Claudia O’Sullivan
Taylor Kelly
Moreau FYE
April 26, 2022
Capstone Integration
	Both my sister and my good friend Pablo fought cancer when they were kids. When I talk to them about the hardest part of battling cancer, they have similar replies: 1) maintaining a will to keep fighting and 2) feeling so close to death for so long. As I grew up, I was very close with my grandparents and realized that the elderly fight a similar battle. Watching the happiest, most inspiring people in my life face days where they couldn’t find the light in the darkness made me want to figure out where that will to keep fighting and that courage to drown out the fear of death and suffering come from. Their persistence over feelings of hopelessness illustrated how “If you can be pessimistic, you are basically deciding that there’s no hope for a whole group of people who can’t afford to think that way” (“In a Learning Journey Together” by Dahl Reifenberg - Moreau FYE Week Nine). As I got older, I started to piece together my answer. Whether it was when I would play cards with my grandparents and they’d nonchalantly mention that “they lived for these moments.” Or when my friend Pablo would open up about the guilt he felt for being rude to his mom and sister when he was sick, because he would have given up if it weren’t for their love. His loved ones made him understand that the “purpose of [his] life [was not] simply about overcoming suffering,” but rather his life was defined by the love the people around him filled it with. (“The right way to be introspective” by Tasha Eurich - Moreau FYE Week Six). Due to heartbreaking circumstances, both my sister and Pablo had to encounter mortality far too early in their lives, but it granted them a clear perspective of what they valued. They learned what Sister Aletheia preaches: “we try to suppress the thought of death, or escape it, or run away from it because we think that’s where we’ll find happiness, but it’s actually in facing the darkest realities of life that we find light in them.” (“Meet the nun who wants you to remember that you will die” by Ruth Graham - Moreau FYE Week Three). Through seeing how they both lead their lives and thinking about morality in respect to my life, I realized what I articulated in my mission statement: it’s all about love. Therefore, I know that in my life well-lived, “I [should] prioritize love over everything - whether that’s in the personal connections in my life or by being motivated by love to help others.” (Week 13)
	Trying to actively prioritize love in one’s relationships is not a difficult pursuit because love nourishes us and connecting is human nature. However, people don’t live in insular bubbles, and I want to lead my life in a way where I try to practice and show love towards more than just my friends and family. A life well-lived is a moral life, and acting morally is just acting in a loving way towards those that you might not actually love. I might not have genuinely loved the senior citizens I volunteer with at the retirement home before I got there, but I knew that if I did love them I would go over every Friday so I did. I want to make it clear that I by no means am insinuating that I live a morally sound life in any way. I am guilty of avoiding information that conflicts with my beliefs, and thus existing in some echo chambers which occur when “groups give up on tolerating adversity of opinion” (“How to Avoid an Echo Chamber” by Paul Blashko - Week 11). I don’t do nearly enough to show my appreciation to my loved ones or fulfill my duty to help the people in and out of my community that are suffering. As Dean Cole said, “these are things that I, in my position, can do. But it is not enough. I cannot do this alone. Each of us must do what we can, wherever we are” ( 'I am George Floyd. Except, I can breathe. And I can do something' by Dean Cole - Moreau FYE Week 12) Following this pursuit of spreading more love and practicing morality will require me to be completely truthful and honest with myself about my situation and how I could do better. For example, perhaps partly because Notre Dame is quite a bubble (which regardless doesn’t justify it), I don’t do nearly enough to learn more about racism, actively combat any implicit biases I have, or combat racism in my community. The only way I can undo this is by confronting that truth instead of “ perceiving any attempt to connect [me] to the system of racism as a very unsettling and unfair moral offense” (“Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism” By Robin DiAngelo - Moreau FYE Week 10) When “putting his moral weight behind MLK and what he was trying to do,” Fr. Hesburgh demonstrated this morality in action (“Hesburgh” by Jerry Barca and Christine O’Malley- Moreau FYE Week Two). As I attempt to make these next four years well lived through acting morally and trying to learn when I don’t, I will remember that “in order to do good, we need memory, we need courage and we need creativity.” (“Tattoos on the Heart” by Greg Boyle - Moreau FYE Week Seven) 
	In order to accomplish all of this in the next three years and take advantage of all of the resources Notre Dame has, I can’t overthink and need to just take action. In my week 5 conversation, my best friend told me that sometimes my thoughts deter me from actually working towards my aspirations and goals. She is completely right because “the only way to know more about yourself is to test the waters - just get out and experience life” (“Navigating Your Career Journey” - Moreau FYE Week Four). I will probably spend this coming summer on a flip-phone to focus more on connecting with people in-person because“the more we can contact others, the more, it sometimes seems, we lose contact with ourselves.” (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week One). From there, I will begin trying to create my life well-lived.