Moreau FYE
Maria Finan
04/29/2022


Chasing The Good Life

Personally, I believe that it is my obligation as a Notre Dame student to always act with good-natured intent within my capabilities while still allowing myself time to pursue my own social, creative and professional interests. Guided by my Catholic faith, I will continually seek to honor the idea that a life unexamined is not a life worth living. The fact that we are born into this world truly knowing nothing is a virtue since it allows us free will and the chance to validate and establish our own beliefs. I aim to continually promulgate constant change and scholarship and force my beliefs and academic pursuits to continually evolve and move ever closer to creating a future where I can have a genuine impact on both myself and my community, while also allowing myself the proper time and outlets to nurture my mind and soul. That is my definition of a life well-lived. 
“Half the confusion in the world comes from not knowing how little we need.” ("Why we need to slow down our lives" by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week One). At a campus like Notre Dame, it is quite easy to get lost in the big picture; surrounded by the most extra over-achievers and a campus that constantly pressures you to be a huge force for good in the world, the pressure to learn, achieve and create impact for others around you is massive. While honorable and something that I fully intend to pursue through my studies of Economics and Statistics, I must also acknowledge the fact that I am beyond blessed to be able to live this life that I am experiencing. Not many get this opportunity, to attend such an elite and privileged university in which academia and service are mutually tied to each other in all aspects of its education. Knowing how to be a force for good is a difficult question though, and one which I’ve given much thought to by asking myself  “What dream jobs truly attract you?” (Meruelo Family Center for Career Development - Moreau FYE Week 4).  My dream job is not quite known yet, but I do know that I intend to go into the finance field. It may be a seemingly cold and money-hungry field, but I also fully intend to give back to both my community and future scholars through philanthropy and education. Whatever salary I make while in the Investment Banking field, I plan to donate at least 30% of to charitable causes, and after 10-15 years in the field, I plan to pursue a career in education, as a professor, teaching the next generation once my prime has ended. It is my goal in the future to make “students feel empowered to create change in their communities using the skills, knowledge, and confidence gained through their [studies]” (Domer Dozen - Moreau FYE Experience Week 2). I align with this mission right now personally as a student and will seek to push the limits of how much I can truly learn and challenge myself to create vehicles for change within myself within these next 3 years on campus so that I do eventually end up giving back to my community in the ways I intend to. These are lofty goals, however, and the fear of failure to do so constantly plagues me, which though at times motivates me, also often paralyzes me. Thus, I turn to another one of the University’s pillars, which is “[e]ncouraging a way of living consonant with a Christian [mindset].” (the University of Notre Dame Mission Statement - Moreau FYE Week 13). How can one balance and employ the idea of “slowing down” in their lives consistently on a campus-wide level at Notre Dame, a community, that while progressive and service-based to the students, fosters high academic pressures and stresses to constantly perform and succeed? I thus turn to my faith in order to keep me grounded and focused on my mission to achieve and succeed by allowing myself time to rest by exploring pursuits that go beyond my professional and academic interests. ’Keeping the Sabbath — doing nothing for a while — is one of the hardest things in life for me” ("Why we need to slow down our lives" by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week One). I found this quote very relatable, as I too suffer from this constant fixation on being productive or having a sense of doing. In one sense, the fact that anxiety washes over me whenever I’m not doing anything is helpful since it will often force me into being productive, but I need to do better with creating an off switch for it in order to allow myself to be comfortable with taking breaks from always having my mind occupied by something else. Whether that’s allowing time to my interest in the several cultural clubs on campus such as FASO or BFAYO, or simply joining my dorm’s interhall team, I need to feel more comfortable in allowing myself to engage with my community in a way that is not only academic. I have already greatly struggled with this, and my mental health has suffered; I have dealt with issues of self-harm and suicidal thoughts before due to this fear of healthily wavering from my mission at times. Due to this inner conflict, I have asked myself over and over, “How can I mobilize my own suffering into a vehicle that creates positive change and support for others?” (QQC Week 6 - Moreau FYE Week 6). It is because I have survived and overcame my own suffering that I believe that “Suffering and death are facts of life: ‘Everyone dies, their bodies rot, and every face becomes a skull.’” (Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble - Moreau FYE Week 3); I know I will suffer, and I know that I will one day die, but before that day comes, I know that it will not be by my hands and that I will accomplish the things I want to do before I die. I will thus do everything in my power it takes to succeed, which includes taking care of myself.  While doing the discernment conversational activity with my sister, she told me, “I know that you really value independence and setting yourself to a high standard, always seeking to do the best you can do, but sometimes what you end up seeking is perfection, and always aspiring to that high mark tends to put you in positions of isolation and suffering. It’s ok to rely on others and to communicate when you need help or when you need to come back down to earth because if you want to.” (QQC - Flor Radilla - Moreau FYE Week 5). Relying on others for support will nurture both my mind and soul, and will allow me to move past the chains of nearsightedness that suffering has caused for me in the past by giving me hope for a better tomorrow. Ultimately, “Hope is the virtue of a heart that doesn't lock itself into darkness, that doesn't dwell on the past, does not simply get by in the present, but is able to see a tomorrow” (His Holiness Pope Francis -  Moreau FYE Week 7). That better tomorrow though, cannot be realized by simply improving one’s own life, but rather can only truly materialize by also “Looking beyond your immediate concerns [and] showing compassion and accompanying one another.” (Teaching Accompaniment- A Learning Journey Together, Steve Reifenberg–Moreau FYE Week 9). One of the big goals I hope to achieve on campus is contributing to fighting to promote a better spirit of inclusion and fraternity among the student body on campus. Currently, though Notre Dame praises the spirit of inclusion, I truly believe that the sentiment is not shared by all members of the student body on campus. However, just because there is still work to be done doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t fight harder than ever to promote the “spirit of inclusion” on campus. (QQC Week 10 / Notre Dame Student Mission - Moreau FYE Week 10, Week 13). The ultimate aim should be to, as disciples of Jesus, “stand side by side with all people” (Constitutions of the Congregations of Holy Cross - Moreau FYE Week 12). This is a really common principle that often gets overlooked due to how much it is seen within Catholic messaging and cast aside as cliche, however, it is, in my eyes, the most important tenet of the Catholic faith. Generalizing Catholic belief by zooming into our own community, which is largely Catholic, the University praises a spirit of inclusion that aims to welcome all, however, many on this campus, faculty and student alike, hold intolerant views towards other people that directly contradict the principle of standing side by side with all people. Whether issues of racial disparity, classism, LGBTQ+ rights, not all on this campus and all within the larger faith respect and honor this message, which has been a large deterrent to positive change and a sense of unity, both within our campus and society at large. I have felt the negative effects of these views, as well as shared in and heard stories of others just like me. Criticized for sexual orientation. Looked down upon for socioeconomic standing. Belittled or dismissed for the genuine challenges faced as a person of color. It prevents a true sense of belonging and comfort necessary in order to capacitate true brothership among society, as the hate and intolerance spewed by these views only breed further hate and intolerance by the victims of their negative effects. In our current society, plagued by issues of polarization and worsening societal intolerance, “from the workings of city government to the battle for the presidency, [our societal focuses] are increasingly distant from the actual needs of citizens”. (Passion Isn’t Enough by Hidden Brain Media - Moreau FYE Week 11). While I myself cannot change the campus culture, much less our society as a whole, I can work to be a scholar who works to obtain knowledge both by way of perception and further validate that knowledge by way of healthy skepticism. I will ultimately gain an academic understanding that fosters empathy and a willingness to accept all those who stand before me on this campus, making everyone that I come in contact with feel accepted and heard so that I can contribute my small part to making this campus a better place and a better haven of academic progress and societal change, thus leading my own version of a life well-lived.