Canvas by Veronica Edwards

Thesis

vfe7 — 2025-07-30 14:19:21 UTC

In the 21st century, as college students faces academic and social pressure, forming meaningful connections through relationship, community engagement and getting involved is crucial for experiencing genuine happiness.

vfe7 — 2025-07-30 14:19:36 UTC

Harvard professor, Arthur C Brooks, explains in his article on how cultivating a strong relationship through faith, family, friends and society is the key to happiness. Similarly,Aubrey Nolan, a writer in the New York Times, also focuses on the importance of finding peace by creating your own refuge and seeking social support. Another influential person, Nobel prize winner Daniel Kahneman, illustrates how switching our focus from the remembering self to the experiencing self, our day to day life, could enhance our memories of happiness if we live in the present and cherish the things or people around us.

emotional support

vfe7 — 2025-07-30 14:21:28 UTC

As college students, Leaving home to an entirely different environment to navigate the world on your own is difficult and can cause some emotional distress. It becomes important to find a support system that can assist in students' everyday life. For example, a friend to remind you that the assignment is due or there is an activity going on, or even someone to talk to when you feel like venting out. Creating meaningful social connections serve as the backbone support when the pressure to maintain scholarships, mental fatigue from constant studying and uncertainties kicks in, having someone to share ideas with increases the overall well being of our cognitive health and promotes happiness.

Reduce loneliness

vfe7 — 2025-07-30 14:23:34 UTC

connecting with others helps students feel heard and seen. It is easy to become lonely and depressed due to the use of social media in this century. Our generation has moved from physical communication and has resulted in hiding behind the screens, describing our emotions with emoji that does not fully express the seriousness or the importance for the message we are trying to portray. Joining clubs and getting involved in college activities help students reduce loneliness which in tend reduces unhappiness. It limits the feeling of being lost and the feeling of having to result in negative vices such as drinking, distracting class, or getting into fights to feel seen or heard. Relationships with friends encourage a positive attitude instead since there are people you can count on.

Create a sense of belonging

vfe7 — 2025-07-30 14:29:32 UTC

Creating a sense of belonging promotes happiness in students’ lives. Engaging with people from different backgrounds, religions and cultures exposes students to find themselves which help them grow intellectually. The feeling of having your “people” make you feel safe. This helps students to find confidence in themselves wherever they are.

connections

vfe7 — 2025-07-30 14:31:08 UTC

Brooks in his article emphasizes on the importance of building connections to finding real happiness. According to him, people find joy when they shift their focus from securing materialistic things to forming deep relationships and community bonds. He states that “They are mostly never about work or school. Instead, we share small moments…. It is like medicine to me. Each message is like the evening flower…bringing quiet satisfaction (Brooks 20).

connections

vfe7 — 2025-07-30 14:31:48 UTC

Kahneman focuses on the differences between the experiencing self, how we feel in the moment and the remembering self, how we recall and evaluate the past experiences. Students should focus on increasing moments of positive social engagement as they are present in college even if the experience is not huge or memorable to cause a big impact in the student’s narrative. Kahneman stated that, “we actually don’t choose between experiences, we choose between memories of experiences. And even when we think about the future, we don’t think of our future normally as experiences” (09:38).

connections

vfe7 — 2025-07-30 14:58:49 UTC

Nolan reflects on finding peace in a restless city with hers being the museum and being able to balance emotions during chaos. She stresses on the idea of forming connections and not escaping the noise but rather finding deep ways to be connected with it. This highlights how belonging is not always found in quiet or familiar places but could be found in the midst of chaos. In a city that never quiets down, the search to find peace is through connections. The ability to carve out small moments of calmness, even in a crowd of friends, can foster a sense of belonging and promotes happiness

conclusion

vfe7 — 2025-07-30 15:19:39 UTC

In today's world where personal responsibilities, social pressure and academic stress collide, the search of happiness can be unbearable. However, making meaningful bonds promotes the well-being of students and makes them feel supported and seen. As mentioned by Brooks, Nolan and Kahneman, the key to long lasting happiness is not from achievements or desires but from human connection. Whether it is finding peace in a noisy city or shifting focus to present experiences. Essentially, forming meaningful connections is not only beneficial but it is essential for college students who are in the search for a more joyful anf fulfilling life.