College is typically a time where people try to find themselves. Along with finding yourself, you try to find your place and purpose in this world. This could be anything from what career path you decide to take, to your faith and morals, and even your sexual orientation. We all strive for perfection and fear disappointing anyone. Sometimes in order to find your own happiness, you need to do a little soul-searching. Soul-searching is what I like to refer to as finding what makes you happy and finding the people who make you happy. Essentially, soul-searching is figuring out what makes you, you.

As a rising junior in college, I can say that after a soul-searching experience, I found happiness. Happiness is different for everyone. Each individual person creates his or her own definition of happiness. Happiness is the key to success in everything in life. Being unhappy is like wasting a perfectly good life. You can’t expect to be a successful or productive person if you are unhappy. If you are unhappy, I encourage you to find your own happiness. It can be something small like finding a hobby, or it can be something large like changing the environment you’re in. For me, finding happiness came after realizing what I had after it was gone. It sounds like a cliché quote, but it is so true. I was lucky enough to get back what I had willingly gotten rid of to find something better. Not everyone will be that lucky, I can promise you that.

I won’t bore you with all the details of my story, but in, short it goes something like this. A time came where things got really tough to handle and instead of facing them head on, I decided to pick up and leave the school and the place that I had tried so hard to make my home. I moved on to another place where I thought things would be better. To my surprise, it wasn’t. I instantly realized what I had lost when my friends and a supportive school community no longer surrounded me. I was lucky enough to be blessed with an opportunity to return to my school. Upon my return, something changed inside of me. Realizing how close I was to losing everything made me appreciate Pfeiffer so much more. I found a new love and appreciation for the small school, the lacrosse team, the program I was in, and the people that stood by me every day. I had found my home the whole time; I just hadn’t realized it until then.

I didn’t just find the good in our school; I also decided to see the good in every situation, no matter the circumstances. Before this experience, I was extremely pessimistic. Looking back, I realize that being optimistic creates a positive environment, which leads to happiness. Life is too short to spend any moment unhappy with who you are or where you are. If you are unhappy for any reason, change it. I know it seems like a daunting task, but it is obtainable. Surround yourself with people who make you happy, who support you, and who want nothing more than to see you succeed. Set goals for yourself.Put yourself in an environment where you can grow and you can achieve those goals. And most importantly, don’t ever let anyone create your or take away your happiness. Whether we believe it or not, we know ourselves better than anyone else does. We know what makes us happy and we also know what triggers our undesirable emotions. Therefore, we shouldn’t let anyone else have control of the switch that creates these states of mind.

If you are unhappy, don’t wait for an experience like mine to occur to change your outlook on life. I challenge you to take control, and drive yourself to happiness. Once you are happy, you will never look back. Happiness makes you feel better inside and out. You are the only one who can change you. There will be people out there who try to break you down and who will try to ruin your happiness, but once you’ve found your happiness, you will realize that these people aren’t worth it, and you’ll be even happier without them. Happiness requires strength. It won’t always be an easy road. It’s much easier to be negative and unhappy about a situation. Once you find what does make you happy, it will be easier to stand by it in tough situations. Happiness is the key to a successful life.