Submitted by Samantha Bornhardt on the 2018 winter session program in New Zealand sponsored by the Department of Communication…
As I sit on my plane, tears pool in my eyes as I reflect back on this incredible experience. I sit here now, reliving every moment and wanting it to never end. I am truly thankful to have had this life-changing opportunity to study abroad through the University of Delaware.
I think my biggest take away from this program is the new prospective I have on life. In my Communications 200 class, we discussed the Art of Happiness and Wellbeing—how to both achieve and maintain happiness. We started the class by defining the four different spectrums on the wellbeing scale. We had the rat racer, who made unhappy sacrifices in the present in order to attain happiness in the future. Most of us students identified with this archetype, as we felt we fell into a constant cycle of go to college to get a job, get a job to make a lot of money, make a lot of money to support a family, etc. On the opposite spectrum, we have the hidist, the pleasure seeker who finds happiness in the present, but doesn’t think about its consequences on the future. This archetype is all about “live in the moment” without caring how that might affect their future. Then we have the nihilist, who is both unhappy in the present and future. And finally, the happy archetype, the hardest to attain, who leads a balanced lifestyle of being happy in both the present and future.
When starting off this program, I felt that it was nearly impossible for me to attain the happy archetype. But, considering I was in one the happiest countries in the world, I thought I’d give it a shot and focus on my wellbeing and attempt to find the truly happy me.
Being in a foreign country wasn’t all rainbows and butterflies. In fact, about the third week in, real culture shock started to kick in. I had a hard time accepting many of their values at that time, however I kept my eye on the prize and focused on my personal wellbeing. I began tracking my emotions throughout the day, trying to address the uncertainty I was feeling by making myself more self-aware. That’s when I decided to attempt to define happiness. Many see happiness as a destination, that once we reach it, everything is perfect. However, this mentality, which I had discovered by week three, sets one up for failure. I then began to take a look at the Maori culture, to see how they find happiness in the littlest things in life. After much investigating, I found that they define happiness as a never-ending journey. They see that there’s always room to improve and that there may at times be bumps in the road. Once, I took a step back and evaluated this philosophy, it changed my approach on life. By the time we reached Wellington, I had worked my way back to peak happiness.
I have learned an enormous amount on this program, but my biggest take away was what I learned about happiness. I learned that being self-aware is one the most essential parts of finding pleasure in life. If one is able to look at themselves and see where they fall on the spectrum, it helps make the journey to happiness a little bit easier. I definitely owe the country of New Zealand and the Maori culture a huge thank you for helping me find myself. I am eternally grateful for this program and am proud of who I am now. I can say with confidence that now, I fit the happy archetype and that I’m excited to return to the United States and share my journey with others.
