Week 14 - Capstone Integration Kelly Harrington Moreau FYS 10102 51 29 April 2022 What It Means to Live My mission is to live, because there is more to life than simply surviving. To live is to connect with the world around me, both giving and receiving as I influence and am influenced by the environment around me. Despite what the world may throw at me, the fight to improve what I have been given so that I may leave it better than I found it is one that I have decided to fight (Moreau FYE Week Thirteen). While this life of mine may be marked by death, I will spend the time I have using it to focus on living a good life rather than getting through a list of achievements to mark milestones in my life. Keeping in mind that I only have a limited amount of time left might make me think that it is more important to experience what others get to have, but to focus so hard on hitting socially conventional markers like getting married or creating a family so that I lose sight of what is truly important is the last thing I want to do and why remembering that every moment counts is so important. Summarized nicely: “remembering death keeps us awake, focused, and ready for whatever might happen - both the excruciatingly difficult and the breathtakingly beautiful” (“Meet the nun who wants you to remember that you will die” by Ruth Graham - Moreau FYE Week Three). Thinking of my life as a whole and staying flexible is something that I need to keep in mind these next few years even as I plan out every class I might take for the rest of my education here at Notre Dame. Plans change and even if I hit a few set-acks, it is okay as I can adjust and respond accordingly. Sticking stubbornly to a plan I made way back when can only hurt me as “if a person only focuses on one or two parts of his/her self-concept for a career, that person will eventually hit a wall” ("Navigating Your Career Journey” by the Meruelo Family Center for Career Development - Moreau FYE Week Four). Staying flexible and open to the possibilities that life may bring me will allow me to connect to the world and avoid burrowing down until all that I know consists of just myself and my fears. Raised to believe that God is the highest power in life, my endeavours with religion have left me oftentimes confused but even within these struggles, I have been able to determine that the highest goods in life come from people, whether or not the divine is acting through them. Inspired by people like Father Ted Hesburgh, “the conscience of the country on civil rights,” I hope to do my part in upholding a legacy of doing good in the world both as an alumni of Notre https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/us/memento-mori-nun.html https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ Dame but also as a human being who recognizes the need for equality (“Hesburgh” produced by Jerry Barca and Crhistine O’Malley - Moreau FYE Week Two). For me, this starts with this summer in my Summer Service Learning immersion in Ohio at a camp for children and adults with disabilities. During my service there I hope to remember and live the tenets of Catholic Social Teachings and follow the accompaniment model. “In the accompaniment model, we’re in this together; we’re implicated as partners in the mix, sharing in the complexity and chaos of each other’s lives.” (“Teaching Accompaniment: A Learning Journey Together” by Professor Steve Reifenberg - Moreau FYE Week Nine). Through this mindset, I hope to grow and learn alongside the people I meet rather than with the mindset of helping them as only through humbling myself and looking through the lens of mutualism can I truly connect with others. With this in mind, I acknowledge that “there are networks of privilege, prejudice and power so commonplace that often neither oppressors nor victims are aware of them.” (“Constitutions of the Congregation of the Holy Cross” by the Congregation of the Holy Cross - Moreau FYE Week Twelve). This summer I hope to do my best to be mindful of the privileges that I have and do my best in whatever capacity possible. That being said, I hope that I will be able to forgive myself when I slip up and inevitably make a mistake as at the end of the day, we should only “focus what we can do for others or what we can do already instead of what we cannot do and what we do not have yet,” (“Five Minutes” by Aria Swarr - Moreau FYE Week Six). Among these goods is love, and the intimacy and inherent pureness that can be found within connection to other human beings. Strong, healthy relationships based in mutual respect and trust are characteristic of a fulfilling life. With a life well-lived in this manner comes the ability to embrace humanity and grow in wisdom. Keeping in mind the mindset of mutual understanding mentioned earlier, there is a real need to address the many issues that can be found in society around us. While there are other important things in life like sending people to space and learning the history of the rocks we live on, “How wonderful would it be, while we discover faraway planets, to rediscover the needs of the brothers and sisters orbiting around us?” (“Why the only future worth building includes everyone” by His Holiness Pope Francis - Moreau FYE Week Seven). This need to connect with others can result in fulfilling relationships when we open ourselves up to others and make ourselves vulnerable. I hope to foster these relationships not only through the friendships found while at school but also out in the real world as I do my best to right what wrongs I see. As a female, queer person of color hoping to work in a traditionally male-dominated industry, I hope to balance out the inequities I see by mentoring those like me who may no have the opportunities that I had whether that be by mentoring a grade school robotics team or putting myself out there to reach out to young girls and sharing my experiences. An issue I’d like to address in particular is racism, as its effects have been felt nationwide over the past few years on a larger scale than usual. “Because race is constructed as residing in people of color, whites don’t bear the social burden of race” but I hope to do my best to address the issue by amplifying the voices of other https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=10159379-7eca-4549-8581-ab9500c9ecd9 https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hZbSdVImfn2hZDqMrdL96dZCNOtHuf6C-lg3sH-Rs30/edit?usp=sharing https://holycrosscongregation.org/holy-cross-resources/constitutions/2-mission/ https://holycrosscongregation.org/holy-cross-resources/constitutions/2-mission/ https://grottonetwork.com/make-an-impact/transform/why-does-god-allow-suffering/?utm_source=moreau&utm_medium=class&utm_campaign=spring_2022 https://www.ted.com/talks/his_holiness_pope_francis_why_the_only_future_worth_building_includes_everyone/transcript people of color as I have the privilege to do so (“Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism” by Dr. Robin DiAngelo - Moreau FYE Week Ten). In addition to this, I hope to make my voice heard by doing my civil duty as someone who can now vote as well as continuing to email and reach out to my representatives. With all this in mind, I hope to improve myself as a person including taking better care of myself. I struggle to not be overly self-critical and need to be reminded that I need to be kinder to myself and am often taken off guard when told that I am perceived differently by others than I perceive myself (Moreau FYE Week Five). Along with being self-aware of my needs, I need to actually take steps to address them even if it is as simple as limiting my screen time when possible as “it takes an average of twenty-five minutes to recover from a phone call” but I often feel drained for much longer as an introverted person who struggles with their mental health. (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week One). Curating the information that I receive when I am online is also a huge factor to my mental health that I have found very helpful when I am able to spare the energy to do so as it is so important to “be intentional about the information we expose ourselves to” (“How to Avoid an Echo Chamber” by Dr. Paul Blashko - Moreau FYE Week Eleven). All in all, I hope to continue what steps I have been taking to better myself and the world around me as well as gradually escalate those efforts. As I have concluded in my first Integration this semester, if I can end my life having regrets but well-lived by my own standards, having found my people and my place in the world, I can die content and with nothing more I could ask for (Moreau FYE Week Eight). To grow in wisdom is to open myself to the knowledge that I do not know much. Only then with the humility that comes from this knowledge can I truly be receptive to the teachings of others. This humility also allows me to understand others better and with this understanding comes the basis for empathy which is essential in embracing humanity and respecting the inherent dignity of others. I hope that I will be able to take these qualities and knowledge to act with courage to better the world along with myself to the best of my ability so that I am able to realize my responsibility to not only myself but those around me. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bdVnfLDrJUJhd-4UtYb_kfRpcFgOoOeY7O1WT8_d3iw/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bdVnfLDrJUJhd-4UtYb_kfRpcFgOoOeY7O1WT8_d3iw/edit https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaIVxQcqnLs&t=1s&ab_channel=ThinkND