With the fast-paced school environment and rigorous courses students often take on, finding time to destress can feel impossible for many. Los Altos High School’s Happiness Studies elective changes that for students.
Happiness Studies is a year-long extracurricular course available for sophomores, juniors and seniors. Much like the name suggests, the class explores the study of happiness in psychology and aims to teach students how to improve their mental health.
“There’s a lot of focus on emotionally regulating and figuring out how we manage some of the more painful emotions that we experience,” Bianca Aguirre, the Happiness Studies teacher, said. “That actually readies us to be prepared for doing better learning.”
Along with these lessons to develop essential skills, Happiness Studies also emphasizes the practice of mindfulness to promote happiness, with students often starting every class by reflecting on what they are grateful for.
“At the end of the day, we fixate on the things that maybe didn’t go well, even though there are probably more things in a day that go well than go wrong,” Aguirre said. “Refocusing on good things that are happening and what we’re grateful for has been proven to increase happiness.”
But Happiness Studies isn’t just learning about happiness — it’s also engaging with it. Happiness Studies incorporates frequent field trips, participating in about six field trips throughout the school year.
During field trips to Shoup Park, students journal about their feelings and socialize with one another. The class also has recurring visits to Almond Elementary School throughout the year, where they form bonds with younger students known as “Little Buddies” and have the opportunity to create children’s books for their students. In the future, the class hopes to expand its range of field trips to encompass different topics, according to Aguirre.
“Getting to see students grow from the beginning of the year and be able to manage their stress [is] a pretty unique and special thing to this class,” Aguirre said.
Current senior and Happiness Studies student Liam Meyer said he enjoys the relief from work that the class provides and the chance it gives him to relax during his school day. He also noted the curriculum’s attention to learning about emotions in addition to regulating them.
Advertisements about the elective proclaim that students would choose Happiness Studies over an elective; Meyer agreed with that advertisement, restating the importance of the calming and supportive environment in his class schedule.
“I personally would take [the class] again,” Meyer said. “If you ever feel stressed and you go into Happiness studies, you’ll come out of the class a lot more relaxed and happy. … The teacher really cares about everyone’s mental health and wellbeing.”
