cunanue Moreau Capston Moreau FYE Prof. Retartha 29, April 2022 Looking backward to better look forward to the future After the completion of my Freshman year at Notre Dame, I have discovered my personal mission statement to be: My objective is to provide a good example for my siblings, peers, and friends. I'll try to stay ahead of the curve since being prepared reduces the danger of failure. I will strive to be a shoulder on which anybody can rely because being reliable assures that people close to you can overcome any difficulty and fosters more meaningful trustworthiness. As a sibling, middle kid, and responsible friend, this should be my first act. I want to help ensure that the engineers of Notre Dame can always be viewed as overqualified for any task at hand, for being an engineer is to be a universal problem solver. Engineers should always be able to tackle any situation with logic to eventually end at an equally logical solution. My aim for each day is to finish a to-do list. I value completing my objectives swiftly so that I may enjoy a healthy state of mind, workout to my heart's delight, and be happy with what I have achieved by the time my head hits the pillow. As a responsible student, I prioritize my responsibilities as a student. I respect my campus community and will always contribute by working hard in clubs, demonstrating school pride, and setting a good example for others. I aim to be as competitive with my peers as possible, not out of malice, but to ensure that we all give our utmost in our positions. To maintain my role as a student healthy, I must make it a daily priority to complete all assignments on time. My own freedom of choice and the right to exercise that freedom are important to me. I will accept responsibility for all decisions; hence, I will strive to do my best in all I do in order to live a life without regrets, or with the fewest number of regrets. I prefer not to blame my circumstances since I had the freedom of choice, capacity, and work ethic to live a healthy, stress-free, and productive life. Writing my personal mission statement at the end of Freshman year has had the most positive impact on me as I reflect on all my experiences to be able to better understand who I am and, more importantly, who I want to be. The result of all that introspection is the personal mission statement above that encompasses all important aspects of my life that I value the most to continue strengthening. The topics covered in Moreau this semester also helped refine my mission statement through its focus on helping me understand what a life well-lived is to me through proper self-reflection. What I had learned this semester in Moreau was helping me the moment I sat down to write my personal mission statement as I found the most isolated corner on the second floor of the Hesburgh Library for my body and mind to experience the space to properly reflect on myself. “The need for an empty space, a pause, is something we have all felt in our bones; it’s the rest in a piece of music that gives it resonance and shape.” (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Lyer - Moreau FYE Week One) Once I had acquired the correct environment to write a personal mission statement in, the words flowed smoothly onto the document, beginning with my driving force in life. While I understand the value of selfishness, in so far as its the internal drive to succeed beyond others, what truly motivates me has to be those around me. I came to the conclusion that although I sometimes fail at it, I want to be an example for my friends and family. This is to not only make myself happier but because I believe it to be a responsibility an older sibling such as myself has to guide his younger siblings to succeed beyond even him. Also being an example for friends has personally led to some of the greatest personal growth I have experienced during Freshman year. By constantly pursuing to be the version of myself that most benefits those I care about, I am also striving to become who I want to be once I graduate from Notre Dame. Beyond just being an example, I want to be dependable. https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ Trustworthiness is something that I dearly value. My mother ingrained the value of trust in a relationship to me early on. She would always base our own relationship on trust, constantly highlighting that life is just easier if those around you can depend on you. For my personal mission statement I went even deeper than that. I explicitly wrote why that trust was so crucial to me: friends and family. I have to ensure that I am always able to be trusted upon; always have my head above the water so that I can help any friend or family rise to the top if they are ever sinking into despair. This level of trust is what motivates me to work a lot of times because I do not want to become the person whos family looses trust in him. Next up in my personal mission statement refers to how I define myself: an engineer at Notre Dame. I added this section because I was remind of a quote from my Week 11 QQC, “[W]e should be intentional to the information we expose ourselves to; seeking out intelligent people with whom we disagree and attempting to fully understand their arguments.” (How to avoid an echo chamber by ThinkND - Moreau FYE Week Eleven) The foundation of engineering is to intellectually challenge yourself with your peers, and part of that process is to disagree with each other until the answer is found. This part of my personal mission statement, I wanted to remind myself that as an engineer, I will be pushing myself intellectually harder than I ever have before because if I do not, then I am tarnishing the pedigree of the degree I want to receive in three years. One of the most important parts of my personal mission statement describes what my daily goal should be: complete as much as I can from my To Do List. while I always have a list on my desk that tells me what work, academic and personal, I have to do, I sometimes push it aside by not thinking in the longterm. By focusing on my daily responsibilities in my personal mission statement, I hope to achieve better mental and physical health, as well as be able to live https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaIVxQcqnLs&t=1s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaIVxQcqnLs&t=1s in the momemnt more when I have free time. I was constantly thinking about Memento Mori from the Week Three QQC that brought about in a sense of urgency to finish my work so that I could live the life I want to before its too late. The quote, “My life is going to end, and I have a limited amount of time. We naturally tend to think of our lives as kind of continuing and continuing.” especially reminds me of that fact that all assignments have due dates as well. I cannot live so in the moment, I forget about how I want to achieve my goals. (Meet the nun who wants you to remember you will die by Ruth Graham, NY Times-Moreau FYE Week Three) The last two paragraphs of my personal mission statement focus on my dedication to living a comfortable and enjoyable life in the long run. I remind myself of my duties as a student here at Notre Dame and the quality of work that position demands of me. I want to be able to look at my life as positively as possible, doing so requires me to realize that work cannot be viewed so negatively. Especially at a Catholic institution like Notre Dame, I frequently have to tell myself of how thankful I am for even being able to be a student. I was reminded of my quote from my Week Six QQC, “So as I began just thanking God and be more positive about the things that I had already, I was able to do things more gladly, and with gratitude and joy and hope.” It reminded me that I should not take my lie as a student for granted and should appreciate everything it has to offer so that I can be proud of overcoming obstacles and enjoy all the non rigorous moments of college life. (5 Minutes by Aria Swarr -Moreau FYE Week Six) A comfortable life also requires me to be truthful with myself. The last paragraph of my personal mission statement serves to motivate me to take life by the horns. How far I will fly in life is only truly dependent on one person: me. There is no excuse for not working hard enough to achieve your goals, and I know my mission statement will help me surpass even the goals I have today. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/us/memento-mori-nun.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/us/memento-mori-nun.html https://grottonetwork.com/make-an-impact/transform/why-does-god-allow-suffering/?utm_source=moreau&utm_medium=class&utm_campaign=spring_2022