Integration 4 Living a Life Well Lived One of the things I did when making my mission statement was using this logic: “Why questions can draw us to our limitations; what questions help us see our potential” (“The right way to be introspective (yes there is a wrong way)” by Tasha Eurich MFYE week 6), so when writing my mission statement I asked myself what I wanted to do with my life not why I wanted to live it a certain way. So without further ado here is my restated mission statement: “I believe a life well lived is one in which you glorify God, help those around you, and live in a way that makes you happy. For me personally I will strive to glorify God in every aspect of my life, by talking in a way that not only does not put anyone down but actively raises them up, to carrying myself in a way that actively invites people and includes them. I will live my life in a way that sets an example for my children of how to live life in a God pleasing manner. I will use the gifts God has given to help those around me by becoming a teacher at some point. I’d like to help educate the next generation and better their lives by helping them understand the world around them. However, in my personal life I would like to have a fairly large family and a teaching salary will not likely support that, so I will first go out into industry or business make some money then retire into teaching. This way I can fulfill my own life aspirations as well as help those around me, and I plan to do all of that in a manner that shows God’s love and compassion” By me MFYE week 13). In the next three years one thing I can do is do my best to attend class and try to learn the material. By doing so, I will be able to get good grades which will help me in getting a job, which is the first step toward my later goals in life of being able to retire and become a teacher. It will also help me because by learning my course material I can help peers or anyone else who might need help. I know Notre Dame has some tutoring organizations in place and I’d like to join one of those. Also, I’d like to the being a TA for a class before I graduate and in order to do so I’ll definitely need to know material so I can accurately grade assignments and help anyone who might come to office hours. As a whole I think the following quote does a good job of describing how one can better their work life: “If you actively engage in the process, take ownership, and utilize the tools at your disposal you will reap the benefits and establish a satisfying professional life” (“Navigating your career journey” by the Meruelo center for career development MFYE week 4). Another thing I can do is look into joining clubs such as CS for good, which each semester does a project for a company that works in giving back to the community. This will help me live a life well lived because not only will it obviously help others, but it’ll also connect me with others who want to help the world. By coming together with others who want to create change and bouncing ideas back and forth off of each other, surely better and more beneficial ideas will come of it. Also doing so will help get my mind and thought process used to thinking about how best to serve others in the coding projects I do going forward. Something else that interested me was when reading Dean G. Marcus Cole’s piece (“I am George Floyd. Except I can breather. And I can do something.” By Marcus Cole Dean of Notre Dame Law MFYE week 12). I remembered that one of the new problems right now is that some automatic sensors don’t recognize darker skin tones and won’t register them as activation. This injustice made me think if there was some way CS and Law could cross to fix a problem like this. One thing I can continuing doing is little things for other people, like holding open the door when I know someone is behind me or just coming out/in. Also smiling and nodding towards people when I see them around campus, striking up some happy small talk. Also mediating similar to how Hesburgh did (“Hesburgh” by Jerry Barca and Christine O’Malley MFYE Week 2), just on a smaller scale, such as with friends who might be arguing over something. Also, in regards to my roommate I can Integration 4 continue to be as quiet as possible when I have to get up and pee in the middle of the night, or early in the morning when I have an eight twenty and he doesn’t. Thanking the hall cleaning staff and my dining hall coworkers. Doing a lot of little things is just as important as doing big things. A good example of this is from the CoCo diner: “She was like Jesus in an apron” (“Chapter 8: Jurisdiction” by Greg Boyle MFYE week 7). Also including people regardless of their opinions, or backgrounds, or anything else is something small and easy to do but very important, especially to avoid things like echo chambers (“How to avoid an echo chamber” by dr. Paul Blaschko MFYE week 11). Another important thing to do in a life well lived is to strive to better one’s self, both mentally and physically. In this sense I think I better understand now the joy that was discussed in week 3: “Joy always pushes us forward. It’s a impulsion, a pressure to move forward, to do more, to expend oneself more deeply, more richly, to open ones talents even more widely than one had before” (“3 key things” by Michael Himes MFYE week 3). Thinking about joy in a broader context and not obsessing over one little thing and rather something general I feel makes it seem a lot more desirable. It’s important to take time to reflect and think about how a certain situation could have gone better, so that in the future when put in a similar situation you can succeed. As for physically it has been studied and proven that keeping active physically also has emotional and mental benefits alongside the physical. Also using the “cathedral in time rather than space” (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer MFYE Week 1) to reflect on my relationship with God and what He wants me to do will be beneficial towards living my life well. One thing I want to make sure I do throughout the next three years is to not lose who I truly am, I definitely want to better myself, but not at the expense of losing the things I like about myself. As my mom pointed out to me both her and I are proud of my courage and honesty so I don’t want to lose those traits in pursuit of something else (my mom MFYE week 5). I want to make sure I keep my individuality because contrary to Dr. Robin D’Angelo I believe individuality is vital to a life well lived and I don’t think it’s something only people of a certain race can have (“why it’s so hard to talk to white people about Racism” by dr. Robin D’Angelo MFYE week 10). I also want to make sure others feel like they can be themselves and if in a position to do so I’d like to follow fr. Gutierrez’s footsteps and make it so “that those who have no voice today, will have a voice and be heard” (“teaching accompaniment: a learning journey together” by professor Steve Reifenberg MFYE week 9). And hopefully in the next three years nothing happens but if my eulogy happened to come so soon I hope it won’t be one that is sad about lost potential but rather is one about how much was accomplished in such a short amount of time (integration 3 MFYE week 8).