Searching for True Wealth

Dear Derek,

I’ve noticed your constant aim for precision and devotion of numerous hours into formulating a “perfect” answer. You have high, exacting standards for yourself, which isn’t a bad thing! Understand, though, that life isn’t a utopia. When your ideal plans go awry, remain optimistic and confident in yourself. Be grateful for every opportunity you earn; gratitude is a key aspect of life that you should remember and live by.

I hope that you’ll always be grateful for the relationships in your life, as they’ll challenge you to grow and shape your perspectives. Be sure to hone in on your collaboration skills, since a teamwork mentality will be crucial for success at Notre Dame and beyond! 

Ultimately, you should develop and cherish genuine relationships with family, friends, and professors. Remember not only your successes, but the learning moments behind them. Stay driven, and I can guarantee your success in the future!

As I reflected back on a letter I wrote to myself before starting my college experience, I considered my accomplishments thus far in my Notre Dame journey. Thinking about my goals to cherish every moment rather than looking directly towards the future, reflecting on my letter to myself reminded me that my advice should encompass even the negative moments in life. Especially since “good news (we come across can be) misunderstood (or) rejected”  (Constitutions of the Congregation of Holy Cross - Moreau FYE - Week 12), it has become clear over my past year at Notre Dame that things that may initially seem like bad news can represent hidden opportunities that I may miss if I choose to reject/forget the learning moments. Such a sentiment also connects to Sister Alethia’s devotion to helping people “find light” in the “darkest realities of life” (“​​Meet the Nun Who Wants You to Remember You Will Die” by Ruth Graham - Moreau FYE - Week 3). While death is still a foreign, morbid topic for me to consider, learning about how Sister Aletheia reflects on dying on a common basis taught me to understand the importance of cherishing the relationships that I have both with the people around me at Notre Dame, and even more so with my family. 
Tying into the idea of cherishing the intangibles in life more than materialistic things, Father Michael Hime’s assertions that satisfaction may not necessarily correlate to the joy an individual feels in life (Week 3) inspired me to understand that I should look to fulfill a purpose beyond my personal goals of having a successful career. As such, this quote has inspired me to take part in activities that bring me true joy and less so the momentary satisfaction of completing redundant tasks. Likewise, the revelation that focusing on “one or two parts of my self-concept for a career” can cause me to “eventually hit a wall” (Navigating Your Career Journey - Meruelo Family Center for Career Dev. - Week 4) was something that I definitely believe can be applied beyond my career but with life in general. Using the example of earning money provided me a prime example of this, as I learned through consulting about career paths with my parents that embarking on a constant pursuit to earn as much as I can in my golden years can take a significant toll on my mental and social well being. Through this conversation with them, I realized that throughout life, it is important to exercise all aspects of my self concept and not focus on an overly specific niche.
After this conversation, I made it important to become more aware and appreciative of my surroundings and the experiences that have shaped who I am. Learning that “thinking about [myself] isn’t necessarily correlated with knowing” myself (“The Right Way to Be Introspective by Tara Eurich - Moreau FYE - Week 6) validated to me that thinking about the shallow things that I think can bring me happiness may actually bring upon more pressures that can contribute to burning out. The theme of being more positive also ties into the theme of helping others, which can help me build stronger relationships with the people I care about. The Pope’s command to serve as “a reminder that light will overcome darkness, and never the other way around” (“Why the only Future worth building includes everyone” by Pope Francis - Moreau FYE - Week 7) likewise communicated to me the importance of true relationships over physical objects. In spite of this, I feel it important to acknowledge that when speaking with others, it is important to truly empathize with them and not engage in conversation to “serve [personal] emotional and intellectual needs” rather than trying to “empower others” (“Passion Isn’t Enough” by Hidden Brain Media - Moreau FYE - Week 11). Having witnessed the personal struggles of my friends, many of whom are international students thousands of miles away from home, I learned that empathizing with them sometimes requires me to listen and learn about their struggles rather than make weak connections to how they feel. 
Reading that “we do not have to travel far to get away from our less considered habits” (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE - Week 1) similarly showed me that overcoming perceived obstacles towards being a less negative person is not as difficult as it seems. While I have not experienced the struggles of questioning my sexual orientation, I felt a connection to Jacob Walsh’s personal struggles of thinking that “if people knew the real [me], they wouldn’t love [me]” (“Growing up Gay and Catholic” by Jacob Walsh - Moreau FYE - Week 10). By making more attempts to stay in contact with my family and by spending more time with friends than I did last semester, I was able to set aside such an impression of myself and thus felt happier and more optimistic this semester. Additionally, I made more efforts to help other people when they needed help with the courses I had experience taking. The concept of accompaniment, which “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 Reifenberg - Moreau FYE - Week 9), certainly can be used to define my experiences where I heard the experiences of others while getting the opportunity to share my struggles with them. These experiences helped me feel more cared for, and I thus got the impression that my relationships with others strengthened. 
Through these experiences, it has become more of an objective for me to “serve as inspiring role models to a rising generation of soon-to-be Notre Dame graduates” (Domer Dozen - Moreau FYE - Week 2) by putting the immediate interests of others before mine. Doing so while exploring who I am (Week 5) has helped me build more meaningful connections with the people around me as well as have a greater understanding of what it means to be selfless. Overall, by looking back on the path that I have taken at the University of Notre Dame, I have gotten the chance to measure how well I have been able to align my values with honorable virtues. My exposure to numerous perspectives over the course of this past year has compelled me to ask various questions about how I should expand on my faith, what I truly value in community, and the best ways to express myself. By further integrating myself into more concrete groups of friends at Notre Dame and through developing a personal mission statement (Week 13), I have gotten the opportunity to truly see my intellect grow. Tracing my footsteps, I now have a stronger idea of where my path seeking true wealth shall continue - chasing valuable relationships with others.