Anne Marie Heywood: Most Authentic Self
College students do not often think about discerning their most authentic self. In fact, most students probably don’t even know what this means. Conscientious Capitalism, an application-based course offered exclusively to seniors, offers a 10-week crash course on discerning. I was fortunate enough to be accepted into the course and spend my last quarter. We learned the importance of mentorship and a “personal board of directors” and going through each step of what Bill Mains, our professor, refers to as the discernment process.
In the first five weeks, we worked through knowing ourselves. I discovered not only who I am today but what events, people, disordered attachments, virtues, and attributes led me to be the person I am. For me, living in the same house and close-knit neighborhood my entire life, growing up the youngest of four, and recovering from an eating disorder all played a significant role in shaping who I am. My family has always been an integral part of my life, from grandparents to cousins to my immediate family. My strongest disordered attachments are rooted in comparisons to my older sisters and judgement of my own self. Keeping in line with my life’s theme of “family and friends”, my strongest attributes and virtues were undoubtedly passed down from my parents. Finally, at the end of this section, we identified our purpose in live – the desire that instinctively drives our actions every day. My purpose? To believe in the beauty and power of myself.
During the next three weeks, we worked through developing ourselves. This process helped us discern our priorities in life, both extrinsic and intrinsic. Once we identified our priorities, we worked through our intentions to live a life that honors these priorities. You can imagine most of my priorities centered around fostering and strengthening my relationships with family and friends, as well as caring for myself.
Lastly, we spent the last two weeks of the quarter applying ourselves. These weeks helped set us up to continue our discernment journey beyond Conscientious Capitalism and Santa Clara how the power of others can strengthen our own purpose, priorities, attributes, and virtues.
Santa Clara University is extraordinarily fortunate to have Bill Mains as part of our community. He leads a course that leaves students with the tools they did not even realize they needed to live a more purposeful, fulfilling life. Conscientious Capitalism is open to all students at the university, not just business students. To anyone reading this, I highly recommend you apply for the course when your senior year approaches. If you are accepted, dive in fearlessly and be. You will not regret it.