W8 Integration Life’s a Journey to Leave Your Mark Today we gather with sadness in our hearts to remember the life of . However, she wouldn’t want today to be filled with darkness, rather she would want today to be a joyful remembrance of who she was, and that’s why I stand in front of you today. To remind you all of Sarah’s life and how she managed to leave a mark on each and every one of us. I want to start off with a quote by Fr. Greg Boyle: “We discover our true selves in love” (Tattoos on the Heart, Fr. Boyle, Moreau FYE W7). To me this quote screams Sarah’s name as she showed us what it means to be loved without judgment. From an early age, Sarah always was making friends with those she encountered. She made people feel seen and heard because she knew what it was like to once feel alone and invisible. When she was in 8th grade, she lost her close circle of friends and that stuck with her. So during her time at Notre Dame, she eagerly set out to foster friendships and find her place. I know some of her college friends are gathered with us now and can recall the day they first met Sarah. It was during the chaotic Welcome Weekend that Sarah met her two best friends to this day, Spencer and Gracie, who helped Sarah enter very positive relationships. During her time at Notre Dame, Sarah also made it her goal to be actively involved around campus in clubs and organizations. Sarah’s college experience seems to be inspired by the idea that “the only way to know more about yourself is to test the waters - just get out there and experience life!” (Navigating your Career Journey, Center for Career Development, Moreau FYE W4). That is exactly what Sarah did. In an effort to explore her identity, she took advantage of many new opportunities to learn about herself and not let the college experience pass her by. For instance, some of her fondest memories include cheering on the football team at every home game, joining Compassionate Care in Medicine club, and meeting new friends in all her classes. https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/40253/modules/items/167944 https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ Sarah’s life was also characterized by her constant pursuit of knowledge. She wished to learn so that she could teach those around her, and that played a big role in her involvement in service during high school. Throughout high school, Sarah became a member of a service organization tutoring refugee students in downtown Chicago. This experience connected her to those in need of educational assistance and helped her in finding her passion to give back to her community. She always remembered the young boy, Amir, that she met at the library and the conversations they had. As she taught him math and how to read and write, he left her with touching stories about how he’d come to America seeking a new, safer life but also missed back home. In this way, Sarah was learning from him just as much as he was learning from her, and she found the value in unexpected relationships. During her academic career at ND, she dove into challenging classes with an open mind and was determined to succeed despite the possibility of failure. Although her classes presented her with obstacles to hurdle, she recognized that there was support available. She learned that vulnerability was okay, and within just a short period she was already forming a relationship with her organic chemistry professor. That class in particular presented her with challenges, yet she was able to overcome them through her self-advocacy and the ways she sought out help. As you can imagine in her younger years, Sarah was a busy young woman. However, in the wise words of Pico Lyer, “it’s precisely those who are busiest who most need to give themselves a break” (Why we need to slow down our lives, Pico lyer, Moreau FYE W1). Even though Sarah was accomplished, the business of her life led her to struggle with anxiety since she didn’t give herself a break at times. However, through these moments, Sarah began to realize the importance of seeking balance and finding time to pause and rest. This was a primary reason Sarah became so invested in the Active Minds club at Notre Dame which tries to spread awareness about the https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ realities of mental health disorders. She didn’t want people to have to struggle alone and was determined to encourage those around her to prioritize their well-being. She had many conversations with her RA Maryann at the end of her hall regarding the ways she could implement new practices into her life to relieve stress. The weekly “Tuesday tea time” was a routine Sarah looked forward to every week as it allowed her to relax after a long day and practice self care and compassion with Maryann along with other girls in her hall. Sarah also had a liveliness similar to that of Notre Dame’s Fr. Hesburgh. Inspired by the ways that Fr. Hesburgh left his mark on Notre Dame and beyond, Sarah strove to leave her mark as well. She took inspiration from the following words of Fr. Hesburgh: “We need a systemic change. One man isn’t going to solve the world’s problems; we need to unite together” (Hesburgh, Jerry Barca, Moreau FYE W2). Sarah clearly felt compelled to make the world a better place. She felt like she carried a responsibility to work for change, and so she united alongside others, specifically to promote sustainability. At Notre Dame, for instance, she joined GreeND in an attempt to educate fellow students on how they could become more eco-friendly. When I think of Sarah, what immediately comes to mind is her smile and her ability to make me laugh. She wished to brighten people’s days and touch others with positivity. Her grandfather once told her, “You light up the world whether you realize it or not” and sometimes that was hard for her to believe (Discernment Conversation Activity, Moreau FYE W5). However, family was everything to Sarah, so she was greatly touched by those words from her grandpa and took them to heart. From a young age, Sarah always talked about one day building a family of her own. She cherished the time she spent with family and made so many memories growing up alongside her three siblings. However, when her grandma died during her senior year in high school, it really left Sarah feeling alone. She felt as though she couldn’t move on in a https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=10159379-7eca-4549-8581-ab9500c9ecd9 world with her grandma no longer in it. But Sarah soon began to live by the motto, “It’s actually in facing the darkest realities that we find light in them” (Meet the nun who wants you to remember you will die, Sr. Aletheia, Moreau FYE W3). After that hardship, Sarah began to see the world differently and encouraged others to do the same. She no longer feared the ups and downs in life, but transformed difficult events into opportunities for growth. As I’ve previously mentioned, Sarah saw the world through a positive lens, but that wasn’t always easy. Growing up in a relatively competitive environment both socially and academically, Sarah often struggled with self-doubt. She felt like she lacked certain skills when comparing herself to others. However, that also changed after Sarah came across Dr. Jihoon Kim’s story, where he reflected on his life following an accident that left him paralyzed. He once said, “I encourage all of us to just focus on what we can do already instead of what we do not yet have” (“Five Minutes,” Aria Swarr, Moreau FYE W6). Sarah lived her life with that same energy and overcame many obstacles down the road by adopting that mindset. She no longer looked at herself in terms of what she couldn’t do but reminded herself of all the blessings she did have. I hope my words today have spoken to the essence of Sarah, and I hope my words have been a reminder of the impact that Sarah’s life had on so many others. To me, Sarah’s life serves as a symbol for a life well-lived and sets an example for others to follow in her footsteps. Sarah will be remembered for how she made others feel and how she treated those around her. She will always be remembered for her open-mindedness and her compassion. She was a friend to everyone she met in all types of different relationships. When confronted with challenges, she leaned to family and wasn’t afraid to ask for help. But above all, Sarah’s life was characterized by her willingness to promote change, and she will continue to be remembered for how she made a difference in our lives. 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 Thank you and god bless. Writing this eulogy forced me to reflect on what I’ve done in my life up until this point, and it also made me really think about who I want to become and how I might achieve a life well-lived. For me, a life well-lived means surrounding yourself with those you love and care about while also finding connections with those you might least expect. In God and the Good Life, which I took last semester, I was also challenged to think about what constitutes an ideal life. After taking that course, I started to question how I can achieve happiness and fulfillment in my daily habits, and I came to the conclusion that it was through spreading love and fostering community that I felt my best and found purpose. With this in mind, I want to continue to grow as an individual through the rest of the semester, and one goal I have set for myself is to join a club that I wouldn’t have previously considered. I have never really been one to be super creative, but I would love to join a club such as Arts Under the Dome. I also hope to show more support for the organizations and sports teams on campus that may not receive as much recognition because I want to bring the Notre Dame community even closer. So, I would love to attend a tennis match or go to one of the dance company productions, which some of my friends are involved in. I also am deeply interested in wanting to better promote my mental health, and I am currently working towards journaling before bed as a way to practice gratitude. I hope to keep this practice going moving forward. Lastly, as we have focused a lot on discernment this semester, I challenge myself to think more seriously about what I want to do, career-wise. I know I want to do something in medicine, but this semester I really want to learn more about research opportunities within the Neuroscience major so I can explore possible interests and fields of study. Have a great break!