Some Harvard professors wanted to find out what made a happy student. This article, details what they found out and what they're doing about it.

Incidentally, the structure of Olin is set up such that we're encouraged to do all these things - talk to faculty, get involved in extracurriculars, take fun classes alongside required ones. Or at least Olin's theoretically structured as such; some folks manage to find ways around it (mostly the "take fun classes alongside required ones" part). So please, don't do what I did and frontload tech classes because you want to get them "out of the way"; I'm taking my first AHS courses since freshman year this semester, and I'm happier with my courseload than I've ever been since... freshman year.*

Coincidence? I think not.

*To be fair, I enjoyed my courses in the last couple semesters as well, and I would have had an AHS class every semester except for one had it not been for a series of weird scheduling conflicts and things falling through. But don't let them fall through! Get yourself at least one Fun Class per semester. This sounds obvious, but for someone with a thick skull such as myself, it takes a while to sink in.