Capstone Integration


New Hobbies, More Community at ND

My mission statement: I value truth and seek to grow my wisdom in all areas; but without pride,
I recognize areas where I am not an expert and where I may be wrong. I am grateful for the energy that I
receive through quality relationships and hope to use that energy to love by simply seeing and listening
to others that are often ignored. Away from the business of my schoolwork, I always maintain a space
for personal creativity within my day. The truth that I find through my interactions with others–and later
reflection upon these events through my creative endeavors–continuously develops my definition of
peacefulness (Mission Statement by Evan Wood - Moreau FYE Week Thirteen).

The most important component to pursuing my mission statement throughout Notre Dame is to
maintain time for my creative endeavors such as free writing in a journal or writing short stories.
However, my free writing is not for anyone else–not for a course assignment or to show others. Instead,
I try to adapt Pascal’s thinking while writing and give myself time alone in a room with no ‘productive’
task at hand: “All the unhappiness of men,” the seventeenth-century French mathematician and
philosopher Blaise Pascal famously noted, “arises from one simple fact: that they cannot sit quietly in
their chamber.” (“Why We Need to Slow Down Our Lives” by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE Week One).
Oftentimes, the best thing I can do to take a break from schoolwork, is to be alone in my room–content
to write whatever I may want.

When I write alone, however, I write about my observations of the outside world. A major source
of inspiration for my writing are the walks I take from class to class in which I let my mind wander to
fantastical places. I like building connections within my writing, between ideas I encounter in my
courses and random observations I make while outside. In a way, this process is similar to what Father
Jenkins said about Father Hesburgh’s goal: “[Ted] often said that the Latin word for priest was pontifex,
bridge builder” (“Hesburgh” produced by Jerry Barca and Christing O’Malley - Moreau FYE Week
Two). It is incredibly rejuvenating to daydream on my walks instead of fruitlessly worrying about how
I’m best going to use my time once I get to my destination. Building bridges between many different
ideas also helps my mind avoid falling into ruts: “When we examine the causes of our thoughts,
feelings, and behaviors — which we often do by asking ourselves Why? questions — we tend to search
for the easiest and most plausible answers.” (“The Right Way to be Introspective” by Tasha Eurich PhD
- Moreau FYE Week Six). When I reflect in my journal, I end up cycling through many different
answers or ideas as to why I may be feeling a certain way.

For example, I have sometimes felt as if I don’t belong at Notre Dame, or that some people
within my immediate ND community hold ill feelings towards me. Regardless of whether others hold
negative judgements of me or not, I find it helpful to do as Father Greg Boyle suggests: “Close both
eyes; see with the other one. Then, we are no longer saddled by the burden of our persistent judgments,
our ceaseless withholding, our constant exclusion.” (“Tattoos on the Heart” by Fr. Greg Boyle - Moreau
FYE Week Seven). When I take a moment to write, I can distance myself from the uncomfortableness
that these thoughts can bring, and find that these judgements lose their power. Through writing, I’ve
slowly realized that I have likely fictionalized these ill feelings towards me, and the best way to move
past them is to try to let them go: “By letting go of these negative expectations of others, he was better

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1l_3mcVtWjldp9u0F0QBfwafBQ0dEtOi8/edit
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://ideas.ted.com/the-right-way-to-be-introspective-yes-theres-a-wrong-way/
https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/40253/files/523815?module_item_id=167944


able to appreciate those around him.” (Integration by Evan Wood - Moreau FYE Week Eight). Through
journaling, I’ve also hypothesized that a lack of communication between myself and some members of
the ND community led to these ideas within myself: if I don’t talk with someone, I can never understand
what they actually think of me–my mind makes something up to fill the gap.

Therefore, I have try my best to reach out to, and accompany, as many people as I can: “The
beauty of using accompaniment is in the blurring of the lines between us and them, doctor and patient,
donor and recipient, expert and novice. Instead, we are partners, walking together, towards a better
future.” (“Teaching Accompaniment: A Learning Journey Together” by Steve Reifenberg - Moreau FYE
Week Nine). Even if it turns out that a group of people do hold ill feelings towards me, it will be easier
to brush those judgements aside when I approach social interactions as a team effort–with mistakes
allowable by both sides: “It is not that we take sides against sinful enemies; before the Lord all of us are
sinners and none is an enemy.” (“Constitutions of the Congregation of Holy Cross” - Moreau FYE Week
Twelve). When I keep in mind that everyone makes mistakes, I have no need to be afraid of
embarrassing myself–and thereby garnering more ill feelings towards myself. Instead, the best I can do
is to approach people with sincerity, respectfulness, and kindness: “I started to pay more attention to my
friendships, and realized that I had become guarded and shallow in all of them—partly out of fear,”
(“Growing up Gay and Catholic” by Jacob Walsh - Moreau FYE Week Ten).

Others can see how well I have adhered to my mission statement by how many new things I tried
throughout my time at ND. While at ND, I’ve tried my hand at new hobbies like writing, running,
skateboarding; new clubs such as ChemE Car, and hopefully in the future, more new hobbies such as
singing. While the thought of starting as an amateur can be daunting when I start new activities, this
minor source of anxiety is soothed when I keep in mind that failure is expected: “Much as we present it
with arrows from one step to the next, it’s important to keep in mind that it’s not always linear; these
steps don’t take place in a nice, neat order.” (“Navigating Your Career Journey” - Moreau FYE Week
Four).

I think I am propelled towards experiencing many different things because I understand I only
have three more years left at ND: “Remembering death keeps us awake, focused, and ready for whatever
might happen — both the excruciatingly difficult and the breathtakingly beautiful.” Sister
Aletheia(“Meet the Nun Who Wants You to Remember You Will Die” by Ruth Graham - Moreau FYE
Week Three). Notre Dame has offered me so many beautiful communities–the Marching Band, and
ChemE Car–that I was initially hesitant to join because of a lack of competency in these activities
beforehand. However, I’m incredibly grateful for the time I’ve had with these campus families because
they’re not easily found elsewhere. However, I don’t just want to stop with the band community. There
seems to be many other student led organizations around interests of mine that I wish to join even
though I am not terrific at any of them like the Observer newspaper or the Liturgical Choir.

Some may critique my time at ND by saying that I only superficially engage in activities by not
trying to master any specific one: “They’re not trying to empower anything. They’re really just trying to
learn and engage in a pretty frivolous way” (“Passion Isn’t Enough” by Eitan Hersh - Moreau FYE
Week Eleven). However, I believe that I can still deeply engage with the communities around these
activities and form meaningful connections, despite my lack of focus on mastering the activities. During
the Marching Band season last fall semester, the most memorable moments were not during the

https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/17UVC6jTzyvro-qw-p71PA0jqbqM01GqAj1xbGAMkLU4/edit
https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1hZbSdVImfn2hZDqMrdL96dZCNOtHuf6C-lg3sH-Rs30/edit
https://holycrosscongregation.org/holy-cross-resources/constitutions/2-mission/
https://grottonetwork.com/keep-the-faith/community/reflective-narrative-about-being-gay-and-catholic/?utm_source=moreau&utm_medium=class&utm_campaign=spring_2022
https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/
https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/14/us/memento-mori-nun.html
https://hiddenbrain.org/podcast/passion-isnt-enough/


performance itself, but during the practices when I got to talk and laugh with other members of my band
section. My approach to extracurriculars connects to what my dad said about me during our interview:
“[Evan] [desires] to bring others joy above most everything else.” (Interview with my dad - Moreau
FYE Week Five). I gain mental energy from these extracurriculars not because I excel at them, but
because of the community that I get the opportunity to interact with.

https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1Q75SxfvFuHomzVOfdPWc5mf4Uf6dVppUIXyUQxhqEm4/edit