Moreau Integration 3 Professor Harrington 3/4/2022 Like the Day After It Rains Today, we have come to celebrate the life of . She was honest and abundant in kindness and found happiness and excitement in the smallest things. She loved the sound of typing, the smell of fresh steaming jasmine rice, and falling asleep in the car ride after a long day at the beach. She once told me that her favorite type of weather was the day right after it rains––when everything is covered with a dew that reflects the sunlight and when life feels incredibly lush. She wanted to be just like that to those around her. To bring joy and to amplify others’ lights was her purpose. She believed that a life well lived was to be like the day after it rains. Sophia composed a list of quotes from her Notre Dame freshman Moreau class that stuck with her through all of her years and guided her towards a life well-lived. Throughout the eulogy, I will relay these quotes in connection with her story. Quote One: “It’s only by stepping farther back and standing still that we can begin to see what that canvas (which is our life) really means, and to take in the larger picture” (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week One). Sophia believed that seeing the larger picture was the first key to a life well-lived. At Notre Dame, she often felt the burden of being burnt out––of being in a rut with no energy to pull herself out. However, she learned that one way to cure being burnt out is to see the larger picture and to remember what she was working towards. Thus, to live a life well-lived is to work with purpose and the larger picture in mind. Quote Two: “What made [Fr. Hesburgh] such an extraordinary figure was that he really didn’t belong to any side. He belonged to the side of decency. He belonged to the side of a fundamental belief in the redeemability of mankind” (“Hesburgh” - Moreau Week Two). One figure that Sophia encountered at Notre Dame was Fr. Hesburgh. Spending many late nights in the library named after the former Notre Dame president, Sophia was interested to learn about the library’s namesake when watching a documentary about Fr. Hesburgh. The quote above especially stood out to her because she often found it frustrating how polarized Notre Dame and the world could be. From Hesburgh, she learned that a life well lived was not one that focused on polarization but rather one that was enriched by various opinions that forged paths to “the redeemability of mankind.” Quote Three: “Suffering and death are facts of life; focusing only on the ‘bright and shiny’ is superficial and inauthentic. ‘We try to suppress the thought of death, or escape it, or run away from it because we think that’s where we’ll find happiness,’ she said. ‘But it’s actually in facing https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/ 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 the darkest realities of life that we find light in them’” (“Meet the Nun Who Wants You to Remember You Will Die” by Ruth Graham - Moreau Week Three). During college, Sophia had many many difficult days, just like all of us did. From being overworked to being sick to being both at the same time, she sometimes believed that the bad days overpowered the good ones. However, upon hearing the quote above, she changed her perspective. By acknowledging the bad days, she learned that they weren’t too bad after all because she got to spend time with people she loved in a place that felt like home. To embrace the ups and the downs of every day is to live a life well-lived. Quote Four: “Every experience shapes you in some way, whether you realize it at the time or not! We know that life is busy and it’s hard to take the time to slow down and process. But if you give yourself that time you will gain so much” (“Navigating Your Career Journey” by the Meruelo Family Center for Career Development - Moreau Week Four). There was a period of time in Sophia’s underclassmen years when the prospect of career development scared her. She was greatly afraid of rejection and felt that she should not apply to opportunities if the chance was not secured. As part of many of her classes, Sophia was required to visit the career development center on campus, and she was pleasantly surprised by the activities she participated in. She saw that her experiences had a lot more value than she thought and that gave her confidence in herself and her ability to succeed. Thus, to have confidence is to be happy and to live a life well-lived. In addition to the quotes taken from Moreau, Sophia once had an incredibly memorable conversation with her mother as a requirement for an assignment. In her conversations with others, she sought to understand herself by learning from their experiences and asking difficult questions to hear the undeniable harsh truths that she would encounter later in her life. In this discussion with her mother, Sophia was told to always open her vision in order to move beyond pitfalls. Her mother warned her against tunnel vision, reminding her that while it is beneficial to set goals, one should be open to spontaneity and change to minimize worries and live a good life. Quote Five: “So as I began just thanking God and be more positive about the things that I had already, I was able to do things more gladly, and with gratitude and joy and hope” (“5 Minutes” by Grotto - Moreau Week Six). Sophia learned that a life well lived was a life lived with gratitude. In coming to college, she was exposed to ways of life extremely different from her sometimes homogeneous hometown of Pasadena. In becoming friends with others who sometimes did not have the same resources that she had growing up, she became grateful for her blessings and thus noticed with more detail the incredible life she was gifted with. Quote Six: “People’s paths are riddled with suffering, as everything is centered around money, and things, instead of people…Mother Teresa actually said: ‘One cannot love, unless it is at https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/us/memento-mori-nun.html https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/us/memento-mori-nun.html https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ https://grottonetwork.com/make-an-impact/transform/why-does-god-allow-suffering/?utm_source=moreau&utm_medium=class&utm_campaign=spring_2022 their own expense’” (“Why the only future worth building includes everyone” by Pope Francis - Moreau Week Seven). The final point that Sophia shared with me was that our motivations are our methods to a life well-lived. As an underclassman, Sophia had grand ambitions: Google, Wall Street, startups. She wanted a career that would bring her great financial gain so that she would have the freedom to be spontaneous with her time. However, she learned that at the center of this goal was herself. While it is important to prioritize oneself, she wanted to include others in this goal. Thus, when Pope Francis quoted Mother Teresa, “‘One cannot love, unless it is at their own expense,’” she learned to be selfless in her career and did this through service to others. Thank you everyone for coming today. I hope Sophia can give you just a little guidance on how to embody a life well-lived. https://www.ted.com/talks/his_holiness_pope_francis_why_the_only_future_worth_building_includes_everyone/transcript