Capstone Integration - Capstone Integration Professor Harrington 4/22/22 Failure, Reflecting on Failure, and Reshaping Failure In my mind, failure exists in three distinct stages. First, there is the actual failure; it may be a poor grade on a test, a lost friend, or maybe even just bad weather. Next is the stage in which we reflect on that failure. Some people believe failure is defeated by simply moving on, ignoring any of the negative emotions associated with it. But, being “sad” about negative things is a normal human response, so there's no need to combat failures with toxic, relentless positivity. Once we have finished reflecting on our failures, the third and final stage towards newfound freedom is our personal response. This is to reshape our future, and turn failures into new opportunities. Overall, the management of these three stages happens to be my personal mission statement: during the rest of my life I will experience failure, I will reflect on such failures, and I will respond to such failures (Personal Mission Statement - Moreau FYE Week 13). As the common adage goes, the first step to solving a problem is acknowledging the problem. This idea holds true for failure, as one must acknowledge failure before conquering it. One of the best ways to observe all of the obstacles in your life is through meditation. For me, I have found Sunday to be the perfect day of meditation. In Moreau Week 1, Pico Iyer’s article states, “This is what the principle of the Sabbath enshrines … the one day a week we take off becomes a vast empty space through which we can wander, without agenda” (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week 1). On Sunday I often meditate on both my religious and personal struggles, which happen to overlap in many cases. This day of meditation allows me to become aware of all the so-called “failures” of my week. This acknowledgment of all my struggles allows for healthy venting. Furthermore, the recognition of failure is essential to the career journey emphasized throughout Moreau. A Notre Dame CCD article states that, “Much as we present [the career journey] with arrows from one step to the next, it’s important to keep in mind that it’s not always linear; these steps don’t take place in a nice, neat order.” (“Navigating Your Career Journey - Moreau First Year Experience Course” by Meruelo Family CCD - Moreau FYE Week 4). I have made some goals for my career, but this article helped me dismantle some of the strict, and otherwise ruthless, guidelines I have set out for myself. Career development is a non-linear process, filled with failure, which provided me with some newfound comfort. Acknowledging future failures within your career journey is essential to a successful career, and many business moguls will reiterate this. As illustrated, it is beneficial to admit failures, but oftentimes it can be difficult to do this on your own. Sometimes asking your closest friends for advice can highlight the struggles currently plaguing your life. During Week 5 of Moreau, I had an excellent conversation with my friend Shane, in which he highlighted that I often am too ambitious and serious with my school work, causing a lot of stress (Conversation with Shane - Moreau FYE Week 5). Thus, having friends help analyze certain struggles in your life can be beneficial. The next stage of dealing with failure is crafting a personal response. Personally, I believe the best way to form a response is through meditation. Although meditation can be useful in acknowledging struggles (as mentioned above), it simultaneously helps me forge the strength to combat my problems. But, there is a very certain manner to creating a response during introspection. Dr. Eurich’s article argues that, in reflection, “Asking why can sometimes cause our brains to mislead us … Because of something called the “recency effect,” … your brain may misdirect you to the first available explanation” (“The right way to be introspective (yes, there’s a wrong way)” by Tasha Eurich - Moreau FYE Week 6). Sometimes during reflection, we turn to the first available explanation, however far-fetched, to somehow justify our problems. For instance, if someone receives a poor grade on a test, they may justify that the test was very challenging. But, this may be ignoring the fact that they didn’t study enough, or maybe even a larger issue of a social-school life balance. Thus, during personal reflection, we need to dig deep to uncover the truth behind our feelings, and from there craft an appropriate plan of action. Although a plan of action must be formed for every issue, I have discovered something that is indispensable to following through with the plan of action. This solution, however cliché, is relationships. In Moreau Week 7, we read an article from Pope Francis, in which he states, “Many of us, nowadays, seem to believe that a happy future is something impossible to achieve … Happiness can only be discovered as a gift of harmony between the whole and each single component” (“Why the only future worth building includes everyone” by Pope Francis - Moreau FYE Week 7). As Pope Francis describes, happiness requires a harmony between all our different components, our friends, within our lives. So, in order to truly overcome all our obstacles, we must rely on our network of relationships. All in all, a goal without a plan is just a wish. By actively responding to all the failures in our life, we are able to live life to the fullest, and become the truest version of ourselves. Much of my eulogy in Integration 3 relied on this concept of discovering myself. By coming to terms with my own identity, values, and failures, I have become better prepared for the future (“Integration 3” - Moreau FYE Week 8). While responding to failure is often viewed as an individual issue, it undoubtedly needs to be applied to our collective society. Dean Marcus Cole has a similar view on acknowledging https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_position_effect#Recency_effect failures as I do. In his article, he declares that, “It is urgent that we recognize that human rights are under threat all around the world, including here in the United States. This reality must be acknowledged, and addressed. (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 12). But, once we have actually recognized the severity of racism and other social issues in America, we must act on them. In his Hidden Brain podcast, Eitan Hersh notes the necessity of acting on our emotions. He describes the difference between political hobbyism and real politics: “It's whether the emotion is the end in itself or a means to an end. So in short-cut politics, in hobbyism, emotion is the goal…But in real politics, anger, righteous anger and emotion, are something you leverage into action” (“Passion Isn’t Enough” by Eitan Hersh - Moreau FYE Week 11). You cannot treat politics the same as you do sports. In politics, emotions must be channeled into real action, which again aligns with my idea of channeling failure into an opportunity. On another note, one of the biggest problems preventing social progress is our polarized political parties. Yet, everytime I think about America’s political divide, I remember the words of Father Hesburgh. In Week 2, we watched a documentary on Fr. Hesburgh, in which he avidly stated, “In the wake of Vatican II, Catholic universities faced a critical question: Was it possible to be both a great university and Catholic? I believed it was. As long as there was balance… I was entirely devoted to the Church, but I wouldn’t let it stand in the way of education” (“Hesburgh'' by Jerry Barca and Christine O’Malley - Moreau FYE Week 2). Father Hesburgh was a man of unmatchable balance. He balanced Republicans and Democrats, Blacks and Whites, Catholics and non-Catholics. Due to his position as a university president and Catholic priest, Father Hesburgh once again had to find the balance between these opposing forces. I believe it is this mindset of balance that we should approach the political divide in our country. Now that this has all been said, what physical steps can I take to reverse societal failures, such as racism? One way I can help fight racism is by talking about race in an open manner. Dr. Diangelo discusses how to fight “white fragility” in his article, saying, “Socialized into a deeply internalized sense of superiority and entitlement that we are either not consciously aware of or can never admit to ourselves, we become highly fragile in conversations about race” (“Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism” by Robin Diangelo - Moreau FYE Week 10). Being a white person, I have worked to dismantle whatever veil of white fragility looms over me, by simply being very open to conversations about racism. As a member of the greater Notre Dame community, it is important that I support my friends and fellow classmates that suffer from the hatred directed towards marginalized groups. But, as best stated in the words of Fr. Gustavo Gutiérrez, “Solidarity … means not to try to be the voice of the voiceless… This is NOT the goal. The goal should be that those who have no voice today will have a voice and will be heard” (“Teaching Accompaniment: A Learning Journey Together” by Steve Reifenberg - Moreau FYE Week 9). In allyship, we should always stand “next to” or “behind” our friends in support. We should never stand “in front”. With this in mind, I hope to become a better ally of marginalized communities, as we traverse the social and political failures that plague our nation. As I navigate the rest of my life, my mission statement is to acknowledge personal and societal failures and then respond to such failures. All in all, life is short. In Week 3, Moreau, we read about Sister Alethei, the nun obsessed with death. One friend of Sister Alethei says that, “She’s so young and vibrant and joyful and is also reminding us all we’re going to die” (“Meet The Nun Who Wants You to Remember You Will Die” by Ruth Graham - Moreau FYE Week 3). Sister Alethei reminds me that someday, I will die, and thus it is silly at times to moor over the imminent failures of life. We only have a finite time on earth, so we must accept both the failures and achievements that will come. Works Cited Week 1 https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ Week 2 https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=10159379-7eca-4549-858 1-ab9500c9ecd9 Week 3 https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/us/memento-mori-nun.html Week 4 https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ Week 5 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1O35ZwlPhLKTu9ewqg_ae2-V9j8S3MNwb6ZeezBShJA8/ edit Week 6: https://ideas.ted.com/the-right-way-to-be-introspective-yes-theres-a-wrong-way/ Week 7: https://www.ted.com/talks/his_holiness_pope_francis_why_the_only_future_worth_building_inc ludes_everyone/transcript Week 8 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MOdUg_2VL1EBgT-TIkb0xj-PZaaLoxojqelQxxdDXYc/e dit Week 9 https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=10159379-7eca-4549-8581-ab9500c9ecd9 https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=10159379-7eca-4549-8581-ab9500c9ecd9 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/1O35ZwlPhLKTu9ewqg_ae2-V9j8S3MNwb6ZeezBShJA8/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1O35ZwlPhLKTu9ewqg_ae2-V9j8S3MNwb6ZeezBShJA8/edit https://ideas.ted.com/the-right-way-to-be-introspective-yes-theres-a-wrong-way/ 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/document/d/1MOdUg_2VL1EBgT-TIkb0xj-PZaaLoxojqelQxxdDXYc/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1MOdUg_2VL1EBgT-TIkb0xj-PZaaLoxojqelQxxdDXYc/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hZbSdVImfn2hZDqMrdL96dZCNOtHuf6C-lg3sH-Rs30/e dit Week 10 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bdVnfLDrJUJhd-4UtYb_kfRpcFgOoOeY7O1WT8_d3iw/ edit Week 11 https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/passion-isnt-enough/ Week 12: https://law.nd.edu/news-events/news/dean-g-marcus-cole-i-am-george-floyd-except-i-can-breath e-and-i-can-do-something/ Week 13: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BqJgxKwoBE0N6zQA96T61VGRN_H7b4sjXwNbmTtR 1qs/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hZbSdVImfn2hZDqMrdL96dZCNOtHuf6C-lg3sH-Rs30/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hZbSdVImfn2hZDqMrdL96dZCNOtHuf6C-lg3sH-Rs30/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bdVnfLDrJUJhd-4UtYb_kfRpcFgOoOeY7O1WT8_d3iw/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bdVnfLDrJUJhd-4UtYb_kfRpcFgOoOeY7O1WT8_d3iw/edit https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/passion-isnt-enough/ 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://docs.google.com/document/d/1BqJgxKwoBE0N6zQA96T61VGRN_H7b4sjXwNbmTtR1qs/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1BqJgxKwoBE0N6zQA96T61VGRN_H7b4sjXwNbmTtR1qs/edit