avoid an Echo Chamber” by Dr. Paul Blaschko - Moreau FYE Week Eleven). This theme of persisting love that I continue to strive for is something I learned from the spirit of the University of Notre Dame. Part of the University Mission and Vision states, “The social teachings of the Catholic Church promote a society founded on justice and love, in which all persons possess inherent dignity as children of God.” ("The Spirit of Inclusion at Notre Dame” by du lac: A Guide to Student Life - Moreau FYE Week Ten). This demonstrates that everyone should be treated equally with justice and love, as we are all children of God. Moreover, the mission of the Congregation of Holy Cross communicates a similar idea by stating that “before the Lord all of us are sinners and none is an enemy.” (“Constitutions of the Congregation of Holy Cross” by the Congregation of Holy Cross - Moreau FYE Week Twelve). This also emphasizes that at our core we are all the same, so we must all treat each other equally and with love. In conclusion, attending the University of Notre Dame and applying the valuable lessons that I have learned from this course have caused me to formulate my very own mission statement that I continue to work toward every day: to better the lives of others, whether it be https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z1bZTNU9tpjCnuC9iDFLjslYaX0v4XpBwClh_GynKfo/edit https://grottonetwork.com/make-an-impact/transform/why-does-god-allow-suffering/?utm_source=moreau&utm_medium=class&utm_campaign=spring_2022 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hZbSdVImfn2hZDqMrdL96dZCNOtHuf6C-lg3sH-Rs30/edit https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/40250/files/524003?module_item_id=168041 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/40250/files/524003?module_item_id=168041 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaIVxQcqnLs&t=1s https://dulac.nd.edu/university-mission-and-vision/spirit-of-inclusion/ https://holycrosscongregation.org/holy-cross-resources/constitutions/2-mission/ through bringing them happiness, strengthening their relationship with God, and/or inspiring them to pursue their talents and dreams.