Integration 3



Week 8 (Integration)

Defining My Best Life

In the first seven weeks of my second semester at Notre Dame, we continuously
discussed a “life well-lived.” In these weeks, we talked about the kind of life we were living, the
things that inspire us to live well, what we want to do, and what can help or hurt our pursuit of
this life. Over this time, I have developed an idea of what I believe defines a “life well-lived,”
and in this essay, I will be explaining the aspects of that definition.

Before I could formulate my definition, I needed to reflect on what kind of life I had been
living, which was the goal during the first week of Moreau First Year Experience this semester. I
felt that my first semester was relatively successful in terms of the fact that I made solid
friendships and performed well academically. However, I did not spend my free time the best
way I could have. I did not play any recreational sports or join any clubs, which prevented me
from putting myself out there. But what was even worse was when I was just relaxing, I was not
doing so in the best way possible. A quote from a TED article in week one impacted me by
saying: “Don’t just do something. Sit there” (“Why we need to slow down our lives” by Pico
Iyer - Moreau FYE Week One). In other words, instead of just playing games or scrolling
through social media, I should have spent that time sitting and thinking and taking in
information. That was one of the things, along with not being more outgoing, that prevented me
from truly living my best life during the first semester.

In addition, I found that, when facing challenges, I was asking myself the wrong
questions. During week six of Moreau FYE, we discussed certain obstacles preventing us from
living a life well-lived. One of those typical obstacles is the way we perform introspection. One
TED article said, “‘Why’ questions trap us in our past; ‘what’ questions help us create a better
future” (“The Right Way to be Introspective [Yes, There’s a Wrong Way]” by Tasha Eurich -
Moreau FYE Week Six). After reading this, I realized that I was asking myself many “why”
questions whenever I was struggling with something, which was ultimately unhelpful towards
solving the problem because it only revealed the surface of the issue. I realized that I was
preventing myself from living well by not introspecting well, which prevented me from finding
the true causes of my struggles.

After finding out that I was not living the life I wanted to, I had to look toward what I
aspired to do. During the third week, we read an article about the philosophy of a particular nun.
She said, “For almost all of humanity, people died at younger ages than we do now, more
frequently died at home, and had less medical control over their final days. Death was far less
predictable, and far more visible” (“Meet the nun who wants you to remember that you will die”
by Ruth Graham - Moreau FYE Week Three). Sister Theresa Aletheia Noble, in this situation, is
reminding all of us to remember that our time is finite, so we should not take our lives for
granted. Keeping this in mind, I knew that I needed to figure out my definition soon to start
living a life well-lived as quickly as possible.

https://ideas.ted.com/why-we-need-a-secular-sabbath/
https://ideas.ted.com/the-right-way-to-be-introspective-yes-theres-a-wrong-way/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/us/memento-mori-nun.html


In weeks four and five of Moreau, we explored different career paths and discerned what
we wanted to do in our lives. These two weeks were especially helpful in learning more about
myself and helping define how a good life for me would look. A Notre Dame resource article
from week four outlined how we should look for the best career for us, saying that “The idea is
that the best career choices for a person are those that allow him/her to implement as many parts
of his/her self-concept as possible. 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 Meruelo Family Center for Career Development - Moreau FYE Week Four). I felt
like I had a good idea of my self-concept, defined as my values, interests, personality, and skills.
However, in the fifth week, we discussed with people close to us to see what they think our
self-concept is. I had a phone call with my mother and asked her to answer a few assigned
questions. While she affirmed some of my core values and life goals, she also pointed out that I
had forgotten or ignored specific values of mine in my first semester, like family (My mom -
Moreau FYE Week Five). Being away from my family caused me to forget how much I care
about and value them. This conversation was essential for figuring out my “life well-lived”
definition.

After considering all of this information, I formulated my definition of a life well-lived. I
believe that a life well-lived is where you live to better yourself and other people. In week two of
Moreau, we discussed things and people that inspire us to live a good life, and we watched the
movie “Hesburgh.” In the film, there was a quote that said, “The Latin word for priest is
pontifex, [which means] bridge builder. Ted was a bridge-builder between people and God and
among people” (“Hesburgh” by Jerry Barca and Christine O’Malley - Moreau FYE Week Two).
Father Hesburgh is inspirational to me because I would like to be a bridge-builder in the lives of
others around me, too. My main goal in life is to help people, and I want to do that in as many
ways as possible, including bringing people of all backgrounds together toward acceptance. In
addition, in week seven, we discussed relationships and how they impact a life well-lived. In a
TED talk, Pope Francis 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” (“Why the only future worth building includes everyone” by Pope
Francis - Moreau FYE Week Seven). Being with people is an essential aspect of living your best
life.

In other words, my time in Moreau FYE so far this semester has led me to believe that a
life well-lived is one where you do your best to help others and better yourself. No matter what
career I go into, I want to help people. If I can live a life where I can be with loved ones, work
towards making myself better, and help as many people around me, then I am living my best life.

https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/
https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/
https://notredame.hosted.panopto.com/Panopto/Pages/Viewer.aspx?id=10159379-7eca-4549-8581-ab9500c9ecd9
https://ed.ted.com/lessons/why-the-only-future-worth-building-includes-everyone-pope-francis