Moreau Capstone Integration 4/27/22 1 Professor Chan Moreau FYE 27 April 2022 A Life Well Lived My first year at Notre Dame has been filled with many unforgettable moments for me. I have met many amazing people, had many great experiences, and learned a lot about myself. Throughout this semester of the Moreau FYE, I have been asked to think about what I define as a life well lived. The weeks of content I have taken in along with experiences before college have shaped what I thought this to be. I began thinking deeply about the purpose of my life during my senior year of high school when I was told that I was the class Valedictorian and had been accepted into the University of Notre Dame. I never imagined myself as a changemaker. I thought that it was other’s jobs to make changes in the world, but at that moment, I saw myself as a changemaker. I was an example of a successful black man in a world that expects me to be the opposite. My hard work during those past four years paid off and made me an exceptional role model. Dean G. Marcus Cole’s story about his father is a perfect example of America’s view on people of color. He shares that when he was young, his father was taken out of his car and beaten by a group of white men. It was a saddening story to hear, but shows how people who look like me are seen and treated. Father Hesburgh’s story also told me that this is what God has intended for my life. Father Hesburgh was truly the embodiment of a life well lived whether it was through his 2 participation in the Civil Rights Movement or his work to expand the perspectives of his students at Notre Dame. Watching his story and how God was present in every step of his life showed me that being a role model for the next generation of young, black children is my purpose (“Hesburgh” produced by Jerry Barca and Christine O’Malley - Moreau FYE Week Two) (“Dean G. Marcus Cole: 'I am George Floyd. Except, I can breathe. And I can do something” by Dean G. Marcus Cole - Moreau FYE Week Twelve). Being connected with the world through God’s creation is an important aspect to a life well-lived. It is easy to become disconnected from the world through the abundance of technology we are surrounded by. Sometimes, it is seemingly impossible to step away from our screens because of the many uses we have for them. Pico Iyer shares the importance of slowing down our lives by stepping away from screens with the quote, “It’s easy to feel as if we’re standing two inches away from a huge canvas that’s noisy and crowded and changing with every microsecond. It’s only by stepping farther back and standing still that we can begin to see what that canvas… really means, and to take in the larger picture” (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week One). I liked this quote because it shows how our devices can expose us to so much content at once and distract us from all life has to offer. It states that we should take a step away from them in order to gain a full understanding of what our lives mean. This is an ideology I intend to implement for the rest of my life and will likely become increasingly important because of technology’s tendency to continuously grow without signs of subsiding. Pico Iyer’s ideas previously discussed can also tie into the practice of memento mori. To practice memento mori is to be mindful that you will die one day. It is meant to encourage https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=10159379-7eca-4549-8581-ab9500c9ecd9 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://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ 3 maximizing every day. It ties into Pico Iyer’s idea because both are based on working to help people make the most of their lives. I initially thought of the practice as morbid, but its overall purpose is important and what I believe is part of a life well lived (“Meet the Nun Who Wants to Remind You That You Will Die” by Ruth Graham - Moreau FYE Week Three). In college, I questioned the truth in the statement that money does not bring happiness. In our society, money grants access to anything and everything one might need or want. This makes the statement difficult to believe because if one has money, they can do the things they enjoy even if it was earned doing a job they do not enjoy. It could also be argued that because we spend so much time at work, it is better to do something you enjoy than something you do not. The Career Development Center and the discernment conversation activity from week five helped me decide how this applies to me. For me, I sometimes do not enjoy what I learn in school, but I believe that with a Mechanical Engineering degree, I will be able to do what I enjoy. Through the conversation I had with my sister, I found this to be working on cars. With this in mind, I have decided to continue pursuing a Mechanical Engineering degree in order to eventually reach my end goal (“Navigating Your Career Journey” by the Meruelo Family Center for Career Development - Moreau FYE Week Four) (“Discernment Conversation Activity” by Moreau FYE - Moreau FYE Week Five). Part of why my mission statement involves getting an education is because I believe that knowledge is power. Dr. Paul Blaschko’s discussion of echo chambers and how they form was important because it shows how false assumptions about groups of people can form, such as racial stereotypes. If a group that thinks negatively of people of color forms, they will likely exclude people who think otherwise and only include like-minded individuals. It also ties into 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/ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1yZ7hqvx-u4EuW2nlK-fRbWFiurQm1mZv_KpoeeiN4So/edit 4 Robin DiAngelo’s discussion of why it is difficult to talk to white people about racial issues. In it, he states that white people are shielded from what black people are subjected to in America. These two ideas stress the importance of gaining knowledge because it is only through knowledge that people can begin to understand the perspectives of others. We can then begin to help people in need (“Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism” by Robin DiAngelo - Moreau FYE Week Ten) (“How to Avoid an Echo Chamber” by Dr. Paul Blaschko - Moreau FYE Week Eleven). An important piece to a life well-lived is to spread love. I know from experience that receiving hugs and being told that someone loves you from friends and family is all it takes to improve a person’s mood. When I think about spreading love, I think about Steve Reifenberg’s story to South America. He had intended to improve the lives of children who stayed in an orphanage, but during his time he got sick. The children cared for him and did what they could for him. It was an amazing display of love and shows how important it is to care for people in our world today. If he had not received their care, he could have turned out substantially worse than he did. It is important in a mission to spread love that we do not give up on people because everyone is capable of changing. This is shown in Father Greg Boyle’s story when Gato felt regret after he said he was glad Flaco was hit by a car. Even though the two are enemies, Gato still showed that he was for Flaco’s best interests in an unfortunate time for him (“Teaching Accompaniment- A Learning Journey Together ” by Steve Reifenberg - Moreau FYE Week Nine) (“Tattoos on the Heart” by Father Greg Boyle - Moreau FYE Week Seven). The last piece to a life well-lived is to be introspective. I am personally very introspective because it allows me to understand who I am and what I would like to change about myself. This https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bdVnfLDrJUJhd-4UtYb_kfRpcFgOoOeY7O1WT8_d3iw/edit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaIVxQcqnLs&t=1s https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hZbSdVImfn2hZDqMrdL96dZCNOtHuf6C-lg3sH-Rs30/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hZbSdVImfn2hZDqMrdL96dZCNOtHuf6C-lg3sH-Rs30/edit https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/40288/files/524007/download?download_frd=1 5 can go for others as well. Sometimes, however, I find that being too introspective can sometimes weigh me down because it exposes the faults in my character without giving much attention to the good parts of it. Tasha Eurich taught me that this is an example of being too introspective and that a more effective way of being introspective is to ask what instead of why. For example, instead of asking why I am upset about something, I can ask what I am feeling so that I can properly identify a solution to the problem (“The right way to be introspective (yes, there’s a wrong way)” by Tasha Eurich - Moreau FYE Week Six). I liked her way of introspective thinking because I always thought that asking why is better at arriving at the root of the problem, but it actually is not. Whenever I think introspectively, I will work on changing the structure of the questions I ask myself in order to gain a new perspective on the issue. The Moreau FYE has given me the opportunity to step away from the business of my intense major-related courses and ponder what is going on inside of myself. It has been an insightful year full of advice that I intend to implement over the next three years of my college career. Whenever I am faced with an issue of morality, I will look back on what I defined as a life well lived and ask if it aligns with this definition. Even beyond college, I intend to have each step I take be one that is mindful of what God’s will for my life is. 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/