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   Sanghyun’s Eulogy: Life of a well-lived man 
 
 
 As an old friend of , I have observed his whole life. I saw what he saw, I 
felt what he felt, and I thought what he thought. Now I want to reflect my friend, Sanghyun, 
through going over every incident we experienced together. Through this eulogy, I want to let 
you know what kind of person Sanghyun was, and what kind of life he lived.  
 When Sanghyun went into college, University of Notre Dame, we often called each 
other and had some deep conversation. One time, he asked me about “What should we define 
a well-lived life?” I was stunned. I never have thought about such question in my life. So, I asked 
him to talk about his definition first. Sanghyun’s answer was simple: we can call a life is well-
lived when someone lived a life full of happiness. Then, I asked another question. What is 
happiness? His reply included a quote from Fr. Michael Hime’s article “Three Key Questions.” 
Fr. Michael Himes said, “The most important thing you can do in your life is to come to a point 
where you can say that, “this is a genuine me!”” He told me according to Aristotle, happiness 
not only comes from pleasure of real life, but is something more than that. Happiness is an 
outcome when one accomplishes his goal of life virtually. The three questions Fr. Michael 
Himes conveys in his article is “what gives you joy?”, “what are you really good at?”, and “what 
do the people around you really need?”. Answering these questions, Sanghyun told me that 
well-lived life comes from doing what you enjoy and good at and making good relationships. He 
added that since we are living in a digital age, we need to be more cautious. Pico Iyer says, “I 
have encountered has been that the people who seem wisest about the necessity of placing 
limits on the newest technologies, which have bulldozed over so many of the limits of old.” This 
shows that to live a well-lived life, we need to be more careful about using digital devices.  
 While I was writing the eulogy, I remembered the moments with Sanghyun and I tried to 
figure out whether he lived a well-lived life. One thing I am sure about is that Sanghyun had 
faith. He had a faith beyond his life, which was his power source. Faith led him to live a life as a 
senior consultant, faith led him to make a family, and faith led him to serve for the others 
during his entire life. As Rev. John Jenkins said in The Hesburgh Film, “Ted was a bridge-builder 
between people and god and among people” when he was commenting about Fr. Hesburgh’s 
life, I am sure Sanghyun was also a bridge-builder. Sanghyun through his donation program and 
volunteer activity, became a figure of love within his community. He went to every and 
anywhere that needed his help. I saw the passion in Sanghyun and was always curious about 
the source of such passion. One day, I was talking with him in the flight going to his home 
country, South Korea, I found out that the origin of the passion is his faith. Sanghyun said, 
“When I confront a problem, I always think I am the only one that can solve this problem. I 
believe that I can handle the problem. And this gives me power to actually go through the 
struggle and finally accomplish my goal.” 
 I remember the moment when Sanghyun told me about the successful journey of life. 
He said he always have been asking himself whether his life is successful or not. At the end, he 
ceased to ask himself such question. He found out the answer is there is no such journey. 
Success is a subjective concept, and everyone have different definition of success. Navigating 
Your Career Journey –Meruelo Family Center for Career Development states that, “The only way 



to know more about yourself is to test the waters – just get our and experience life.” Sanghyun 
told me life is a journey to find yourself. There is no answer in our life and our career. 
Therefore, we should be open-minded and find our own career. Everything we do is a part of 
our life experience, and there is no experience that is worthless.  
 Sanghyun was the most genuine person I ever met. I remember the conversation that I 
had with him during the freshman year in University of Notre Dame. He told me that he had to 
ask few questions that reflects him. I remember the moment that I was completely honest in 
front of him. I told him he was the most genuine, and passionate person I have ever seen. I told 
Sanghyun that his goal might be helping the community, no matter what kind of job he has. My 
prediction was correct. Sanghyun served for the agricultural community in his country, and he 
helped the education of the teenagers in the Korean rural area. Sanghyun used to meditate a 
lot, reflecting himself. One day, I ran into his room and accidently disrupted his meditation. He 
was smiling at me and recommended to join meditation. He told me about a quote by Tasha 
Eurich. She said “If you ask why, [I think] you’re putting yourself into a victim mentality…” 
Giving this quote, Sanghyun advised me to continue the meditation by asking what kind a 
person am I, not why I became such person. Now, meditation became part of myself. I not only 
ask myself what kind of person I am, but I also ask what kind of person Sanghyun was. My 
conclusion is that he was a genuine and kind person.  
 Before I end this eulogy, I want to tell everyone to have a genuine relationship life me 
and Sanghyun. Making such relationship is not easy. Human is a social animal, and we cannot 
live without making relationship. Then we can realize that to live a well-lived life, it is important 
to live a genuine relationship. According to Pope Francis, “we can only build the future by 
standing together, including everyone.” Then how can we make a genuine connection with 
others? Sanghyun have told me the answer. Genuine relationship is a relationship containing 
freedom of speech, and we can make them only through open-minded mindset. I wish you all 
can make such relationship with the people around you.  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 



 
 
 
 
“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer – Moreau Week One 
“Hesburgh” by Jerry Barca and Christine O’Malley – Moreau Week Two 
“Three Key Questions” by Fr. Michael Himes – Moreau Week Three 
“Navigating Your Career Journey” by Meruelo Family Center for Career Development – Moreau 
Week Four 
“Week Five IrishCompass Activity” – Moreau Week Five 
“The right way to be introspective” by Tasha Eurich – Moreau Week Six 
“Why the only future worth. Building includes everyone” by Pope Francis – Moreau Week 
Seven