Peggy Hnatusko
Moreau FYE
29 April 2022
The Intertwining of my Personal Mission Statement with Notre Dame’s
	It’s difficult to for me to imagine that the semester’s almost over. I can still recall the first few weeks and months where I was still uncertain of how the semester and year was going to go. I couldn’t imagine spending an entire four years here at Notre Dame. Somehow though, the first year has already passed. Although it felt fast, it was by no means forgettable. The experiences I’ve had this year and the wonderful people I’ve met through classes, extracurriculars, and day-to-day life have had a huge impact on who I am and what I aspire to do in the next three years. Being here has made me realize that I want to spend my life breaking expectations, creating meaningful relationships, recognizing and improving on my shortcomings, and standing up for what’s right. Hopefully, these goals will result in tangible actions and results, even if it may be difficult to strive towards these goals at times. However, the people I’ve met at Notre Dame have been great accompaniment and the experiences I’ve had have provided great insight and inspired me to live my life to the fullest in the following years. 
	So, what exactly is my personal mission statement? For one, I want to be able to break expectations. I don’t want to able to be defined by a label or a simple phrase. I want to become somebody that does revolutionary things. For example, Father Hesburgh broke the norms that others had set for him at the time. “He did a lot of things that people thought of as not particularly “priest-y”; he was entrepreneurial” (Hesburgh directed by Patrick Creadon – Moreau FYE Week Two). Similarly, I don’t want to “just” be a student or an engineer, but rather a more well-rounded individual who can do lots of different things. Notre Dame’s holistic education this year has helped me realize that. Another thing I want to accomplish is to form meaningful connections. A conversation with one of my friends in week five made me realize that I could greatly influence people with my words and actions. “One thing that stretched my awareness of myself was how much I could influence the people around me without even realizing it” (Week Five Discernment Conversation Activity – Moreau FYE Week Five). This shows that people can have huge influences over one another, so I want to become a positive influence for others as well as learn and grow from other people’s unique experiences. My next goal, recognizing and improving on my shortcomings, comes from my reflections on writing the previous Integration assignment. I realized that for me, a life well-lived involves, “a life without any regrets” (“Integration Three” by  – Moreau FYE Week Eight) which means that I must be able to identify and improve upon my mistakes. Without being able to acknowledge my shortcomings, I could spend the rest of my life with flawed mindsets/biases and never be able to correct them, which would be a huge regret in my life. Finally, my last goal involves standing up for what’s right. I believe that with the education that I’ve received and the resources I’ve been given, I have a responsibility to do what’s right. “While my education and position do not grant me immunity from racial violence, they do place me in a position to do something about it.” (“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 Twelve). I think this quote sums up my last goal well, and I think it’s an important ideal to have. 
	With all these goals, how can I tell if I’m accomplishing/working towards accomplishing any of these? A lot of these are intangible, long-term, slowly progressing ideals. Although this might be the case, I think that there are lots of ways that myself and others can see progress toward these goals. For one, my goals will involve joining larger communities and working well with large groups of people. To create meaningful change in the world and form strong relationships, it will obviously involve large groups of people. This idea is reciprocated in a reading in week seven, where it says, “Alone, they didn’t have much, but together, they had a potful of plenty” (“Chapter 8: Jurisdiction” by Fr. Greg Boyle, S.J. – Moreau FYE Week Seven). This demonstrates that great things can only happen if lots of people are on the same page. Another thing that change requires is a lack of conflict. I feel that too often, people are caught up in being right. Tons of movements and people have this attitude of it’s “us” versus “them” when really, everybody is needed to inspire change. This can be seen in Dr. Blaschko’s example about politics where he says, “If they actually wanted to participate in politics seriously, they would go about this all differently. Instead of hating the other side, they would say, 'Hm, is this a neighbor that I can convince in my direction?'" (“Big Questions 2, Part 4: How to Avoid an Echo Chamber” by Dr. Paul Blaschko – Moreau FYE Week Eleven). From this, I’ve realized that a clear way that I can see myself working towards my goals is to talk with people rationally about points of conflict and aim to resolve them, not prove that I’m right and they’re wrong. Doing that only leads to more conflict and distrust, as history has repeatedly shown in the past. Finally, one last way that I can clearly see myself working towards these goals is to take a step back and focus on the bigger picture. Too often we get caught up in the details and we miss what actually matters. This is an ideal I developed in week one of Moreau, where Iyer says, “It’s only by stepping farther back and standing still that we can begin to see what that canvas (which is our life) really means, and to take in the larger picture” (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer – Moreau FYE Week One). So basically, realistic ways of working toward my larger goals are to form connections and work with larger communities, aim to avoid conflict and creating two different, opposing sides, and to focus on the larger issues at hand. Doing these things are some ways that my goals can be accomplished in noticeable ways.
	However, these things are much easier said than done. If it was really that easy to create change and accomplish these goals in a few days, they wouldn’t be my personal mission statements; they’d be done already. One thing that’s hard to do for me is to stay motivated and positive. The video in week six was very inspiring where he says, “So I encourage all of us to just 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 Week Six). However, I find that it’s difficult to always remain productive and optimistic. Especially with the ongoing pandemic and all the crazy stuff that’s been happening recently, it’s difficult to stay focused a lot of the times. Also, a lot of things that I want to change and stand up for is difficult to change. One issue I’m really passionate about is racial prejudice and discrimination, but I realize that it’s so hard to address this issue. A lot of cases of prejudice aren’t reported and people get away with it on a regular basis. However, the main problem is that there’s systemic racism that’s been institutionalized into a lot of different places, which is hard to change. It takes time, and a lot of people don’t even realize/acknowledge that it’s an issue. Reading week ten’s source about racism was very enlightening, as D’Angelo talks about his personal experiences and remarks, “This distinction — between individual prejudice and a system of unequal institutionalized racial power — is fundamental” (“Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism” by Dr. Robin D’Angelo – Moreau FYE Week Ten). So, a lot of the things I want to change are difficult to do and requires everyone to play a part in helping out. Another thing that may be an obstacle in reaching my goals is just the daily stress of everyday life. It seems there’s always something that has be done and a ton of smaller things that all add up. However, as I talked about before, I have be able to step back and look at the bigger picture. I think a great way to do this comes from a reading in week three, where Graham says, “The concept is to intentionally think about your own death every day, as a means of appreciating the present and focusing on the future” (“Meet the nun who wants you to remember you will die” by Ruth Graham – Moreau FYE Week Three). Basically, there are lots of obstacles I’ll have to overcome to reach my goals. I have to stay productive and optimistic, combat deeply rooted systems or prejudice, focus on the bigger picture, and much, much more. Again, if it were so easy to reach these goals, I would’ve accomplished them already. It’s only because it’s hard that I need to work even harder to accomplish them.
	Being at Notre Dame this past year has been wonderful, and it’s both confirmed and challenged a lot of values I’ve had for a long time. “Every experience shapes you in some way, whether you realize it at the time or not!” (“Navigating Your Career Journey – Moreau First Year Experience Course” by Muerelo Family Center for Career Development – Moreau FYE Week Four). I think this has been especially true at Notre Dame. From classes to classmates to instructors to clubs to dorm life, there has been so much to take in and experience. I’ve learned a lot and my views have been challenged a lot this past year. However, Notre Dame is such a renowned university because of the people that it’s comprised of. Just from this one year, I’ve made so many connections and tight friendships that I’m sure will continue to affect me for the rest of my life. “Accompaniment reframes the idea that we’re working to help people “over there,” in recognition of the fact that “over there” and “here” are intertwined” (“Teaching Accompaniment: A Learning Journey Together” by Professor Steve Reifenburg – Moreau FYE Week Nine). Hopefully, the people I’ve met in Keenan Hall, the classmates I see in class, the friends I hang out with, and the club members that I see at practice every week will accompany me through the next three years. 
	Again, I feel extremely blessed to be a part of this campus and to be able to partake in this community. This year has seriously made me reflect on who I am and what I want to do with my life, and I hope that this somewhat ramble-y reflection has clarified my goals for the next three years. I can’t wait for what’s in store in the future. Even though I’m sure it’ll come with its fair share of struggles, I’m still looking forward to it.