Evansville High School Students Find Joy In A Meaningful Chat With Harvard Scholar

A Day They’ll Be Talking About for Years at Reitz Memorial and Mater Dei

You know when you're a kid and you go to school and your teacher tells you we aren't going over a lesson today, we're heading to the gym to listen to a speaker. Hearing that in school was always music to my ears. However, I don't remember ever learning a whole lot from speakers coming in, but then again I never had a spokes person from Harvard come in.

Students at Reitz Memorial and Mater Dei High School had the unique opportunity to hear from Arthur C. Brooks, who spent the afternoon diving into something we’re all searching for in becoming/being an adult, happiness, purpose, and what it truly means to live a meaningful life.

This wasn’t your typical sit-and-listen kind of talk. Dr. Brooks, who teaches at Harvard Kennedy School and Harvard Business School, is known for his work on the science of happiness but what really hit home was how relatable it all felt. He challenged students to think deeper, live with intention, and start asking the big questions about who they want to be and what kind of life they want to build.

A Message That Sticks

Using ideas from his upcoming book, The Meaning of Your Life: Finding Purpose in an Age of Emptiness, he encouraged students to focus on faith, service, purpose, and reminded them that success isn’t just about what you achieve, but how you live.

Moments like this don’t just happen they’re made possible by people who believe in investing in the next generation. Reitz Memorial and Mater Dei thank JP Engelbrecht and Bob Koch for helping bring this experience to campus.

It's easy to see that the Evansville School District, is more than education, it’s about formation. And days like today are a powerful reminder that the lessons students carry with them aren’t always found in a textbook… they’re found in moments just like this.

Get our free mobile app