Cockerham 1

S. Nicole Cockerham
UWRT 1102, Sec 29: Happiness Final Draft
Professor Jizi
19 March 2016
What Happiness Means to Me
Happiness is an emotional state that we all fall in and out of. I know when I am
most happy and when Im least happy, but happiness goes unrecognized if it is not
extreme. My boyfriend, family, puppy, and occasionally food make me happy, but what
makes a person happy can change from day to day. It is an intense feeling of delight. It
never lasts long, but it occurs often. I am happy when something meaningful happens,
when something good happens whether to myself or someone else. If I think about what
would make me most happy right now, I would conclude on finishing school, remaining
healthy, and making other people happy.
Finishing school, on time and with a degree of my choosing, would
probably make me the happiest person in the world. I have never been an A student, but I
have always been a hard worker. Schoolwork stresses me out and I cannot wait to finish. I
love learning, but test taking gives me anxiety along with the change of a new school and
professors that expect different criteria from me than in the past. It intrigues me to learn
about what is important to me, which to help others in their health and healing. I am
overwhelmingly excited to learn about what will help me achieve the job of my dreams,
Nursing. Along with finishing school comes finding and keeping a job. Being able to call
myself an adult, having a degree with a job, and some day a husband and family, makes
me happy. Even thinking about my hopes and desires, makes me happy.

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There are many things from the past that have made me happy, but dont seem to
make me happy anymore. Soccer used to be my favorite past time, and at one point I
thought it was my reasoning for existing on earth. But from my experience and the tragic
end to my passion, it opened a new door for me. I have discovered a social life and
friends I never thought I would have. With the worst two years of my life, I was
introduced to the best social life someone my age could as for with some of the best
people I have ever met in my life. The worst two years of my life entailed no sports, the
loss of many friends that I thought I knew and loved, and the process of learning how to
walk again. This was my self-exploration between my last year in high school and my
first year in college. That gap is what shaped me into the woman I am today, and without
that injury and heartache, I wouldnt be where I am now.

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The happiest years of my life had been playing soccer. Now, I am most happy
when I am with my friends and family. How have I been happy? Ive been smiling, worry
free, and not thinking that I could be happier. I feel like most people are happy but let the
happiness go unrealized because it hits a point where you dont notice it anymore. In high
school, during a biology class, I was taught about receptors and marijuana (and other
drugs that give us the same effect), and that in order to reach a high as big as the first
time you use drugs, you need to use more and more. It comes to a point to where some
peoples receptors diminish, making it impossible to reach the same high again. I can
relate this to what I think happens with people and happiness. People get so happy, that it
gets hard to top that sense of happiness. There are only so many big, happy events that
can happen to make a person feel like they are on cloud nine. Although we may be happy,
it isnt that overwhelming feeling of happiness that we get, so we dont recognize it as
true, real happiness. With this being said, as humans, we do the same thing with sadnesswe hit such a low point at some point in our life that we arent constantly sad or happy,
just cruising in the middle of the spectrum because we arent overwhelmingly happy or
sad. This plays true in my life right now, but a few years ago, I was on both extremes of
the spectrum.

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Remaining healthy makes me a happy person. A few years ago, I broke my femur
and hip in a soccer injury. I had always played soccer, my whole life. I was kicking a ball
months after I learned to walk on two feet. Its always been a part of me, and something
that kept me happy. It didnt make me happy, it kept me happy. When I played, and
trained, and spoke about it, it kept me a happy person. Then the injury occurred and
everything has changed since. After playing on if for half a year, and becoming more and
more debilitated after each play, I decided I couldnt be tough and play through the pain.
Now, at the time, I thought my life was over. I went into a very depressed state, a state
my friends, family, and teammates visibly saw. I honestly didnt think I would ever be as
happy as I was when I played, but something miraculous happened. After two extensive
surgeries and three years of rehabilitation, I value being able to exercise and lead a
healthy lifestyle. It makes me happy that I can get up and walk when I want to, or take
the stairs to get to class. It makes me happy that I can live and value the life I didnt value
for a long time. Its the very simple things that make me happiest.
Finally, one last thing that makes me extremely joyful is making other people
happy and seeing other people happy. Christmas is my favorite holiday, not because I
receive gifts, but because I get to pick out and give others gifts. I plan, sometimes months
in advance, for the perfect gift. I love to see others happy and joyful, and it makes me feel
good that I know what makes someone else happy. As weird and clich as it is; making
other people happy is my happiness.

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What makes me happy, right now, is the simple things in life. Happiness doesnt
last long, but it occurs often. What makes me happy today might not make me happy
tomorrow. I want what most people want from life, to be worry-free, to fit in, and to be
surrounded by friends and family. As long as I reach my goals and fulfill the little things,
I am a happy person.

Three-Step Response
Peer Reviewed by Hannah Harper

1. Velcro Words and Phrases

It is an intense feeling of delight
Schoolwork stresses me out
tragic
I have discovered a social life and friends that I never thought I would

have
without that injury and heartache, I wouldnt be where I am now
It didnt make me happy, it kept me happy
debilitated
I thought my life was over
Its the very simple things that make me happiest
extremely joyful
making other people happy is my happiness
As long as I reach my goals and fulfill the little things, I am a happy
person

2. Feelings

Exciting

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Empathetic
Glad
Happy
Sympathetic
Compassionate
Caring
Grateful

3. Questions
What are some specific times you can think of where you have truly

been happy?
What happened to make the two years the worst two years of your

life?
Do you think most people in the world are happy, but do not seem

happy because they are not extremely happy?

Why do you think things that used to make people happy, no longer
make people happy over a period of time?