: A Candle At some point, everyone wonders what will be said about them after their death. I am no different. However, never have I wondered so hard as I did after completing the Moreau Week 5 Curriculum. For the week’s assignment, students were asked to question a loved one about the student’s goals, motivations, and ideals. I talked with my mother. I found I was not happy with all of her answers and began to question whether I was presenting myself the way I wanted to be viewed. To confirm, I followed up with my grandfather. In a lot of ways, his answers were very similar to my mother’s. In the resulting period of self-reflection, I looked both backward and forwards in the Moreau curriculum to try to answer the question of how I want to be remembered. Like everyone, I know I want to live, as the curriculum states, a “life well-lived”, but to do that, first I have to answer the question of what makes a life well-lived. Looking back through the weeks gave me my answer. For Week 2, I watched Father Hesburgh’s documentary. I found that it was easy to list Father Hesburgh’s friends and say that Father Hesburgh lived a life well lived because he achieved fame and success. Upon reflection, though, I think that is more accurate to say that he lived a life well lived in spite of his fame and success. It is difficult to stay true under the pressure that results from the type of positions Father Hesburgh occupied, but he shows it’s possible. Also for Week 2, I had to choose an alumnus awarded a place in ND’s yearly Domer Dozen. I choose Nate Alexander who earned his place in 2020’s Domer Dozen due to his work shortening the time it takes to transfer organs from the donor to the hospital. Mr. Alexander, with his work, enables the goodwill of others by maximizing the organs a donor is able to give. I personally know the effect of organ donation. Mr. Alexander is responsible for radical change in the recipients’ quality of life. He gives them hope and, oftentimes, a future. In Week 7, I read an excerpt from the book Tattoo of the Heart. The narrator of Tattoo of the Heart, G, emphasizes that everyone has the capacity to form bonds with anyone. Division between peoples is the result of humanity being blinded by judgment, which takes conscious effort to overcome. Knowing someone different from you, the name of their mother and the meal they crave when they cry, overcomes differences, and often just requires close quarters. G is so firm in this that he risks his own life living in-between rival gangs always attempting to bridge the vast divide between men who should be neighbors. Looking at the lives of these three men, I began to shape an answer to my question. To live a life well-lived, one must always try their best to enable others through their deeds and to stay true to their ideals. There is more to living a life well-lived. For Week 3, I read Ruth Graham’s article titled, “Meet the Nun Who Wants You to Remember that You Will Die” about Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble and her insistence that to live, one must remember they will die. In it, Christy Wilkens is quoted as stating, “[Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble]’s so young and vibrant and joyful and is also reminding us all we’re going to die” (“Meet the Nun Who Wants You to Remember that You Will Die” by Ruth Graham - Moreau FYE Week Three). This is the spirit of Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble’s Momento Mori movement. Although the skull imagery may seem harsh, acknowledging the inevitability and spontaneity of your death allows you to live with more passion. It’s human nature to fall into the everyday grind, but living like you will always have tomorrow only leads to regret. This is a lesson I have been forced to learn well. To live a life well-lived, a life in which you are appreciative and grateful and make the most of every moment, you must force yourself to be conscious of the fact that tomorrow is a gift, not a guarantee. This is solidified by Dr. Jihoon Kim of Week 6 who was the victim of a paralyzing accident. He views his disability as a constant reminder to be grateful for what he does have. His life is well-lived because he makes the most of what he is given. Having succeeded in defining a life well-lived as a life in which one enables others, stays true to their ideals, and remembers they will die, I shifted focus. What would be the observable signs that I lived a well-lived life? The most obvious, in my opinion, is my career decision. Week 3 and Week 4 of the Moreau curriculum concerns discernment. I value sustainability. My dream is a humanity that lives alongside nature, instead of against it. For these reasons, I chose to major in environmental engineering. Week 3 challenged my view of my future. Students were tasked with reading “Three Key Questions” by Fr. Himes. I found this article added a dimension I had not previously considered to my major discernment. I want to die in Appalachia. It is my home. Yet, I had not considered whether my services would be needed. For me, the most obvious observable sign that I lived a well-lived life will be whether I succeed in applying my degree into making my home a better, healthier place. I want to be some small part of positive change. At the present moment, I would write my own eulogy simply. I would describe myself as someone who tried to be a candle. As His Holiness Pope Francis states in ‘Why the Only Future Worth Building Includes Everyone’, “Each and every one of us can become a bright candle, a reminder that light will overcome darkness, and never the other way around” (‘Why the Only Future Worth Building Includes Everyone’ by His Holiness Pope Francis - Moreau FYE Week Seven). To me, this is the summation of every discovery I have made about the nature of life’s purpose in this essay. If I can be observed as a light in the darkness to even one person, I have accomplished all that I ever dreamed.