LifeDesign Showcase
Spring 2026

Tuesday, April 21nd, 2026 | 3:45 - 5:45pm
102/108 Corbett Family Hall

Undergraduate students in Professor Steve Reifenberg's Spring 2026 LifeDesign: The Art & Science of Human Flourishing course will lead interactive 30-minute sessions on topics from the class that have been especially meaningful to them. Each session will highlight specific practices that will support your own personal flourishing. You are warmly invited to attend one, two, or all three sessions.

SEE SESSIONS BELOW

RSVP
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Explore the sessions below!

Each interactive session will be for 30 minutes.

Group A: 3:45 - 4:15
Group B: 4:30 - 5:00
Group C: 5:15 - 5:45

There will be refreshments following the final session.

Group A | 3:45 - 4:15 pm

  • Disconnect to Reconnect: How can we make the most of our time?

    Molly Kenney

    What role does technology play in your life? This workshop will focus on how we can effectively increase our time in activities we love by improving our relationships with screens.

  • Be Thankful Like an Emperor Today: Practicing Gratitude in the Style of Marcus Aurelius

    Jack Rankin

    In the first page of his Meditations, Marcus Aurelius recognizes the formative impact his family and friends have had on him. We will write our own version of this gratitude practice.

  • You Reap What You Sew: Gaining Creative Confidence One Stitch at a Time

    Clare Lucey

    Through basic sewing skills of mending rips and fixing buttons learn to modify your wardrobe with the pull of a string.

  • The Many Forms of Self-Love

    Valentina Morillas

    This presentation examines how self-love is not “one-size-fits-all,” but a deeply personal practice that everyone deserves to cultivate in their own way. We'll explore what self-love truly means and why everyone deserves it.

  • Rethinking Rest: The Science of Effective Breaks

    Emily Pannunzio

    How should we take breaks? Research and personal insight reveal how time dedicated to pleasure and rest is a form of productivity.

  • To Speak or To Listen: Striking the Balance

    Juan M Becdach

    We all know that good conversations are for us. But how do we get better at them? One possible solution: learning to know when to speak and – importantly – when not to.

  • Don't plan your life, map it!

    Iván Álvarez

    "Beach or mountain" is one of the simplest questions asked on foreign English tests. Discern similar simple questions, plot them, and stack them to find your habitable zone.

  • A Selfless Way to Joy

    Austin Dungan and Catherine Closkey

    A science-based approach to finding joy and promoting joy throughout your community. Tag along to understand the importance of selflessness, acts of kindness, and all things serving one another.

Group B | 4:30 - 5:00 pm

  • The Biology of Belief: How your mindset influences brain change

    Louis Narducci

    Explore the functional connection between your mindset and your brain's ability to rewire itself. Learn how a growth mindset serves as a biological tool to overcome hesitation and more effectively acquire new skills.

  • Appearance vs Meaning: What Are You Actually Building?

    Joseph Temple

    This session explores the difference between building a life for external appearance vs internal meaning. Through a guided reflection activity, we will look at how our decisions shape our long-term fulfillment, identity, and sense of purpose.

  • Vintage Connection: Creating Authentic Interactions in the Modern World

    Ndapuwa Timba

    Contemplating the effects of the present era on our ability to make fulfilling connections, and rediscovering the lost art of talking to strangers.

  • Practicing Happiness: Implementing happiness through your daily hobbies and pastimes

    Jimmy McHugh

    How to can we help the people identify their own hobbies and passions that lead to greater happiness? Though my own passion and hobby of cooking, I hope to show how happiness practices can be identified and amplified.

  • What If 80% Was Perfect? Filling Your Cup Without Turning Joy into Pressure.

    Libby Fesko

    How can you care for others while caring for yourself through activities that bring genuine joy? However, these activities can quickly become pressured obligations. What would change if we truly believed that 80% was enough?

  • The Scarcity Myth

    Jack Helzner

    We've been taught that more is always better, more achievements, more productivity, more social capital. In this session, we'll explore how "never enough" thinking is quietly running your life, and practice defining what actually enough looks like on your own terms.

  • Exploring Prayer and Meditation: What Each One Can Teach You

    David Buckley

    Discover your personal prayer and/or meditation style, and walk away with practical tips, the science behind both practices, and a clearer sense of where they converge and where they differ.

  • Quiet Your Inner Roommate: Breathwork and Meditation for a Calmer Life

    David Bianchi and Hudson Daley

    This interactive presentation explores how breathwork and meditation can help reduce stress and promote a calmer life. Through guided exercises, scientific evidence, and reflection, we hope participants leave with practical tools they can actually use in their own lives.

Group C | 5:15 - 5:45 pm

  • Success: What is it?

    Mason Hedges

    We all want to be “successful,” but what does that really mean? Society and culture tells us success consists in wealth, fame, power, and influence—but what does it look like in each of our own lives?

  • A Meaningful Life: Slowing Down to Find What Matters

    Josethy Perez

    Drawing from personal reflection and course themes, it asks what it means to build a life rooted in belonging, genuine connection, and intentionality rather than productivity, image, or external success.

  • From Overthinking to Action: Turning Everyday Decisions into Confident Choices

    Leah Rose Benny

    This presentation examines how fear, anxiety, and overthinking can paralyze decision-making, and offers practical, research-informed strategies to help individuals move forward with clarity, confidence, and intention in their daily lives.

  • Giving up Everything for 24 Hours: How to Live with Nothing & Deepen Your Gratitude

    Connor Farrell

    Following from the famous mantra that "you can never be fully grateful for what you have until you lose it", this presentation will include a workshop and lesson on how to develop a actionable "simulation" to model loss and deepen gratitude.

  • Paper to Possibility: Unlocking Creativity Through Origami

    Chaney Fix

    This session explores how the simple act of folding paper, through just a few steps, can create art while also relieving stress.

  • Practicing Self-Compassion: Supporting Yourself from Within

    Rogelio Diaz and John Paul Hays

    Through reflection and compassionate listening, the audience will experience how self-compassion reshapes internal motivation, turning absence into a space for grounding, inner stability, and presence.

  • Gratitude through Meditation

    Jack Brodie and Anaïs Keller

    This presentation will guide all participants through a reflective meditation on the highs and lows of their day, reframing ordinary moments as a source of gratitude.

RSVP to Attend

Spring 2026

LifeDesign

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