Happiness is...

Today was graduation day. Not for me, but for the second years who thus by nature are infinitely more wise and experienced and ready-for-the-world than us menial first-years. I am really happy for them. I was fortunate enough to become friends with several second years, which only made the day a little more tough on my sensitive emotions. Nonetheless, I know they're off to change the world, in whatever way that may be: international policy, domestic policy, nonprofit management, private sector, etc. Today was the day, as the class speaker said, that they changed from "future policymakers" to just plain "policymakers." Wow.

Anyway, by far the best part of the already short ceremony was when the student-nominated speaker got up and spoke about something so simple as happiness. Yes, a speech on happiness definitely has the potential to turn awry, but I gave him a chance, and it turned out to be a good decision on my part. Basically, his speech was simply a really eloquent way of having the audience question themselves about their meaning of friendship, and what makes them happy? Ben, the speaker, concluded that friends make us happy. I couldn't agree more. Friendships and relationships naturally come with the potential for frustration, heartbreak, disappointment and separation, but those are the risks we all take by 'accepting' our friendships and developing them into whatever they become. The time we spend with our friends --whether it is studying, eating, cooking, making fools of ourselves, or reflecting together--helps shape us into who we are and what we become. And while there may not be any certain distinguishable moment of are friends really 'shaping' or changing us, it just happens. And that in itself is, not to sound cliche, a really beautiful thing. And that, my friends, is the type of thing that makes me really nostalgic and happy, and reminds me of how blessed I am to have all my amazing friends and family in my life.
I was really *happy* that Ben decided to talk about happiness, especially in the way he did. The last thing graduate students need to hear before leaving academia is about our "potential," "intellect" and "accomplishments." While obviously graduating from graduate school DOES involve all of these great things, I think it's so much more meaningful to emphasize the aspects of our time at school outside of the classroom to reflect on who we are, as real people.
Maybe I'm totally overreacting to a simple graduation speech, but it just made me really...happy!

Congrats to all you Bushies! I'm excited to see where we all end up!

So...what's happiness to you?