Articles on the Happiness:

https://www.ted.com/talks/robert_waldinger_what_makes_a_good_life_lessons_from_the_longest_study_on_happiness/transcript?language=en

https://hbr.org/2012/01/the-science-behind-the-smile

Articles on Teen Depression, Anxiety, and Suicide from College Prep Work/High School Performance

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6221872

http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2015/12/the-silicon-valley-suicides/413140/

Studies have shown proven this factor of teenage college prep work and stress many times, and you probably have known people, or yourself, to experience this as well. Thousands of teenagers are pushing to do well, to basically do everything to get in the “best college”. The whole concept that we have is that getting the best education means getting the best job, the best salary, the best life,right? So we’re all spending hours of doing homework for AP classes, getting bombarded in extracurricular activities… all in the chance to pursuing our dreams… to be happy.

Does having a great college education, a great job, and effortless work effort make someone happy? Is that really the key to true satisfaction in life?

There has been a multitude of studies down, on what makes people happy, and the key to longer health. After all, wouldn’t be the whole goal and satisfaction of life, would be to live well, and to be happy? Most high school students our age, are thinking about their college, career, their salary, but those are really minimal when it comes to the concept of happiness.  Studies show the key to what makes people achieve that.

Robert Waldinger, the Director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development, has conducted the longest study ever known on happiness. They have conducted this study since 1938, and it has still been continuing since November of 2015.This research program consisted heavily of medical records, video recordings of men talking to their wives about their deepest concerns, blood draws, brain scannings, interviews with study subjects and their children,and so much more. These study subjects consisted of men who first started in this study when they were a teenager, till they were around 80 years of age. What determined good mental health and physical health, especially for increasing old age? Good relationships.

It is not the number of friends that you have, or whether you are in a committed relationship, but the quality of that close relationship. This study has in fact shown, that loneliness kills. People who were in good quality relationships lived a longer, happy, healthier life. People who were lonely wanted to be away from people and were less happy. Their mental health and physical health decline earlier in life, and as a result, they live shorter lives. The surprising thing is, though, is that 1 in every 5 Americans report that they are lonely.

In fact, it wasn’t even their blood cholesterol levels that determined how whether they are going to age gracefully, it was the quality of their relationships.

However,  beyond having rich networks, there are a few other interesting studies on what makes us happier in our day to day life. Psychologist Ed Diener, Professor at the University of Illinois, states that the frequency of your positive experiences has much more effect on your happiness than the intensity of your positive experiences. So being appreciative and feeling good about the small things in life, will make you happier than having a single true amazing thing happen.

There’s is a reason I wrote this article. A multitude of articles has shown that teenagers are experiencing an increasing amount of stress, anxiety, depression, and even suicide, from having too much pressure in high school to perform well academically, and in many forms as well, all in the favour of impressing colleges. I wanted to prove my point of view that although we are a society that is wrapped around the idea of getting into the best college, job, salary, etc.., how little those things matter in life in the big picture. How developing good relationships is the main part and key to happiness. To also express how common loneliness, anxiety, and depression is, and how you can make a difference in somebody’s life just by offering a hand. The main satisfaction you can get out of life is by enjoying it to its contentment, and my goal with this article was to offer more teens that perspective.