Guest: John Helliwell (professor and happiness expert)
Did you know there is a World Happiness Report? That is what John Helliwell devotes his professional life to, creating metrics and analyses to measure happiness around the world in order to influence decisions that promote personal wellbeing – a far cry from where he thought he would end up.
Would you thrive on a typical 9-to-5 schedule? For Edward Slingerland, his answer would be no – the fact that he is on the faculty of two separate universities is proof of that. Not to mention, he is a sinologist and religious studies professor who originally studied molecular biology. After discovering himself, he learned that it is okay to change course if your passion is elsewhere. As he says: “What does your preferred day look like?” – answering that will lead to what you are meant to do.
Children’s health is a complex and sensitive field. As a pediatrician, Dr. Stuart Turvey diagnoses a huge variety of illnesses and conditions in children – while dealing with scared kids and parents, with the goal of turning them into happy and healthy ones. All the while, he also researches these health conditions and their causes, while keeping in mind the social and emotional impacts of the kids’ health journeys.
Research is more than just digging for information; it is also about teaching. This is what Iman Goodarzi does, in his dual role as a public scholar and PhD candidate. In academia, he finds that his work day is more flexible in terms of timing, but the trade-off is that this is never-ending work – passion for the work and time management skills are vital for him.
Vicky Yehl lives for mining. In her job at the British Columbia Securities Commission, she helps mining companies include information that they are required to share with the public, ensuring maximum transparency. She knows what she’s talking about as well – her background as a geologist gives her a wealth of knowledge to draw from. “It’s a bit of a dream job,” as she says. “I get to read geology all day [and] every day and someone pays me to do it.”
