Pursuit of Happiness

Assignment: Describe what the phrase "pursuit of happiness" means to you in 2-3 typed pages. 

Cheryl read the assignment over and over again for what must be the fiftieth time. She sighed. Why did English teachers have to make these essays so philosophical? She hated English class for that reason. Well, for more than that reason, really. I mean, who CARES how many things the old man suffered in The Old Man and the Sea? Hemingway really just wasn't that amazing of a writer. None of his work screamed to her.  Who cares what the symbolism of the dog in that one random short story is? 

What use will this be in her life? A two to three page essay, TYPED no less, on what "pursuit of happiness" means? UGH. 

She chewed on her lower lip and glanced at the fantasy novel sitting on her nightstand. Well...Maybe for a few minutes. 

...

Cheryl glanced up as she finished her novel. She looked at the clock. Shit! she thought. It was 1 am. She looked back at her laptop, which had gone dark from disuse. Waking it up she stared again at the blank Word document. She couldn't possibly afford to not turn in this paper. 

Glancing back at the book she had just finished, a sudden spark of inspiration hit her. She grinned, sat up, pulled the laptop onto her lap and began to type. 

...

English class was at 2 pm, the last class of the day. Cheryl struggled through every single class, fighting to keep her eyes open. She'd managed one hour of sleep before her mom was hounding her to get her ass out of bed and get on the bus. 

When English class finally rolled around, she walked in and noticed that several people were "out sick", which she knew was really because they hadn't finished their essays. Damn, she could have managed that one. Except for that huge chem exam she had second period. And the Calculus test. 

The teacher smiled at everyone who had made  it in. "Well, since a few of you are out, we're going to read some of the essays in front of the class. Cheryl, why don't you start with yours?"

Cheryl groaned. She hated that alphabetically her last name came first in the class. It meant she was normally the first for anything. She stood up, went to the front of the class and began to read her essay. It stretched - barely - across one page, which she knew she'd get marked down for.

What does the "pursuit of happiness" mean to me? It means being allowed to make my own decisions about my own life. It means I can stay up until one in the morning reading an amazing fantasy novel that we would never read in class because it's not Hemingway or Faulkner or Shakespeare. It means I can choose to write this stupid essay or not. 

I chose to write it of course, or I'd fail. Can't afford to fail. 

Some people think the pursuit of happiness means wealth or being popular. Me? I would rather have a couple of close friends, some good fantasy novels, and not have to be bothered with the awful details of life. It means choosing to skate through my classes as best and as fast as I can and moving on with my day. That's how I pursue my happiness. 

It took me three hours to write this. What exactly IS happiness anyway? Is it staring at your baby and just knowing they need you? Loving your husband or boyfriend? Is it working hard and not making a lot of money but knowing that it's OK? What about working hard and making tons of money? What really defines it? 

My happiness is found in my books. My happiness is found in hanging with my friends. My happiness is found in procrastinating an assignment that really isn't that important in the grand scheme of things. That's my definition of the pursuit of happiness. 

Then without another word, she handed the single piece of paper to the teacher and sat down at her desk. First one kid started clapping, and then they all were. 

Guess what? She got an A on that paper in spite of not turning in more than one page.