Hannah Thomson

Dr. Rand
UWRT 1103
11 November 2014
The Whos, Whats, Whens, Wheres, and Whys of Happiness
Now and then its good to pause in our pursuit of happiness and just be
happy(Anonymous). Being happy means a multitude of things to everybody. Some people
think the happiest moment of their life will be when they get married, some think when they
have children, and some younger people think their happiest moment will be when they finally
get that big kid job theyve always wanted. What and when will the happiest moment of my
life be, a question many, including myself, ponder from day to day. Throughout multiple
interviews and scholarly articles I have found different themes and connections among people by
their age, gender, and maturity levels that identifies the meaning behind our happiest moment(s).
The history and reason I decided to research happiness and find out when people will
have their happiest moments is because I am so consumed with wondering what the happiest
moment of my life will be. Being a nineteen-year-old girl I obviously dream of falling in love
and having a family with a successful job, but one thing I may fail to realize is that my happiest
moment may have already occurred and I am completely taking it for granted. Maybe its time
we put a little more thought and effort into being thankful for what we have instead of focusing
on what we want.
My interviews consisted of a series of eight questions. I decided early on in my writing
process I would go into these interviews with the intentions of just reading off the questions and
writing down the exact responses. This idea sounded fine and dandy but deep down I was

Thomson 2
hoping to find more. I was hoping to encounter real conversations and see peoples true colors.
I wanted to hear stories about great and exciting memories and things they will never forget. I
wanted to hear their fears and worries but hopefully talk them out of these fears and encourage
people to take the extra risk in life because that extra risk could end up to be your happiest
moment. While conducting these so called interviews I realized how much they had turned into
conversations.
In my interviews I found a common theme that those older than thirty believe they have
already had their happiest moment, while those younger than thirty think this moment is yet to
come. It is a proven study that the older you are the happier outlook you have on life (David).
This not only means in everyday life, but in when your happiest moments occur as well (David).
My first interview was with Ashley, a 50-year-old teacher who has four children. When
interviewing Ashley the first thing I realized was how quickly she responded. It was almost like
she had already been thinking about the happiness topic before picking up the phone to talk with
me. Ashley stated that her happiest moment was when she accepted Christ as her Lord and
Savior (Smith, Ashley). This spoke volumes to me since I am a Christian as well and was raised
in a southern Baptist home. This got me thinking that maybe my happiness moment was when I
accepted Christ, as well. My second interview was with Shannon, a nineteen-year-old student
from Raleigh, North Carolina. In this interview I found that she thinks her happiest moment will
be when she can look back on life and feel accomplished (Zavodney, Shannon). Shannon thinks
this moment will be her happiest but she said in all honesty she has no idea at what point in life
this moment will occur. To Shannon feeling accomplished means once she is able to look back
on all she has done and feel a since of pride and confidence (Zavodney, Shannon).

Thomson 3
Although most went along with this pattern, one of my interviewees, Allie, who is an
eighteen-year-old, freshman at The University of North Carolina at Charlotte felt she already had
her happiest moment, despite being under the age of thirty (Rae, Allie). She explained that when
deciding where to go to school and what to study for the rest of her life she had an ahh-ha
moment. She was meeting with a man named Brandon who quickly made her realize she wanted
to work with children who had disabilities (Rae, Allie). Allie says this moment made her feel
like her life had a purpose and meaning to it. Although Allie is only eighteen she feels as though
this moment will help define her for the rest of her life (Dale, Melissa). By focusing on whats
going on in her life now Allie is able to enjoy what could be her happiest moment rather than
searching for it. Shannon on the other hand may be looking past all of the positive things she has
going on right now and trying to only make it to the point in life where she can feel
accomplished. While it is good to have admirable goals similar to Shannon and Allie
sometimes it is good to enjoy the moments leading up to our goals.
Another key factor that influenced how passionate and confident interviewees were in
their answers was gender. Women tended to be more heartfelt and passionate about their
answers while men tended to answer me with a more confused and questioning tone. Many of
the girls and women alike acted like they knew exactly what they were doing. It is proven that
overall women are happier than men (Easterlin). For example, Ashley, one of my older, female
interviewees I mentioned before says her happiest moment was when she accepted Christ as her
Lord and Savior (Smith, Ashley). Ashley sounded so proud and enthusiastic about this. She was
not ashamed or scared to tell me, but instead was excited and vibrant about it! Allie, the
eighteen-year-old previously discussed said her happiest moment was when she found out what
she wanted to do with her life (Rae, Allie). Allie seemed like she was one hundred percent

Thomson 4
confident on her discussion with Brandon. The way she talked about children and how they
affected her was done with such desire and feeling. On the other hand, I interviewed Devin, an
eighteen-year-old, male, freshman in college who had no idea what his happiest moment was so
far. He said he has had plenty of good memories and experiences but is not able to pin point one
(Keith, Devin). When asking what he thinks his happiest moment to come is he said he was not
sure. He said, I guess when I get married, or maybe when I have kids. To be honest Im not
really sure. (Keith, Devin) Listening to a males response versus a females response can blow
your mind. I was so used to hearing an exact plan of how everything was going to happen in
these girls lives and then when I got to Chris it was like he was so laid back and was not
stressing about it. I not only saw this common theme of lack of preparedness in young man but
in an older man as well. I interviewed Zach, a fifty two-year-old Vice President for Harris
Teeter (Irvin, Zach). When going into the interview with Zach who was obviously successful in
life I thought for sure he would have great answers for me that were full of excitement. When I
asked Zach what his happiest moment so far in life was he said, I guess when I got
married.(Irvin, Zach) I was a little taken back and followed up by saying you guess?! Zach
quickly reveled to me how he was living life day-to-day and not focusing on one specific aspect
of his life (Irvin, Zach). Zach reiterated to me how much he loved his wife and family and
thankful for he was for them, but the fact of the matter was he had great things happen to him
everyday. He stated how he thanked God each and every morning for blessing him with such a
successful and content life (Irvin, Zach). After noticing this theme I came to the conclusion that
women very much want to be in control of how their life plays out and how every little detail
will affect them, while men are more go with the flow. Personally, I like to know what is going
to happen and when. I definitely see this theme portrayed in myself. Males tended to focus a lot

Thomson 5
on the now in life rather than the past of future of life. Both Devin and Zach explained how
thankful they were for today.
Another key theme I found was the different definitions of happiness. I found that most
everyone had a similar definition. Websters dictionary defines happiness as an experience that
makes you happy. (Websters dictionary) When interviewing people they kept using the words
content and stable. Content means being pleased or satisfied with something (Websters
dictionary) and stable means in a good state or condition that wont be changed. (Websters
dictionary) When I heard these words being repeated over and over again I began to wonder if
my definition of happiness included being content and stable. The definition of happiness that I
came up with was being able to be joyful in times that arent the best and being able to find
something positive in every situation. Personally I think if you can find a positive outlook on life
even when it may not seem to be the happiest I think you as a person are happy and not worried
about the future. Throughout this project I found myself repeatedly asking how I felt compared
to others and their opinion on my interview questions. I often found myself either agreeing one
hundred percent or disagreeing one hundred percent with my interviewees. Being content and
stable in the now is very important. We as a society need to realize that today may not be the
best day of our life but one day things will get better.
While constructing this study I began to ask myself these interview questions. At the end
of my self-interview I came to the conclusion that throughout life I may have lots of different
happy moments. Our life shouldnt be focused on just one moment when we feel the happiest
but instead on all the happy memories and moments we get to share with others. I find it hard to
have one big happiest moment for so many different areas and times in our lives. Personally, I
want to go with the flow of life. I dont want to be searching for this happiest moment, but

Thomson 6
instead I want these happy moments to come to me. I do think that a lot of my happiness
depends on others. I constantly find myself worrying about how something I do will affect
others or if it wont affect them at all. I tend to be a people pleaser, meaning I look out for
others before myself. I find that if those around me are pleased and happy with their
circumstance then I am happy as well. Some people may think I am crazy for this but to an
extent I do think my happiness depends on how much income I have. I enjoy having nice things,
a term some may call materialistic. Call it what you want, I like to take care of myself and
present myself with confidence. While I enjoy these things I also know when enough is enough.
I have learned (the hard way) when I need to stop focusing on money and instead base my
happiness on how I feel.

Thomson 7
Works Cited
Content. (n.d.) Websters Online Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/content
David D Witt, George D Lowe, Charles W Peek, Evans W Curry. Social Forces. The Changing
Association Between Age and Happiness: Emerging Trend or Methodical Artifact?.
Version58. Oxford University Press. (n.p). Web. 8 November 2014.
Easterlin, Richard A. "Happiness of Women and Men in Later Life: Nature, Determinants, and
Prospects - Springer." Happiness of Women and Men in Later Life: Nature,
Determinants, and Prospects - Springer. Version 20. Springer Netherlands, 2003. Web.
7 November 2014.
Happiness. (n.d.) Websters Online Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/happiness
Irvin, Zach. Personal interview. 9 November 2014.
Keith, Devin. Personal interview. 5 November 2014.
Rae, Allie. Personal interview. 6 November 2014
Smith, Ashley. Personal interview. 8 November 2014.
Stable. (n.d.) Websters Online Dictionary. Retrieved from http://www.merriamwebster.com/dictionary/stable
Zavodney, Shannon . Personal interview. 6 November 2014

Thomson 8
Reflection
When the inquiry paper first got announced in class I really excited! I thought for sure I
would be able to bust out a six-page paper in no time, especially since I got to pick the question I
wanted to answer. I thought to myself this is just like a research paper from high school. Little
did I know an inquiry paper is actually not a research paper. The most interesting thing I learned
while writing my inquiry paper is that I am allowed to have myself as the audience. I did not
think I would be able to say I or talk about how happiness affects me, but inquiry can really
address anyone! The biggest struggle I had was finding a way to combine primary and
secondary research. I found myself using a lot of my interview results for sources and examples.
I wanted to be able to find real studies done that have proved my findings from interviews. I
overcame this by using Google scholar. This site was mind blowing to me! If I had known
about this in high school my life would have been ten times easier. My inquiry question itself
did not change overtime, but my answer-developed overtime. I moved from one specific
happiest moment to realizing different moments occur in different parts of our lives and it is
okay to have more than one. I tended to focus on the fact that we need to be thankful for the
good things we have right now in life. It is important to look at a historical view of the
happiness topic because I have to have a backbone to my paper. There has to be something that
sparked not only my interest but someone elses interest as well. I think my evaluation skills
have changed because of all of the interviews I conducted. I learned throughout this paper to dig
deeper and get to the roots of how people are feeling. I think I am most proud of the answer this
project has given me. I wrote this paper for me, to try and figure out when I will be the happiest
in life. I have now realized that I need to be thankful for the things I have right now and to stop
searching for more. Looking into further research I think I will be interested in what my

Thomson 9
interviewees will have to say about happiness a year or two from now. It is interesting how
peoples opinions of happiness can change from time to time.