Being deep and meaningful is a bit much on a Wednesday morning. But if you had to put on your tie-dye and think about it, what makes you happy? For me, there’s nothing that can’t be fixed by Diet Coke, ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and having sex five times on a Saturday morning.

But I’m worried about Syracuse University. If you take a step back and look at students zooming their way through the week, happiness doesn’t really look like it’s happening.

A blonde in class is staring at her split ends with a bored expression. A girl is screaming at her phone at the bus stop —her boyfriend ‘just doesn’t respect me as a woman.’ Another is walking on the Quad at 9 a.m., tears freezing on her face. The boy next to her doesn’t even notice because his outlook’s so bleak his forehead’s scraping the concrete. I don’t blame him. The only reason he got up this morning was to fulfill the liberal arts core.

Happiness is one of those things you don’t realize you have until you don’t have it anymore. Happiness is as big a part of health just like breathing. Happiness boosts your immune system and can even make you more successful, according to WebMD’s website.

If medical drama reruns don’t do it for you, there are lots of other ways to get a smile back on your face. Here are some students’ handy hints for happy times.

OK, so you still haven’t even looked at your sneakers since the first week of January. Move your butt. Forrest Misenti, a junior nutrition major and member of the cross-country team, has been running his way to happiness for 17 years. Misenti started running with his dad when he was 4 and ran his first 5K when he was 5.

‘I just love the feeling of running at night,’ Misenti said. ‘The streets are my own, and I get to think.’

At 21 years old, four stress fractures in many years are screwing up his yellow brick road. But Misenti keeps running 100 miles a week. He knows he’s going somewhere happy.

Yeah, whatever. I know you’re taking 18 credits and your life is like, totally awful. But find time for grown-up arts and crafts. Mike Young, a junior environmental studies major, is taking happiness for a ride.

‘I like driving cars and working on them,’ he said. ‘It’s nice to know the car feels as it does because I made it that way.’

Some countries take their happiness more seriously than others. The South Asian state of Bhutan passes all of its legislation only if it is agreed that a law will increase the ‘net happiness’ of its inhabitants. Suck on that, Barack.

I’ll cut you some slack. Sometimes feeling like sh*t feels kind of good. Kirsten Egerstrom, a philosophy graduate assistant, doesn’t think occasional bleakness is a bad thing.

‘I suspect it may be that a meaningful life need not be a very happy one. Some type of pain or hardship does not detract from the meaningfulness of a life,’ she said.

Wherever your pursuit of happiness leads you, take note of modern philosopher Kid Cudi. Everything that shines ain’t always going to be gold. Saying that, I’m off to Bhutan. I’ll be fine once I get there.

Iona Holloway is a junior magazine journalism and psychology dual major. Her roommate has a whiteboard for tallying the number of times she cries for no reason in a semester. It’s approaching 100. She can be reached at ijhollow@syr.edu.

Published on February 7, 2012 at 12:00 pm