What I Learned

I learned a lot of things from this presentation. Laurie Santos enlightened me on the way to live an overall happier life and improve the way I live on a day to day basis. I learned how important it is to take time out of my day to be thankful and grateful for all the things given to me in life. She taught me to really count all the blessings I have in life. After learning this, I’ve started to try taking a minute or two out of my day to write out all the things I am grateful for. Not only did she say studies prove that this increases a better quality of life, but personally, I’m starting to see positive results. Santos also taught me the importance of helping other people. She expressed that people who help others are more happy in life. I’ve also started to help others before helping myself at times, and can really start to see a happier lifestyle panning out.

What My Partner Learned

My partner Saavan took away a ton of concepts as well. One thing Saavan took from Santos was that helping others help us more than we expect. He can relate to this because he noticed that the more he starts helping and giving to others, the happier his life becomes. Another thing he took away was writing a letter of gratitude to someone. He noticed that people that receive this letter will actually appreciate it more than you will ever know. Giving a letter of gratitude to someone spreads the happiness they bring you to them, which will reciprocate it back.

What My Group Took Away

Derek’s Thoughts: What I found interesting about the video is that everyone deals with stress, and it is not something easy to just deal with. One thing that Laurie Santos was that 40% of the students from her class in Yale said they feel helpless. This really struck me because it puts into perspective how many people deal with some sort of unhappiness and that we are not alone.

Rohan’s Thoughts: It was relatable, she mentioned good strategies to reduce stress. The statistics that she said were also very alarming to me. I also believe that stress hinders the ability to learn.

Dillon’s Thoughts: I found it very surprising how much anxiety and stress the average college student has during their time spent in academic environment. It makes me worry about myself and how college life will be like. I also reflect and think about how much correlation it has with high school stress at Del Norte.

Saavan’s Thoughts: I thought it was good to know the things we need to do to relieve stress. I believe that it is very important in working towards living a happier life, and its not as easy as it sounds.

Note of Gratitude to My Brother

I wanted to write a note of gratitude to my brother. I just wanted to thank him for listening to personal stuff I can only talk to him about, and helping me better myself in ways. I’m thankful that he takes the time out of his busy day to go to the gym with me if I ask. I also am thankful that he understands and tells me what I need to work on so that I can better myself academically and in my personal growth.

Gratitude List

Things Im Grateful for:

  • my parents
  • my brother
  • my friends
  • house
  • food
  • water
  • clothes
  • my dog