Moreau FYE Capstone Integration Professor Retartha 4/29/2022 Following Core Values to A Life Well Lived The prompt for the final capstone integration in the Moreau First Year Experience (FYE) course is the following: how do I pursue a life well lived? This single, short question may at first appear simple. However, behind that question lies layers of self-reflection, planning, and deep thought necessary if one is to truly give a thorough response. One of the reasons that the question is so hard is because there is no singular answer. One person’s life well lived may look drastically different than others. No matter how one’s ideal life looks though, there is an underlying theme of a life well lived being a life that brings said person joy. There is an important distinction to be made between joy and happiness. Happiness is the feeling of positive emotions. Positive emotions come and go, inflate and then wear off. They change from moment to moment. Joy on the other hand is much deeper. It comes from the center of one's being, spawning from “a [feeling of] genuine rightness of how one lives one’s life” ( “Three Key Questions” by Father Michael Himes - Moreau FYE week 3). In order to feel joy, one has to be happy with how they are living their life. The way to be happy with the way one is living their life is to live a life that holds true to their core values. A core value is something that a person holds closest to them in their life. The connections, traits, and/or thoughts that a person values most are their core values. If I am going to live a life well lived, then I have to live a life that is reflective of my core values. That said, what are my core values? Finding my core values is a process that I have gone through for the past 6 months. Throughout high school, I was not always a happy kid and did not find a lot of joy with how I was living my life. When coming to college, I wanted that to change. I wanted to live a life that https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/39614/modules/15864 when I got up in the morning, I was excited to live another day. Luckily for me, I did not have to take this journey of self-discovery alone. The Moreau FYE course guided me in the journey of finding my core values. In week one of Moreau FYE, I learned about how to slow down my life and limit distractions. Technology today has made everything so fast paced, that I sometimes feel like “I’m never truly caught up with my life” (“Why We Need to Slow Down Our Lives” by Pico Iyer - Moreau FYE week 1). However, by slowing down my life, I am able to destress and more effectively focus in my life. In week two of Moreau FYE, we looked at people who have had success at a young age through the Domer Dozen. I personally learned from the description of Dr. Austin Hickman. Dr. Hickman had great success in his line of work, but he also “co-established the Cornell Rowing Club, where he remains a coach” because of his love for rowing as a child (Domer Dozen by Dr. Austin Hickman - Moreau FYE Week 2). This line made me realize that one does not have to sacrifice hobbies and personal interests for success. I have many hobbies such as volleyball that I was not ready to give up, but thought I had to when coming to college. In week four of Moreau FYE, I learned about choosing career paths from the career development center. While the article overall was about choosing career paths, the message from it applied to life as a whole. It taught me that “the only way to know more about [my]self 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 4). If I was going to find my core values, I would have to try new things and encounter new situations in order to find out what I valued in those situations. Week five was all about personal growth, and achieving that through conversation with those closest to you. For this week, I talked to a past coach I had grown close with. We reflected https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/39614/modules/items/144347 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/39614/modules/items/144347 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/39614/modules/items/144367 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/39614/modules/items/144367 https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ https://undergradcareers.nd.edu/navigating-your-career-journey---moreau/ on how each of us grew and changed throughout the multiple years of him coaching my team. He said that throughout the years “I had become unapologetically me” (Discernement Conversation Activity - Moreau FYE Week 5). We both believed that this was necessary to living a life well lived because if one was to hold true to their core values then they had too truly be themselves. Finally in week 6, I learned how to effectively self-reflect. Self-reflection is a very powerful tool in living a life well lived because it allows one to identify and change parts of their life that they don’t like, while appreciating parts of their life they do like. However, if self- reflection is done incorrectly then one “can spend endless amounts of time in self-reflection but emerge with no more self-insight than when [they] started” (“The Right Way to be Introspective” by Tasha Eurich - Moreau FYE week 6). For self-reflection to be effective, it has to be focused with a specific goal in mind. After week 6, I started reflecting more on my previous experiences, both through self- reflection and talking to those closest to me. It was during this period of time that I truly started to understand and articulate my core values. These core values were then articulated in my personal mission statement written in week 13 of Moreau FYE. The mission statement states: “I, , will live my life by holding true to three statements. First, I will support those closest to me, being as good of a friend as I can be. Second, I will work hard to accomplish the goals I have set for myself in life. Third, I will stay true to my beliefs and values, letting those beliefs and values be reflected through my actions.” (“Personal Mission Statement” by - Moreau FYE Week 13) Breaking down this mission statement, the first core value of mine reflected is friends and family. My relationships with those I care about is the thing that I hold most important in my life. I think I value these relationships so highly because “life flows through our relationships with https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1FEfDR-IR3d8EN2tZFBiu1XN2Q2ve8lb5vocAQ9OwX7Q/edit https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1FEfDR-IR3d8EN2tZFBiu1XN2Q2ve8lb5vocAQ9OwX7Q/edit https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/39614/modules/items/144433 https://canvas.nd.edu/courses/39614/modules/items/144433 https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1XubMhLX1VOervIunam2FkbozHU9jbT2nvcqnSq6D6II/edit https://docs.google.com/document/u/0/d/1XubMhLX1VOervIunam2FkbozHU9jbT2nvcqnSq6D6II/edit others” (“Why the only future worth building includes everyone” by Pope Francis - Moreau FYE Week 7). I plan on reflecting this core value by being as good of a friend, sibling, or significant other as I can be. In order to do this, I need to “show compassion”, and “accompany” the people I’m closest with in my life (“Teaching Accompaniment: A Learning Journey Together” by Professor Steve Reifenberg - Moreau Week 9). Showing compassion means being there for the people in my life, and to empathize with them. If more people did this in the world, then there would be a greater chance that a world where “a world where justice and love prevail” is created (”Constitutions of the Congregation of Holy Cross” by Congregation of the Holy Cross - Moreau Week 12). The second core value reflected in my mission statement is working hard. When I was young, I was always told that anything I wanted to do was possible as long as I was willing to work hard enough to do it. Now that I’m older, I realize there are some limitations to that statement, but I still believe that the message of it holds true. If you are willing to put in the necessary work, then you will be able to achieve your goals. In my life I will work hard to fulfill my dreams, as well as help those I care about fulfill theirs. Finally, the last core value of mine (which is not super well portrayed in my mission statement) is that of perspective and open-mindedness. In today's world, the “mainstream sources — schools, textbooks, media — don’t provide us with the multiple perspectives we need'' in order formulate holistic views and make informed decisions (“Why It’s So Hard to Talk to White People About Racism” by Dr. Robin DiAngelo - Moreau week 10). People are so quick to choose their side, make a statement, and then refuse to change it. This process leads to social divide, and it is difficult to mend the resulting social divide due to the echo chambers that are created. Echo chambers are when people are only surrounded by like-minded people, so all they hear is reinforcement of their own beliefs/viewpoints. Echo chambers close minds and “lock [people] into certain world views” (“How to Avoid an Echo Chamber” by Dr. Paul Blaschko - https://www.ted.com/talks/his_holiness_pope_francis_why_the_only_future_worth_building_includes_everyone/transcript 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/1hZbSdVImfn2hZDqMrdL96dZCNOtHuf6C-lg3sH-Rs30/edit https://holycrosscongregation.org/holy-cross-resources/constitutions/2-mission/ https://holycrosscongregation.org/holy-cross-resources/constitutions/2-mission/ https://holycrosscongregation.org/holy-cross-resources/constitutions/2-mission/ https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bdVnfLDrJUJhd-4UtYb_kfRpcFgOoOeY7O1WT8_d3iw/edit https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bdVnfLDrJUJhd-4UtYb_kfRpcFgOoOeY7O1WT8_d3iw/edit https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaIVxQcqnLs&t=1s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaIVxQcqnLs&t=1s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaIVxQcqnLs&t=1s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaIVxQcqnLs&t=1s Moreau week 11). As stated above, one of my core values is perspective. By this I mean that I want to be willing and able to understand the issues of our world from multiple perspectives. By doing this, I will be able to understand others better, while also understanding the given issue better. I will try to understand issues from multiple perspectives before forming my beliefs about them, and once those beliefs are formed, I will keep an open-mind while continuing to learn about our world. As freshman year comes to a close, I can confidently say that I have experienced immense amounts of personal growth throughout the school year. I went from someone who wasn’t joyous with the way I was living life in high school to having the best year of my life during freshman year of college. Through the personal journey I went on, with help from those close to me and Notre Dame student resources, I was able to identify and articulate my core values. Going forward, I will try to live a life reflective of these core values, with the ultimate goal of building upon the joy I experienced during my freshman year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GaIVxQcqnLs&t=1s