Capstone Integration Moreau FYE Professor Taylor 28 April 2022 Love and Success I am a person that values love above all else. I believe that love is literally God in a Catholic sense. Given this, I strive to embody love in my actions, relationships, and life. In the pursuit of success, I intend to apply myself fully to my goals and reach them. In doing so, however, I must recognize that material success is less important than my core values. Specifically, the most important indicator of my success is the manner in which I carry myself in my relationships. Although relationships, like every aspect of life, are complicated and complex — I must adhere to a standard of respecting the human dignity of each and every individual. I believe that by maintaining the value of love throughout all of my relationships while pursuing my own ambitions — I can accomplish the most good for myself and others. That being said, responding to difficulty and suffering while maintaining such a standard is difficult. As such, acting with both courage to do what is right and the humility to seek the help of others when you do not know what is right is critical to my mission. By doing so I may grow in wisdom throughout my journey, and hopefully pass said wisdom on later in my life. Over the next three years I need to take advantage of the many opportunities that will be offered to me. Academically and professionally, I must work diligently to prepare myself and work towards a career that I can be proud of. That being said thanks to the conversation I had with my mother about who I am and who I aspire to be, I need to be aware of the consequences of pursuing such things solely. In my reflection I wrote, “How I feel and what I value is not always conveyed in how I act and that I need to take more care with my actions to ensure I am doing things that I would want to see myself doing” (Moreau FYE Week Five). Knowing this is crucial to living the life I wish to. To truly focus love at the center I cannot allow career, academics, or selfish motives to drive all I do. Although these goals are very important in my material success and goals, they are almost irrelevant with respect to my mission. As stated, the health and benefit of the relationships in my life are crucial to leading a life with love at its center. Throughout the course, we have discussed the nature and importance of relationships in some detail. In the ninth week we read Professor Reifenberg’s theory of accompaniment. He writes, “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 Professor Steve Reifenberg - Moreau FYE Week Nine). Although Reifenberg writes in terms of visiting and living with the extremely impoverished — the notion of accompaniment applies to every aspect of relationship. By recognizing the mutuality of suffering, ignorance, and difficulty, one can approach their relationships from a perspective that attempts to understand that fact. Instead of living within your own world and focusing on how everything affects yourself, attempt to listen to the world of others. Arguably, however, this manner of accompaniment requires a certain level of humility. It is extraordinarily easy to bring yourself under the impression that you are practicing accompaniment, when in reality, by attempting to empathize with others you assume that your experiences and history were in some way superior or even inferior to theirs. Although there is certainly some aspect of objectivity in the level of difficulty an individual has faced, I think that in order to best support any person, especially those you are close to, is to leave any trace of that measure behind. To truly support you can neither make excuses for someone’s difficulty nor their success, but as Professor Reifenberg argued — walk with them, together. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hZbSdVImfn2hZDqMrdL96dZCNOtHuf6C-lg3sH-Rs30/edit?usp=sharing https://docs.google.com/document/d/1hZbSdVImfn2hZDqMrdL96dZCNOtHuf6C-lg3sH-Rs30/edit?usp=sharing Throughout the year, I have developed and become more aware of what I value and how I can live in accordance with those values, but there is always learning to be had. To assume one has the answers, especially at the point in life I am now, would be foolish and arrogant. Instead, I must work with what I have discovered to learn more while constantly reevaluating what I presumably know already. In the fourth week, we looked at how we can discern our prospective careers. One reading argued, “The only way to know more about yourself is to test the waters - just get out and experience life!” (“Navigating Your Career Journey” by Meruelo Family Center for Career Development - Moreau FYE Week Four). During the short time I have spent here already I have begun to realize the comfort and ease of sticking to the known. In order to continue to grow here at Notre Dame, I must, as the career center argues, test the waters and truly push myself out of my comfort zone. An important factor in the pursuit of learning about oneself is the concept of self-reflection. Tasha Eurich, in her TED article advised, “The act of thinking about ourselves isn’t necessarily correlated with knowing ourselves” ("The Right Way to be Introspective (Yes, There's a Wrong Way)" by Tasha Eurich - Moreau FYE Week Six). Throughout the process of self-reflection and personal growth, I find it very easy to think negatively about myself. As a naturally pessimistic person, and also a person who is always seeking to improve, I often think about my flaws and mistakes. Although in small doses this may be helpful, but as Eurich points out, it can also be very unhealthy. Instead, I should try more to focus on what exactly I feel with respect to situations and mistakes I have made rather than why I did what I did and why I failed. Throughout the next three years I want to value love first. I want to put my relationships with others first and ensure that, as a human being, I am acting fairly and helpfully towards myself and the people around me. I also want to achieve traditional success here at Notre Dame. https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ https://ideas.ted.com/the-right-way-to-be-introspective-yes-theres-a-wrong-way/ https://ideas.ted.com/the-right-way-to-be-introspective-yes-theres-a-wrong-way/ I believe that by acting with love, working diligently, and expanding my horizons as much as possible, I will be able to achieve this mission.