Moreau Capstone Integration - 1 Moreau Capstone Integration 4/15/22 Preparing to Live by my Mission My mission, as a blanket statement, must be to serve others. Although my intended career path is still under development, I know I have an obligation to focus my attention and efforts outside of my own desires going forward. My parents raised me to emulate their dedication and compassion for others, and I feel called to incorporate those virtues into my career. While much of my thinking about future careers is focused on professions in the financial world, I’ve begun to think more critically about how I can best serve my future community through business since starting the second semester Moreau curriculum. My journey over the rest of my years in college will be in pursuit of these concrete ways that I can go forth and do good in the world. “The idea of going nowhere is as universal as the law of gravity” (Week 1). This sentiment resonates with me especially now, since I want to progress through my education toward a career without stagnating. Much of my early experience in college was about finding my feet, not necessarily having a set direction. However, after spending two influential semesters on campus, there are two different quotes that I’ve come across from Moreau that I believe can guide me through the rest of college and beyond. Father Theodore Hesburgh once said, “We don’t prove anything by burning something down, we prove something by building it up” (Week 2). In the context of a well-lived life, there is a great deal of truth in this statement. If a person wants to see real change in the world, destroying the problem simply isn’t enough (i.e. “burning something down”). Instead, the focus must be on creating something truly influential and beneficial to help other people. The second quote states that “Happiness changes from moment to moment, day to day. Joy, on the other hand, is much deeper and much more central, it comes 2 from within, and it’s a genuine rightness of how one lives one’s life” (Week 3). I know I can find joy in serving others, and I intend to build a foundation in college that sets me on that path. These quotes are representative of my overall mindset as I seek to serve in my future at Notre Dame and in my future career, but there are some important qualifiers that I must mention before explaining the concrete ways that I can implement philanthropy into my life. First of all, I know that this journey is not one that I’ll be taking alone. The impact that others can have on my personal philosophy is enormous, especially at Notre Dame where professors and alumni “have opted into speaking with students like me about discerning a life well-lived.” (Week 5). Outside of these resources, though, the most important people in my discernment are still likely my parents. I can always turn to them for answers or advice, and I know they will always push me to be a better, more service-oriented person. The opinions of my friends can have a huge impact on my beliefs as well. Especially from the guys living in my dorm, I’ve gained a lot of wisdom from listening to others and learning from their actions. Pope Francis once said, “Quite a few years of life have strengthened my conviction that each and everyone's existence is deeply tied to that of others: life is not time merely passing by, life is about interactions” (Week 7). Meaningful friendships and relationships, as I’ve often found, are what having a life well lived is all about. Because they are so important, I’ve always done my best to surround myself with people who will motivate me to go into the world and do good. In terms of how I can functionally serve through my career in the business world, I’ve done a great deal of thinking recently about how that would look. After being asked “What does the world need you to be?” in Moreau this semester, I researched how social responsibility can be effectively worked into a career in finance (Week 4). To begin, socially responsible companies can be a powerful means for good, and businesses that are leveraged for service by utilizing a 3 double bottom line (DBL) are especially effective in that regard. Beyond the conventional measures of financial performance, these companies also evaluate performance in terms of positive social impact. This idea that a company “doing good” can also be the means by which the company “does well” is admirable. My purpose can be to help scale these honorable businesses. By helping them improve their financial position, I can make positive impact sustainable and more widespread. My Intro to Finance Professor, Dr. Carl Ackermann, represents another way I can serve. He told our class that when he first came to South Bend, he sought out local charities and offered his financial services on a pro bono basis. The organizations were thrilled to have his help, and they are in much better financial shape today as a result. This example illustrates how valuable and highly coveted the skills of good and honest financial professionals truly are, and I can utilize the same strategy to make a difference for charitable organizations. By stepping up to offer my skills and expertise free of charge, I can inspire communities of people and enable them to create meaningful change. I think the important thing for me in this context will be patience. If I’m too eager to go out and create this change, I could fall into the trap of seeing my early career as a failure if I don’t get the results that I desire. Unfortunately, studies show that people who are too engulfed in self-reflection are “more stressed, depressed and anxious, less satisfied with their jobs and relationships, more self-absorbed, and they felt less in control of their lives” (Week 6). I must remind myself that my career will develop slowly and that I should not get caught up in the moment. Eventually, through direct action within or outside of my main job, there are also some additional impacts that I would like to have. For example, I think there are very vulnerable young people in our society, who now more than ever with rising costs of living and increasing crime 4 across the country, are in danger of being set down dark paths. I’m of the opinion that, “children can be incredibly resilient, especially when given structure and love; that repression and unemployment and illness all undermine one’s sense of their inherent human dignity” (Week 9). This is one area where I feel called to help (primarily through charity donations most likely) more so than any others. To shift gears though, another area that I feel I can work to improve in our society involves race relations. I believe that “our socialization renders us racially illiterate. When you add a lack of humility to that illiteracy (because we don’t know what we don’t know), you get the break-down we so often see when trying to engage white people in meaningful conversations about race” (Week 10). I try to stay as humble as I can in these discussions, and I feel as though I’m positively contributing to society by recognizing my inherent shortcomings. Humility is the key for me. This was what I chose to focus on with the Week 11 question of becoming wiser. I believe the only way to effectively achieve wisdom through humility is by recognizing what is unknown, avoiding “echo chambers”, and acknowledging that I don’t have all the answers (Week 11). 5 Works Cited “Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Lyer - Moreau Week One “Hesburgh Film” by Jerry Barca and Christine O’Malley - Moreau Week Two “Three Key Questions ” by Father Michael Himes - Moreau Week Three “Navigating Your Career Journey” by the Meruelo Center for Career Development - Moreau Week Four “Discerning a Life Well-Lived” by Irish Compass - Moreau Week Five “The right way to be introspective (yes, there’s a wrong way)” by Tasha Eurich - Moreau Week Six “Why the only future worth building includes everyone” by Pope Francis - Moreau Week Seven “Teaching Accompaniment” by Steve Reifenberg - Moreau Week Nine “Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism by Robin DiAngelo - Moreau Week Ten “How to Avoid and Echo Chamber” by thinkND - Moreau Week Eleven https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=10159379-7eca-4549-8581-ab9500c9ecd9 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/40380/files/467832?module_item_id=143473 https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Z1bZTNU9tpjCnuC9iDFLjslYaX0v4XpBwClh_GynKfo/edit https://ideas.ted.com/the-right-way-to-be-introspective-yes-theres-a-wrong-way/ https://www.ted.com/talks/his_holiness_pope_francis_why_the_only_future_worth_building_includes_everyone/transcript https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hZbSdVImfn2hZDqMrdL96dZCNOtHuf6C-lg3sH-Rs30/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bdVnfLDrJUJhd-4UtYb_kfRpcFgOoOeY7O1WT8_d3iw/edit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaIVxQcqnLs&t=1s