Canvas by Kamila Parodi

Thesis Statement

kp1451 — 2025-07-30 12:30:40 UTC

We will always chase happiness since we confuse it by putting ourselves in a constant state of complacency out of fear.

Topic sentence #1

kp1451 — 2025-07-30 12:37:10 UTC

The 21st-century college students happiness is taken from the comparison of other students' past and present.

hedonic treadmill (Brooks)
- We will continue to compare ourselves with other students or people, making it seem like we are on the right track to pursuing the same end goal as everyone else
Tie into Kahneman by continuing the conversation of pursuing happiness will cause you to never find it
Tie into Nolan by finding individualized happiness

Topic sentence #2

kp1451 — 2025-07-30 12:41:25 UTC

If we solely strive for the feeling of happiness or only focus on what could make us happy, we will never achieve happiness.

Topic sentence #3

kp1451 — 2025-07-30 12:49:15 UTC

Changing our mindsets to seeing failures as something inevitable instead of a setback will help us reach true happiness.

Conclusion

kp1451 — 2025-07-30 13:25:13 UTC

The reason why the pursuit of happiness is such an egregious process and why people still ask themselves that question today is that we have programmed ourselves to sacrifice the happiness we have to stay in a state of comfort. And we do this out of fear. The fear of failure is the greatest motivator for everyone, especially college students. But when that motivation is created from such a toxic environment, we start making our surroundings toxic as well, and will diminish our existing happiness along with it. We need to step away from conformity and accept that failure will happen no matter what you do, but also accept that it isn't a setback. We need to focus on our well-being and satisfaction instead of fearing isolation. Without being with ourselves, we will never individualize our happiness and keep thinking it is something that everyone else is feeling as well.