Tommy Hedman
Exemplifying Service Through My Career and Relationships:
My Personal Mission Statement and Pursuit of a Life Well-Lived

	Mahatma Gandhi once said, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Although there are a million different paths a person’s life can take, I believe that the one fundamental facet constituting a life well-lived is service to others. If your career and time spent on earth is not dedicated to bettering the lives of others around you, what do you really have? Wealth? Status? Fame? Without meaningful relationships in your life and having a positive impact on others around you, I would argue that these things are worthless. After all, “No one knows how much time they have been given, so we must make the most of every opportunity we have to better the lives of others around us” (“Moreau Integration 3” by Tommy Hedman - Moreau FYE Week 8). This is precisely why my mission statement constitutes service to others through my career and relationships, something that I believe is key to the pursuit of a life well-lived. As I say, “I believe that success is not measured by wealth or status, but by love and happiness. These things, I hold, come out of service to others, the key to a life well-lived in my estimation” (“Moreau: Week 13 Mission Statement” by Tommy Hedman - Moreau FYE Week 13).
	When I stepped foot onto the campus of the University of Notre Dame for the first time as a student in August of 2021, I remember feeling extremely excited about the next four years of my life, but also very nervous as well. As Pico Iyer described, I felt as if I was “standing two inches away from a huge canvas that’s noisy and crowded and changing with every microsecond” (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week 1). I felt almost as if life had passed me by already despite being an 18 year old with the rest of my life and career to look forward to. All of my childhood friends and high school buddies were moving away for college, and I constantly found myself wishing back the times when we played night games together in the neighborhood, met on Friday nights at our high school’s football games, or biked along the Mississippi River at sunset. The need to take more responsibility and grow up hit me like a truck when I was alone in my dorm room after saying goodbye to my parents for the first time, and a million different questions rattled around my mind regarding my major, discernment, and how to make the most of the next four years of my life. However, after settling down, finding community in my dorm, and taking advantage of some resources on campus, I started to realize some of the forms that I wanted my life to take here at ND and beyond. First of all, I had to be really honest with myself about my goals and interests, something I did by asking myself the “Three Key Questions” that we discussed in class: 1)  What gives you joy? 2)  What are you really good at? 3)  What do the people around you really need? (“Three Key Questions” by Fr. Michal Himes - Moreau FYE Week 3). After falling into the trap that is the mindset of, “I am deciding my career path when I am picking my major”, I came to the realization that whatever major I picked or whatever I did in life, I had a responsibility to directly impact the lives of others for the better (“Navigating Your Career Journey” by the Meruelo Family Center for Career Development - Moreau FYE Week 4). I really internalized the value of accompaniment, explained by Professor Steve Reifenberg as, the “blurring of the lines between us and them, doctor and patient, donor and recipient, expert and novice. Instead, we are partners, walking together, towards a better future” (“Teaching Accompaniment: A Learning Journey Together” by Professor Steve Reifenberg - Moreau FYE Week 9). With this in mind, I came to believe that I was called to serve my community as a physician. I believe that through my career as a medical professional, I could use my talents in STEM fields that I am really interested in to assist others, especially those who are less fortunate and lack proper access to medical care in their communities. Also, I believe that through a medical career, I could interact and come to learn and understand the stories of people with different backgrounds and upbringings from myself. As Dean G. Marcus Cole expresses, “Each of us needs to get to know people who differ from us. We must all make a conscious decision and effort to expand our circles” (“I am George Floyd. Except, I can breathe. And I can do something” by Dean G. Marcus Cole - Moreau FYE Week 12).
	Additionally, I believe that service through your personal relationships with other people in your life are crucial to a life well-lived. As Pope Francis wisely said, “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 7). I believe that humbling yourself and being a servant leader in your relationships with others, whether that be your family, friends, or strangers, is key to living a meaningful life. It is only in this way that the impacts of our work and actions are able to extend beyond ourselves, and we are thus able to leave a legacy and lasting imprint on others long after we are gone. Also, in welcoming and including others from all walks of life, we are able to “enrich our lives by the different qualities of the many members of our community” (“The Spirit of Inclusion at Notre Dame” by the University of Notre Dame - Moreau FYE Week 10). After my first year at Notre Dame and by immersing myself in the community it prides itself on, my conviction that relationships and other people are key to a life well-lived has only strengthened. The Notre Dame family is something that is real and tangible, and it can be seen in a plethora of ways, including talking with Father Hesburgh in his office at 2 or 3 in the morning like some students used to do in the past (“Hesburgh” by Jerry Barca and Christine O’Malley - Moreau FYE Week 2). This sort of community is something that I strive to establish in my life beyond ND, and I think it is a key component of what it means to live an intentional and service-oriented life.
	Over the course of the next three years, I believe that my mission statement will animate my life in the sense that I will develop close relationships with my peers, mentors, and professors and further solidify my academic interests and future career aspirations. As opposed to the general trend that our society is heading towards in terms of polarization via politics, religion, or social media, as expressed by Eitan Hersh, I hope that my mission statement will lead me towards more civil and meaningful discussions with my peers in order to get a better idea and understanding of the truth and right way to believe or act (“Passion Isn’t Enough” by Hidden Brain Media and Eitan Hersh - Moreau FYE Week 11). Also, I think that my mission statement will allow me to have a profound experience at ND as I come to embrace the culture, community, and network of interactions it boasts more. Undoubtedly, there will be challenges and bumps in the road along the way, whether that be in my relationships or beliefs. However, instead of looming in my inadequacies or failures, I must “focus on what I can do for others or what I can do already instead of what I cannot do and what I do not have yet” (“5 Minutes” by Grotto - Moreau FYE Week 6). Equipped with strong relationships and a commitment to the service of others throughout my life and career, I believe that I will be well set up for a meaningful and fulfilling life, something that everyone ardently searches for. Everyone has the capacity to live a life well-lived, but it is up to them to use their gifts and talents in the most effective and impactful way possible. As my dad once said to me, “God has blessed everyone with special gifts. It is up to us to figure out what they mean and how to use them in the service of others” (“Week Five Discernment Conversation Activity” by Tommy Hedman - Moreau FYE Week 5).