Matthew McConaguey said in his book “Greenlights”, “I’ve got a lot of evidence the world is conspiring to make me happy.” That phrase became a meaningful part of my life. Because it’s true. The universe does conspire to make me happy. No matter the effort I put into feeling like life is demoralizing or how stressed out I get about whatever I’m focused on, I always find myself happy sometime later.

The gaps between happiness can and will be challenging, and it can seem like everything is going against you. But you let yourself down when you let those moments make a lasting impression on your view of the world. It’s so short-sighted to let terrible yet fleeting moments be the ones that shape your outlook. There is an unlimited amount of happiness at your disposal.

Embrace the fact that you will be unhappy at times, and it will make the majority of the time– the happy times– all that much more worth it. It’s easy to identify with your struggles and feel like they are a part of you. Focus on learning to appreciate the fact that you are human, that you get one life and that you won’t really live it if you don’t learn to love the happy moments rather than the sad ones.

There are a whole lot of things that have made the happy moments worth it to me. Tower is one of them. I found a home with The Tower, and I found people that have made positive impacts on my life. Some of my biggest thanks goes to Edge, my adviser, for always encouraging me to say what I felt. Charlotte and Eva have been an excellent pair to publish the paper with this year, and I’m thrilled we were able to achieve what we did. We also couldn’t have done it without the rest of staff, and for that I thank all those involved week to week.

I have also made some great friends, and life has led me to being surrounded by a group of people that I really enjoy. Really good people too. Time spent together with them has been no time wasted. I couldn’t imagine being friends with anyone else, mostly because I still haven’t met anyone as funny as us. Believe me guys, we’re really funny. What I would do for a transcript of our jokes or recordings of our get-togethers.

Another thing that makes me happy is the future. Yes, a significant portion of my education is coming to a close, and it’s sad, but it’s really exciting too. This fall I’ll be attending the Irvin D. Reid Honors College at Wayne State University, pursuing a major in Biological Sciences and a minor in Public Health, with hopes of attending medical school. I can’t wait to start learning about what I want to do for the rest of my life, and although there will be losses in the transition, I’m choosing to let it be a chance for growth rather than a sullen departure.

Please do your best to be happy. Enjoy every moment you can and when you find yourself getting stuck in those cycles of discouragement, please think about every other time you’ve made it through. The universe conspires to make you happy. There’s no glory in intentionally remaining sad, and I’ll leave you knowing that I’ll choose to live in the happy moments.