Moreau Capstone Integration
Father Kevin

The End All be All

Arrives at Duncan Hall first day of the semester… *blinks my eyes* writing this Moreau final paper at the end of my second semester at Notre Dame. It is crazy how fast this first year at Notre Dame went. I’m scared that these four years at this wonderful institution will pass by before I know it and I will then have to face the real world. 

Before I went to my first Moreau class back in the first semester, I knew that this class would be something that I would love. A class at more of a slower pace, where reflection is the most important aspect of it. Back in high school, I had a class extremely similar to Moreau: Respective Spiritual Being (RSB). And although I liked to learn more of the more academic subjects like Physics, Computer Science, and Mathematics; I just remembered that the RSB class that I had back in high school was probably one of the most important classes I took. It also meant the most to me. 

Never in my life have I really had the chance to just sit down and reflect on what has happened in my life. Growing up in the biggest city in the world meant that I would continuously have to be moving, be doing something. Most of the time the activities that I had to do was not even optional, all of them were mandatory. And that meant that I did not have a lot of time to myself, let alone reflect upon myself. 

Throughout this second semester, I learned something that is probably the most important thing I have discovered so far. And that is that, you only live once, so take full advantage of it. Back in high school or middle school I definitely knew that this discovery existed, but only in this past year at college did I realize how little time I have at this specific point in life. I’m glad that I discovered this breakthrough in my life at this specific point I’m in right now. Even though it is quite late, I’m glad to have discovered it now. Now I understand why when the high school alumni back in Shanghai’s only advice when they came back and visited was to enjoy high school and make the most out of it. 

But, growing up in an Asian household honestly limited the ability to do that. There was always a consensus that doing a lot of academic work and working on the typical hard skills were more important. I’m glad that I went to an international school in shanghai though, as during the school hours I was able to work on a lot of my soft skills - those that are important in the real world. And when I got my Hesburgh-Yusko and Greater China Scholars scholarship, I realized how much people appreciated the leadership one may have, and other soft skills in the world.

When I was introduced to the scholarships, specifically the Hesburgh-Yusko one, I finally understood how important leadership and service are in this world. Growing up, the main goal that a child in Asia may have is to have a stable future. But slowly, I discovered that working in such a big corporate company and making a steady six figures wasn’t that important. The more important things like service were the things that could really change the world. (Week 1 QQC, how have I embarked as a student on my college journey) Yes, I want to make a change in the world, but that can only start through acts of service and just awareness of the world. And even in this second semester, I experienced the same thing where I wanted to work at Tiffany and Co this summer, a more corporate structured company. But as I went through more interviews with different companies, I figured out that working at Tiffany and Co would not impact that many people, thus this is why I wanted to choose a company called Copia. What they do is connect restaurants and hotels (hospitality industry companies) with food banks and homeless shelters, and they also use analytics to advise how much food should be purchased in the first place. This is something that I know would definitely make an impact on a population. This is what makes me happy, is good for my mental health, and I’m not lying to myself about this cause. (Week 3 Reflection, The three questions) Through this, I realized I wanted to make a social impact more than one in the corporate world. What is the point of helping the already rich people, when the gap between the rich and the poor just keeps on increasing? This is something my grandma has always told me to do. She has been a mentor of mine since the day I was born. She used to always tell me that she grew up eating plain rice and plain bread for meals. She has always emphasized the importance of serving others and putting others before yourself. (Week 4 Reflection, Mentors) But at least I now understand this concept. That itself would take up quite a bit of courage to realize. “So it's perfectly natural to have doubts, or questions, or even just difficulties. The question is, what do you do with them? Do you suppress them, do you distract yourself from them, do you pretend they don't exist? Or do you confront them directly, honestly, courageously?” - Deresiewicz, Week 7. 


I’m extremely glad that I chose to come to Notre Dame. This holistic education is something that I believe no other school offers. The ability to grow as a Notre Dame student speaks more measures than the ability to grow up as a Harvard student. And it shows in statistics too. More Notre Dame business students are recruited by the big three business companies than those coming from the “grand” Ivy Leagues. And I wouldn’t say Notre Dame is the perfect school, specifically in the lack of diversity and education in the different cultures around the world. I’ve dealt with racist remarks, and I still believe as stated in my Week 5 Reflection, that the modern-day Frankenstein is racism. And I realized that as soon as I came to Notre Dame on my first day here. When the admission officers at the presentation kept emphasizing and being proud that this year’s Notre Dame class is the most diverse. It was almost like they were boasting about it when honestly it isn’t that impressive compared to other institutions.

But I won’t lie, Notre Dame is Notre Dame for its amazing community here. And that was a big reason why I chose to come here. There is never a moment when you can be lonely when you’re not deliberately trying to be alone. There is not a moment where you cannot gain the support you need at the specific moment. And when I was at my lowest points, specifically in my heartbreak introspection reimagined phase, I knew that I could reach out to anyone and receive the support I needed. (Week 6 QQC, Introspection Reimagined) However, something that must be mentioned is the fact that a lot of people, especially men with their toxic masculinity try to hide the fact that they are dealing with a lot of mental issues. Some often think that they can deal with it themselves but end up struggling. “The evidence says they do not. A large-scale survey of college freshmen recently found that self-reports of emotional well-being have fallen to their lowest level in the twenty-five-year history of the study.” - Deresiewicz, Week 1. The quote just stated just goes to show that it is statistically proven that a lot of college students are struggling with mental health. This is something that I hope Notre Dame does do a better job of doing. The students are already doing enough to help one another but it is time that the school itself does too. 

The crazy thing about how I discovered the university that I now can somewhat call home was through my ex-girlfriend. She goes here and is currently a sophomore. And she reached out to me during my college application process and recommended I look into a specific program here. That was the business analytics program here and that is currently one of the two majors I will be pursuing here at Notre Dame. And although we broke up a long time ago, we still maintained as friends. “The beauty of using accompaniment is in 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.” - Reifenberg. She was someone that would accompany me whenever I needed her to help me through anything. She was my best friend before we dated, and I would still call her someone that is extremely meaningful to me - even today. She was the person that would put her things aside and accompany me through my problems. (Week 10 Reflection, Accompagnateur). 

I love it here, this is my home under the dome. I can’t even go back home this summer, but being at Notre Dame brought me a family that is irreplaceable. Thank you Father Kevin for being a mentor that absolutely means a lot to me. You were honestly the person that was able to make the transition to Notre Dame feel super easy, and I appreciate that. I’m glad I’m here, and I wouldn’t change a thing.