Purpose and Responsibility


Purpose and Responsibility

In this eight paragraph paper I am going to identify seven of my root beliefs as inspired

by the Moreau curriculum thus far. Each paragraph will begin with an explanation of one of my

root beliefs, then I will discuss how the Moreau curriculum has deepened or inspired that belief,

and lastly I will reflect on how that belief influences my character and actions.

Firstly, I believe that I am worthy of love, respect, and belonging. I think that self-love is

super important and it’s really central to who I am; I am confident in myself and my abilities and

my future because I know myself and I  love myself, and that is something I didn’t come to by

myself. Berne Brown said “People who have a strong sense of love and belonging believe they

are worthy of love and belonging” (“The Power of Vulnerability” by Brené Brown - Moreau

FYE Week One. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4Qm9cGRub0). In my life I have

developed really powerful loving relationships that have helped me realize my worth, and I am

infinitely grateful for those people. This belief of self-love and self-worth affects my actions

because I don’t overly seek validation or love or attention from other people or unhealthy sources

since I already get that from myself.

I believe that actions are more important than words. This means that I believe what you

chose to do with your life and your skills and gifts is extremely important; it does not matter

what you think or what you say or what you believe, what matters is what you actually do for

others. This also means that I believe in doing things to demonstrate your potential and strength

and integrity instead of talking about it or letting others talk about it. I realized this belief through

the Resume vs Eulogy discussion, as it got me to think about what I would want or expect people

to say about me after I am gone (David Brooks “Should you live for your résumé ... or your

eulogy?” Week 2

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlLWTeApqIM&feature=emb_imp_woyt). I would want

them to talk about what I did, who I helped, what contributions I made to the world and to their

lives. This belief of actions over words is seen in my character and actions by my commitment to

my academics and the causes I care about and also in my relationships with others.

I believe God put me here for a reason. I am a person of faith and my relationship with

God is really personal to me and my religion is really central to the way I view the world and my

purpose. In one of the videos we watched for this section Father Pete said “At the core of oneself

is the very presence of God” and I thought that was really beautiful as it really aligns with my

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4Qm9cGRub0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MlLWTeApqIM&feature=emb_imp_woyt


image of God (Father Pete “The Role of Faith in Our Story” Week 3

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcZMeqWWOIs&feature=emb_imp_woyt). I really enjoyed

talking in class about our own experiences of faith. I was nervous but also really happy to tell my

small group about my faith. My belief that God put me here for a reason affects my actions and

character in that I go through every day and every decision with a deep purpose and that gives

me assurance and confidence in myself and in something more powerful than myself.

I believe that we all have a responsibility to care for others. By this I mean that we all

have a responsibility to care about inequality, injustice, environmental issues, systemic issues,

and social issues even if they don’t necessarily apply directly to our lives. For week four we

watched this video of these football players advocating for sexual assault awareness; they said

“It’s on us to be our brothers and sisters keeper” (ND football “It’s On Us” Week 4) and I

thought that was really important and powerful. My belief in common responsibility affects my

character and actions because I deeply care about social issues, inequalities, and injustices and it

is important to me to be informed on these things and be advocating and informing others.

I believe that there is power and meaning in my distinct experience and perspective. I do

come from a place of privilege; and it is easy for me to pinpoint all the opportunities that I have

had in my life simply because of where I was born, the amount of money my family had, the

education level of my family, the color of our skin, and the schools my parents were able to send

me to. These things have affected my perspective, but still coming from a very mixed income

area I was also able to see first hand systemic socioeconomic and racial inequalities which have

also shaped my perspective. Carla Harris said “Your authenticity is your distinct and competitive

advantage” and I thought that was very profound and applicable to how I view my own purpose

and perspective (Carla Harris “Notre Dame 2021 commencement speech”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjSwjn-SyB4 Week 5). This affects my actions because I

actively try to look at things from other perspectives when thinking about different issues or

different things happening in the world, since too often people can only see things from where

they are and I think that's a really big issue in our country.

I believe that the world is beautiful. I find beauty and divine intelligence in our ability to

use language and art, the diversity of experiences, histories and narratives, love, grief, loss, faith,

science, and common human experiences and emotions. I really like poetry so I loved getting to

write the “Where I’m from poem” week 6, it made me really appreciative of art and poetry as a

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcZMeqWWOIs&feature=emb_imp_woyt
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjSwjn-SyB4


means of expressing divine sentiments. My root belief in the beauty of the world affects my

character and actions because it makes me a more appreciative and optimistic person in the face

of hardship and it gives me inspiration and perspective about my role here on earth.

Lastly, I believe that things are always more complicated than they seem. This is the

attitude I have always had academically and I think it has just become a very important part of

how I learn and interpret new information. This ties into last week's material because

Chimamanda Adichie’s TED talk was all about how stereotypes and misconceptions arise from

people making assumptions and oversimplifications of issues, cultures, histories, and

communities. She said, “When we reject the single story, when we realize that there is never a

single story about any place, we regain a kind of paradise,” and I think that is a really beautiful

way to put it (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie  “The Danger of a Single Story”

https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story Week 7).

My root belief in persisting complexity affects my actions and character because it drives me to

understand things deeply instead of taking information at face value and it humbles me by

reminding me that there is always much much more to know.

So those are seven of my root beliefs, I noticed that mostly all of them have to do with

either the idea of purpose or responsibility, so in conclusion my two most core beliefs are the

idea of divine purpose and individual responsibility to others, God, and the world.

https://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_ngozi_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story