Professors, theologians, biologists, movies, literature and humans constantly come up with theories, but really, what is life? If you search for “the answer to life, the universe and everything” on Google it gives you a number, 42. The number 42 is the answer to life according to the movie The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. But before you scramble to Netflix, think about what the real question is, or rather, questions.

Yes, multiple questions.

If you think about it in simple terms, the answer to “what is life?” is what you are doing right now as you read this. Breathing, using energy, growing, reproducing and then, eventually, dying. That is life. What we really want to know when we ask “what is life?” is, what is the purpose of life, why is there life, and do I have a reason for the life that I have been given?

Antioch Community High School science teacher Elizabeth Pohlman sees life as happiness.

“I don’t think that any individual is actually created or born with a specific purpose they’re meant to serve. I think that you find your purpose as a result of the people that you interact with and the experiences that make you the way that you are and who you are. And based on those interactions and experiences, you figure out what your purpose is because in essence, it all comes down to what fulfills that person, and really, what makes you happy,” said Pohlman.

The purpose for life is really to find what makes you happy and to fulfill your goals in life. What this means is that the purpose in life is to do what makes you happy, to do what you want. Because in the end, the person that matters the most, the person that will always be with you, is yourself.

ACHS junior Seth Wright on the other hand, believes life is about helping others.

“I think the purpose of life is to do good things, and to help each other,” said Wright.

Whether you choose to make others happy, or make yourself happy, life is really all about happiness.