Integration 4 April 28, 2022 Finding My Life Well Lived It is my mission to grow my relationship with God through all aspects of my life. I will dedicate everything I do to Him. I am here to make the most of the one life I have been given. My goal is to help others succeed in all that they want to do in life. I am not involved in things for monetary profit. I work to bring joy to people around me and because it is what God would want me to do. I strive to show the world what it means to be a loving Catholic. My relationships with family and friends will be held in the highest regard. I will try to bring people together to heal during times of suffering and help them find ways to move forward after tragic events. The people around me will push me to my mental and physical limits to assist me in becoming the best person I can be. Their knowledge of the world will be used to advance my wisdom. I will be someone that people can count on to stand up for the marginalized when they face adversity. I may not be the face of the movement to help those struggling, but I will always be there to aid them in advancing their cause. I will base my life on the ways that Christ would want me to live and strive everyday to follow His lead. My mission statement will help guide me through the ups and downs of the next three years and the rest of my life. It will lead me to make educated decisions. In today’s world “the ability to gather information, which used to be so crucial, is now far less important than the ability to sift through it” (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week 1). It is important to have all the information before making a decision especially when the decision could impact so many other people around you. https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ My mission statement can also help calm me down when I am stressed about where my life is going. I often think, “Is this really what I’m doing with my life?” (“Hesburgh" Produced by Jerry Barca and Christine O'Malley - Moreau FYE Week 2). By using the tools I have learned this year like reflection and prayer, I can ease my worries and understand that God has a bigger plan for me. It will also help me discover what truly brings me joy because, “happiness changes from moment to moment, day to day. Joy, on the other hand, is much deeper and much more central, it comes from within, and it’s a genuine rightness of how one lives one’s life” (“Three Key Questions" by Fr. Michael Himes - Moreau FYE Week 3). There are many things in life that bring short term happiness, but throughout this year, I have discovered that family and friends are the ones that bring you true joy. Being away from home has been a great experience, but it has also made me appreciate even more the people back home who helped me get to this point. In addition to using my statement to calm me down, it will help me enjoy the process of growing up. I want to view college more as planning for a trip because “usually planning a trip is not a quick process - depending on the nature of the trip - but hopefully it’s also a bit fun and rewarding, especially if you end up having a really great time!” (“Navigating Your Career Journey” by Muerelo Family Center for Career Development - Moreau FYE Week 4). One thing that my oldest brother always tells me is, “You’ve worked so hard to get where you are now, so enjoy the fact that you have achieved your dreams” (Week 5 IrishCompass Activity - Moreau FYE Week 5). That does not mean I should stop working hard, but I do need to sit back and embrace where I am at in life more often. My mission statement can also be used as a constant reminder to help others because I am so blessed. We need to “focus on what we can do for others or what we can do already instead of what we cannot do and what we do not have yet” (“5 Minutes” by Aria Swarr - Moreau FYE https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=10159379-7eca-4549-8581-ab9500c9ecd9 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/40306/modules/17101 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/40306/modules/17101 https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ https://grottonetwork.com/make-an-impact/transform/why-does-god-allow-suffering/ Week 6). We all need each other to make it through this crazy life, “none of us is an island, an autonomous and independent ‘I,’ separated from the other, and we can only build the future by standing together, including everyone” (“Why the only future worth building includes everyone” by His Holiness Pope Francis - Moreau FYE Week 7). The more we help each other, the better the world will be for the generations after us. We need to show younger people how to love everyone no matter how different we are because “children can be incredibly resilient, especially when given structure and love” (“Teaching Accompaniment: A Learning Journey Together” by Professor Steve Reifenberg - Moreau FYE Week 9). Kids will follow our lead and show love if we teach them how. I have also learned this year that we as Christians need to do more than just follow what the Bible tells us. We need to be leaders and show everyone how to treat others. It can be hard at times because it might not be the most popular thing to do, but “One of the essential tests of social justice within any Christian community is its abiding spirit of inclusion” (“The Spirit of Inclusion at Notre Dame” by du lac: A Guide to Student Life, University of Notre Dame - Moreau FYE Week 10). Talking about doing good in the world is not enough. Our actions will always speak louder than our words. I have also learned that the best way to broaden my ideas is to surround myself with people who do not think the same way I do. If I get caught in an echo chamber, then “the worry seems to be that in surrounding ourselves with people who agree with us we're losing our sense of how someone might reasonably disagree” (“How to Avoid an Echo Chamber” by Dr. Paul Blaschko - Moreau FYE Week 11). I do find myself in an echo chamber at times and that makes it harder for me to understand where people are coming from when they disagree with me. That is why “each of us needs to get to know people who differ from us” (“Dean G. Marcus Cole: 'I https://www.ted.com/talks/his_holiness_pope_francis_why_the_only_future_worth_building_includes_everyone/transcript https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hZbSdVImfn2hZDqMrdL96dZCNOtHuf6C-lg3sH-Rs30/edit https://dulac.nd.edu/university-mission-and-vision/spirit-of-inclusion/ https://dulac.nd.edu/university-mission-and-vision/spirit-of-inclusion/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaIVxQcqnLs&t=1s&ab_channel=ThinkND https://law.nd.edu/news-events/news/dean-g-marcus-cole-i-am-george-floyd-except-i-can-breathe-and-i-can-do-something/ am George Floyd. Except, I can breathe. And I can do something.'” by Marcus Cole - Moreau FYE Week 12). Even just meeting people at Notre Dame from different states has opened my eyes to many new things. Notre Dame has definitely changed me in just one short year. I hope my mission statement, just like Notre Dame’s, is inspired by the “three characteristics of Roman Catholicism that image Jesus Christ, his Gospel, and his Spirit” (“The University of Notre Dame Mission Statement” by The University of Notre Dame - Moreau FYE Week 13). While my mission statement is one useful tool, I still believe the best way to live a life well lived is to live like Jesus would want us to and always help out others whenever possible. 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://www.nd.edu/about/mission/ https://www.nd.edu/about/mission/