This Wednesday, I had the opportunity to engage in a discussion about “happiness” in college and how this ties into the concept of “success”. While people may perceive you to be successful at Cornell, are you really happy? With stressful prelims, overachieving peers, and pressure to sign with a top-tier firm for summer internships, we may be more unhappy with our lives than others perceive we are. While we are in very fortunate situations, our busy schedules could be making it more difficult for us to understand how privileged we are in the context of the real world. This thought made me notice how I try to compensate for all the stress I accumulate from my academics by constructing artificial happiness (eg. getting takeout, sleeping in on the weekends). This discussion allowed me to notice how my time in college will be what I make of it, and that making conscious decisions to find happiness is key. Constructing healthy relationships, understanding myself (and my character strengths), and taking on challenges (inside and outside of the classroom) could be good ways to make the most of my experiences at Cornell, and I am glad that I got to partake in this discussion.