Capstone Integration Gardes1 Andrew Whittington Moreau FYE 29 April 2022 Finding Fulfillment by Walking With Others I will help others because I have realized that giving is just as, if not more, important than receiving. In my personal and professional life, I can use my abilities to help those around me rather than keep them to myself. I will be compassionate. I will be selfless. Most importantly, I will be satisfied knowing that I have lived a good life because I will have lived a life full of service to others. In our last Moreau class of the year, we were asked to start the process of refining our mission statement. I realized that my previous– and much longer– mission statement embodied one main idea: I want to live my life benefiting others. I attended a very small, private, Catholic, all-girls school my entire life: ages 1 to 18. This environment, while it fostered some invaluable friendships, set each person up to be in constant competition with one another. It was hard to differentiate yourself, so it was easy to be selfish and to simply keep your talents and gifts to yourself. However, I found myself in a new environment, one that “pursues its objectives through the formation of an authentic human community graced by the Spirit of Christ” (“University of Notre Dame Mission Statement” - Week 13). Since arriving at Notre Dame, I have realized that life is so much more fulfilling when you share what you have with others: share in the highs and lows of life, share opportunities, share talents, share smiles, laughs, and tears. With this realization, I reformulated my mission statement to embody this message of sharing, giving, and compassion because it is exactly how I want to orient my life. I believe that in order to accomplish my mission statement, I need to take action. It is nearly impossible to help others if you are solitary and reclined. I believe that I have an obligation to work with others, and “reach out to the afflicted and in a preferential way to the https://www.nd.edu/about/mission/ Gardes2 poor and the oppressed… as their neighbors, to be with them and of them” (“Constitutions of the Congregation of Holy Cross” by Holy Cross - Week 12). In order to make actual change, I need to walk with those I am helping, not in front of them. This makes my mission statement action based- acting on conviction, morals, and justice. To make my mission statement more achievable, I have identified three places to focus my efforts. First, I believe I need to identify and become my true self. I next want to identify and address the needs of those around me. Lastly, I want to learn how to act in solidarity with others when helping. If I can achieve these goals, I believe that I will have achieved my mission statement, and, thus, a life well-lived. Identifying and becoming my true self is a hard task but one that I have already begun. I have come to realize that the time I spend alone with my thoughts is when I can best sort through how I am feeling and what I want. Pico Iyer noted that “the point of sitting still is that it helps you see through the very idea of pushing forward” (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer - Week 1). I believe that “sitting still” simply means sitting with your thoughts, and people have many different ways of doing this: meditation, prayer, or, like me, walking. Being able to reflect independently, without the interference of others’ thoughts and opinions, helps me recognize my potential; it gives me the opportunity to ask myself “what” questions instead of “why” as “asking what could keep us open to discovering new information about ourselves, even if that information is negative or in conflict with our existing beliefs” (“The Right Way to be Introspective” by Tasha Eurich - Week 6). These questions are more productive, and they help me dive deeper into my personal feelings rather than into situational influences on my views. On these walks, I have come to understand my growth throughout these past few months, appreciate those around me, and discern my views on issues present in my community. https://holycrosscongregation.org/holy-cross-resources/constitutions/2-mission/ https://holycrosscongregation.org/holy-cross-resources/constitutions/2-mission/ 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/ Gardes3 One of my most valuable realizations that I have made in these moments of thought is that I am meant to be at this university. I am from New Orleans, and it is rare that someone ventures off to the north rather than LSU, Alabama, or Ole Miss. People doubted my abilities, saying that I was just accepted to “diversify the class.” However, I have been pleasantly surprised by how wrong those people were. I have not only been successful academically, but I have grown to be a more compassionate, giving, and open minded person just in one year here. As Father Hesburg mentioned, “It’s impossible to have a complete and honest human story if one doesn’t speak of human failings as well as human successes” (“Hesburgh” by Jerry Barca and Christine O’Malley - Week 2). There is no doubt I have encountered failings– failing my first quiz in God and the Good Life, letting my friends down on occasion, and having my priorities get distorted from time to time. Each of these failings, in conjunction with my successes, has helped me realize the person I want to be, and that is essential in order to even begin to attempt to achieve my mission statement. This is the first, and potentially the hardest, step of achieving my mission, but it is crucial. I cannot truly make a tangible change in others’ lives if I have not discerned my own path. I need to find what brings me joy and fulfillment as “joy always pushes us forward” (“Three Key Questions” by Fr. Michael Hines - Week 3). On top of this, finding myself is the most individualistic step, meaning that others will not yet see how I am living out my mission of helping those in need. However, with discerning my own path, I will be able to use my gifts to the fullest extent possible to make positive changes in the world around me. The next area I intend on focusing on is identifying and addressing the needs of those around me. In order for me to be able to effectively and tangibly help people around me, I need to discern who I have direct contact with. Weeks 4 and 5 of Moreau classes really focused on https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=10159379-7eca-4549-8581-ab9500c9ecd9 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/40388/files/473345?module_item_id=147866 Gardes4 orienting ourselves to our future desires and impacts. I plan on becoming a doctor, meaning that the people I can most influence are my patients and my coworkers. In this area of work, it is essential to “actively engage in the process, take ownership, and utilize the tools at your disposal you will reap the benefits” (“Navigating Your Career Journey” by Meruelo Career Center - Week 4). Being some form of doctor has visible evidence of how I help others, but I aim to help on a deeper level. I want to be there for my patients, help them through the process, and show that I care about them as people, not as a source of income. In my conversations with my grandmother for Week 5 of Moreau, she noted that it was clear to her that “I want to change the world by being of service to others,” and it is precisely that; I want to use my knowledge and skills to help improve the lives of others so that they, too, can find their joys and fulfillment in life. The last area of my life I wish to emphasize in order to achieve my mission statement is learning how to act in solidarity with others when helping. One concept that was really highlighted over the semester was accompaniment, and it truly resonated with me. I realized that the goal of reaching out to those around us means that we must “help the person take their own destiny in their hands and allow that their voice is heard” (“Teaching Accompaniment: A Learning Journey Together” by Steve Reifenberg - Week 9). I believe that sometimes our true intentions get confused when we begin helping others; we start to focus on our changes rather than why we want to make changes and who the changes are actually for. This made me sit back and reflect on why I wanted to be a doctor. Did I convince myself I wanted to do this just for the money? Do I think I am capable of making a difference in this field? Am I even interested in medicine? Even though my reflection resulted in the conclusion that I did in fact want to be in the medical field, my intentions shifted a little. I want to be a part of this community where I can use my interest in STEM, my hands-on skills, and my love of human connection to follow the https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hZbSdVImfn2hZDqMrdL96dZCNOtHuf6C-lg3sH-Rs30/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hZbSdVImfn2hZDqMrdL96dZCNOtHuf6C-lg3sH-Rs30/edit Gardes5 wishes of my patients. I can give all of my best advice, but at the end of the day, I want to do whatever my patient and I agree on as the best choice of action to help “take their destiny in their own hands.” In doing so, I will be able to foster valuable, authentic relationships, which is important because “life is not time merely passing by, life is about interactions” (“Why the only future worth building includes everyone” by His Holiness Pope Francis - Week 7). It is hard to work in solidarity with others when you don’t have real, meaningful interactions with the people around you, and that is my driving force in my career plans and in my current life. While I have plans for the future as to how to achieve my goals of assessing the needs of those around me and acting in solidarity to address those needs, it is also important that I start working on these goals now. An area that I have identified to work on is being more open-minded. I was gifted with many privileges in my life, most of which I have taken for granted. Starting to use these privileges to benefit others is how I can start this process now; I want to be more “willing to tolerate the discomfort associated with an honest appraisal and discussion of our internalized superiority and racial privilege,” and never shy away from hearing the experiences of others who have had different experiences than myself (“Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism” by Dr. Robert D’Angelo - Week 10). This will not only help me to become a better doctor in the future, it will also help me foster connections with my community now. I can do this by exposing myself to academic conversations in my classes, especially the smaller, more discussion based classes where people express their personal experiences and opinions. These discussions can help reveal the true needs of those around me and prompt action because “anger, righteous anger and emotion, are [feelings] you leverage into action” (“Passion Isn’t Enough” by Eitan Hersh - Week 11). If I don’t use my internal feelings in conjunction with the feelings and experiences of those around me to take action, there is no real https://www.ted.com/talks/his_holiness_pope_francis_why_the_only_future_worth_building_includes_everyone/transcript https://www.ted.com/talks/his_holiness_pope_francis_why_the_only_future_worth_building_includes_everyone/transcript https://docs.google.com/diangelo https://docs.google.com/diangelo https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/passion-isnt-enough/ Gardes6 point of even trying to connect with others. I must act with conviction, with confidence, and in solidarity with others. That is the ultimate goal. There is no doubt that achieving my mission statement to the fullest extent will be a challenge, but there will be no greater reward than doing so. This mission statement is everything. It is growing into myself. It is realizing my potential. It is realizing the potential of those around me. It is addressing the needs of those around me. It is helping others with intention. It is accompaniment. Most of all, it is how I want to live my life because it asks of me what I would ask of those around me: to live my life serving others by utilizing my privilege, skills, and passions.