It was a baking hot, early August day when I first met Gen. It was one of her first workshops for the Happiness Legacy, and there were only two students present. She seemed nice enough and was very outspoken about the challenges students nowadays face. I immediately decided that, despite the unpleasantry of having to walk ten minutes on Sherbrooke under the murderous sun, the workshop was worth it.
My memories are a little fuzzy now, but I can recall this one line like I’d just heard it five minutes ago:
“When the semester starts and you feel swamped by everyone achieving more than you do, remind yourself of this image [of where you truly want to be in the near future]. Remember you’re becoming that person by staying true to your own values and priorities, and the person who’s getting a 4.0 while running five different clubs may be just doing it for the sake of getting into law school.”
It was a practice I’d frequently used ever since. It eased the anxiety I often felt by watching everyone getting ahead with their lives and studies while I was just sitting there, seemingly taking a break from the reality. For someone who spends thirty to forty hours a week writing and editing, it was the most reassuring advice I’d come across in months.
Gen founded the Happiness Legacy in June 2017, with the aim of promoting mental and physical health for university students. The initiative started as a Facebook group, The Happiness Legacy: Tips and Inspiration for University Students. Thus far, the group has over 500 members from all over Canada, monthly activities/workshops, and a podcast. For one person, this project is a hell of a success.
“In psychology, they teach you the theories. In grad school, they’ll also teach you all the right things to say to someone else’s problems, but we never learn how to disclose, or to deal with, our own stress. That’s why I started this initiative,” confessed the PhD/PsyD student who aspires to dedicate her career to preventing mental health problems in young adults.
In an interview earlier in the week, Gen and I sat down for a light lunch, during which we talked about the prospects of the Happiness Legacy, her own academic career, and tips for fellow students.
Alice Liu for Her Campus McGill (HC): What’s the Happiness Legacy (HL) about? Why did you launch it?
Geneviève M LaRoche (GMLR): HL is about sharing life lessons and ideas that will get students thinking about the things that truly matter in life, such as our well-being, our health, and our happiness. I want to empower students to think about what matters to them, what their dreams are, and what their values are. This is important because, in university, many of us fall into an autopilot mode, doing what we are expected to do or what seems like the next logical step without really asking ourselves what we truly want to do next.
HC McGill: Why did you launch it?
GMLR: I started it to honour the person I was 4-5 years ago. As someone who had struggled with anxiety and depression for a long time, the transition to university took its toll. I stopped being active. It was as if all of my personal interests, exercise included, went out of the window, and I spent all of my energy on doing well in school. I thought it would lead me to success. I ended up over-worked and over-stressed. I was not eating well. I was not exercising. I was not sleeping enough. At the time, I thought I was the only one who couldn’t balance it all. It was not true. As soon as I started talking about it, it gave a lot of other people the confidence to come forward as well. I also started the project because I think it’s unacceptable that we’re never explicitly taught about the things that truly matter in life: health, happiness, wellbeing, etc. I started my project to share the lessons and information I wish I had been taught when I was 20, when I was starting university.
HC McGill: We now know what HL has done in the past months (see above), but what about its future?
GMLR: I have so many ideas for this project, including a scheme of multiple workshops and activities for students and continuing to work on the podcasts. Especially the podcast – it allows me to connect with students in BC, PEI, etc. Once I graduate, I would love to host conferences in universities across Canada to reach out to more students. I want to give young adults, especially students, the tools and information they need to optimize their health, well-being, and personal success – whatever it means to them!
HC McGill: It must be a lot of work to manage!
GMLR: I have been spending most of my free time working on this project. It doesn’t feel like work because I enjoy it so much. It also keeps me on track: it reminds me to take care of myself when I’m facing overwhelming workload from my graduate studies.
HC McGill: What did you want to do when you entered university? What are you doing now?
GMLR: To be honest, I had no clue what I wanted to do. All I wanted to do was to help people. I wanted to leave the world a better place than when I entered it. I guess you could say that answer still holds today.
HC McGill: Would you do things differently if you can go back as a first year?
GMLR: I would prioritize myself more. Life can be overwhelming because we must juggle many priorities at once. At the same time, the most important relationship each and every one of us will ever have is with ourselves. Not with our boyfriend or girlfriend, nor with our family members or our best friends. I wish I had realized this earlier and prioritized my health and wellbeing before anything else.
HC McGill: If you could pick one piece of advice to send to your first-year self, what would it be?
GMLR: Believe in yourself. No matter our qualities, age, or education, many of us lack confidence in our abilities and think others are smarter, more successful, more attractive, more anything. I think it’s time we stop looking outside for approval. We need to start looking inside – that’s where the magic happens.
HC McGill: We’ve been talking about prioritizing a lot today… Any tips on how to prioritize?
GMLR: Everyone is different; there is no one-size-fits-all. However, we should always spend our time doing what reflects our priorities, values, and goals. A very helpful first step is to identify what we want to accomplish. Make a list of what our goals and values are and why these matter to us. Then I’d recommend listing every single thing we spend time on during a typical day, or pick one day and put down how much time we spent in each activity. I challenge you all to try it – the result would be a big surprise for all of us! That’s when we start to compare our values to what we do every day and adjust our daily activities to fit our goals. Start small. If I want to incorporate more walking into my life, I’d allocate fifteen minutes to it every day, rather than two hours for twice a week. Moderation and regularity are the key.
HC McGill: Good advice. However, I believe a lot of us don’t really know who we are, or what we really want to do. What would you tell us then?
GMLR: That you’re not alone. No matter how put-together everyone around us seems, no matter our age or credentials, most of us are trying to figure out who we are. In fact, I believe finding out who we are is the job of a lifetime. Be patient and trust yourself in finding a way.
HC McGill: Thank you so much for your tips and advice, and for de-mystifying some of the most overwhelming feelings of campus life.
GMLR: Thank you. I really do hope you’ll find these helpful.
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