By DMA Senior Alexandra Pullella

When I started taking this class, I did not understand what I would be learning. I thought it would be a class to discuss our feelings and why we feel like that. However, as the days passed, I realized this class was much more than that. There are two important lessons from this class that I want to share. First, we learned how to listen to other people’s views on various topics without judgment, allowing each of us to share our own perspectives freely while learning from one another. Second, the class taught me how to support people when they come to me for help.

One of my favorite parts of this class were our open discussions. We often spoke about controversial topics and topics I felt strongly about. I was able to express my opinions and the reasoning behind them. The part I loved the most was being able to hear the opinions of others. I like hearing different opinions and aspects on a topic because I usually learn something new, and I certainly did. Something that we were taught was how to debate without arguing. While debating these topics, the environment was not hostile at all; in fact, it was very welcoming. We were encouraged to say how we felt and defend it, but there was never any arguing or yelling, which I liked. 

As we moved further along in the course, I started to learn more about how to better take care of my mental health. We were taught how our minds work, what makes us upset, what makes us happy, and strategies to improve our lives. One of the many valuable things I learned is how important it is to help others. I always listened to what my friends said, but now I can communicate with them in a way that will help them feel better. When I can help someone with a problem, I feel I have succeeded as a friend. I could not have done this without this class.

I recommend taking this class if you are interested in psychology and how the mind works or want to improve your mental health. With the meditation and journals we are assigned, I am learning to better appreciate what I have and not think about the past too much. If this class can help me clear my mind and improve my mental health, it can help you too.

By DMA Senior Dylan Delcollo

While the Optimistic Mindset class is coming to an end, I can say that I’ve enjoyed every moment of it. In the beginning of the school year, I didn’t know what to expect, but as I adapted to the unique format, I started to love this class. I even inspired some of my friends to transfer into the class because of how much I liked it. This class has inspired me in many different ways. The new ways of looking at things will stay with me throughout my entire life. 

The topic that interested me the most was meditation. Starting early in the course, we would take ten minutes every day before class to meditate. This really helped me realize how much the little things in life matter. I saw how peaceful meditating was. It calmed me down from being stressed out about school work or things going on at home. I still try to meditate every day because it helps me focus on the little things in my life. It also helps me put everything into perspective and to create space between all the things I have to get done. Instead of making a checklist in my head and stressing myself out with all the things I have to do, I can take a few minutes to meditate and focus on one thing at a time. Overall, I have been a happier person since meditation was introduced to me.

Another thing we did in this class was reflection papers. I honestly enjoy writing and reflection papers are a good way for me to reflect on what I am learning in class. I look at these papers as a diary to me. The papers really showed how writing helps me to talk about how I am feeling. I can express how I feel to Mr. Shelton openly and freely. It’s good because I can reflect and realize what I can be doing better in life, or what I am already doing and can keep doing. These papers show how Mr. Shelton makes me feel comfortable talking to him. I can say anything I am feeling, and in class he always checks up on us. If I am sleepy and down one day he will check up on me and make sure I am feeling okay. Honestly, no teacher has ever done that for me and it is nice being able to feel comfortable talking about myself with my teacher.

Overall, this class was a class I never thought I would have taken in my high school years. I am so glad I got the opportunity to take this class with Mr. Shelton. He was always willing to spark up a conversation about anything anyone wanted to talk about. I will never forget this class and all it has taught me over the short period of time I was in it. I have a better perspective and understanding of things I never thought I would deeply understand. I am really thankful I got the privilege my last year at DMA to take a class like this. I encourage everyone who is thinking about taking Optimistic Mindset to do it. This class will help you in many different ways.

By DMA Senior Monica Germack

Mental Health should be important to everyone. In today’s world, I feel as if some people do not know the full extent of what mental health actually is. In my senior year of high school I was offered to take a class called Optimistic Mindset. In this class we have learned many different strategies that can make us happy, why we should be grateful for the things we have around us, and how meditation can truly help us cope. The environment in the classroom made me feel very comfortable and it felt very welcoming to anyone to share feelings that they would like to express. This class was very laid back but we still completed a robust curriculum and accomplished a lot. One of the impactful projects we did as a class was to make a Community Building Agreement to try to make the school a better place. After everyone in the class signed it, we tried many strategies to spread the word throughout the school including presentations to the Commandant, at a faculty meeting, and eventually to the whole school. We ended up getting 31% of the entire school to sign the agreement! A lot of high school students struggle with mental illnesses and by taking this class I feel that people can get a better understanding of what we go through. I feel that since the beginning of the class I have made an impact on myself and have understood some new ways to cope with mental health. My favorite strategy is to meditate. Meditating at least 5 minutes a day can make you feel so much calmer. I would recommend that everyone starts to put a special time in their day to have a meditation session. This class has helped me build a better relationship with my mind and I would strongly recommend any cadet who has an opportunity to take this class to take it.

By DMA Senior Anthony Pala

At first, I thought Optimistic Mindset would just be an elective that I wouldn’t get much out of, but after the first few days, I really saw the value of this class. This class teaches you how to be happy. I was mostly focused on things in my future like graduating from college and how much money I am going to make, but I learned that being happy can affect all of that. It turns out that people who are happier tend to have higher salaries than those who are depressed. For me, that was life-changing as it completely changed my priorities. My first priority should be making myself happy because that will help me accomplish my other goals.

I never really knew how to make myself happy. I’ve always thought just staying at home by myself and playing video games would make me happy, but it doesn’t. This class taught me about how things you think can make you happy actually don’t. I think the biggest example is more money. I’ve always heard the term, money can’t buy happiness, but there is actual proof from many different scientific studies that shows that money doesn’t affect happiness much at all. The things we wish for don’t actually affect how happy we are, but we still want them all the time that can negatively affect our happiness-going on social media for example. 

It’s scientifically proven that social media negatively affects our mental health and happiness because we have a reference point of these “influencers.” We want what they have, and most people know that it negatively affects us, but we still use it every day. I’ve cut down on social media more due to this class, and have lowered my screen time overall. Science has shown that getting myself out of the house more and interacting with other people should make you happier, and it did for me. This class has inspired me to follow these lessons in my everyday life. No other class has really done for me before. I appreciate that life transformation more than anything.

By DMA Senior Katelyn Beachell

As a junior picking new classes, I chose the elective Optimistic Mindset because everyone who was in the class before me said it’s an amazing class, and it truly is. The main focus of the class is to help us become happier individually and as a whole community. It is a smaller class than most classes at DMA but from day one I knew that I felt comfortable enough to talk about my feelings with people. When I was in Mr. Shelton’s Optimist Mindset class, I never had a moment where my opinion didn’t matter. We had a lot of open discussions about our lessons and what our opinions were on the lessons. Just having this space to talk openly was very helpful. 

Each week we learned a new strategy to better our mental health and focused on integrating it into our lives. The topics that have helped me a lot are meditating, eliminating social media, working out, and social connection. Meditation has helped me find my inner peace. It has helped me calm down when I’m stressed and better focus my attention. I’ve also found that meditation helps me sleep better. 

Throughout the course, we were shown scientific research about how some things we think will make us happy don’t, while introducing many different things that do make us happier. The lessons provide ways to eliminate the things that don’t actually make us happy and replace them with new ways to make things better. I feel like this class has benefited me by showing me all different types of ways to make my mental health better. 

We also tried to help the whole school with the Community Building Agreement. It’s a document that shares the positive qualities we would like DMA to have, and by signing it, students were showing their support to make DMA a better place where we are all there for each other. I hope you consider joining this class which is very beneficial and will help you out in all different types of ways.

By DMA Senior Ashlee Feeley

After 2 weeks of my senior year I wanted to transfer out of one of my classes so I went to an administrator to see what classes were available and sparked my interest. She read a bunch of different classes but the one that stood out to me was Optimistic Mindset. I said I want that one, and transferred right into the class. It has been one of the best classes I have taken at DMA. 

The first day I came into this class we meditated, which was something I had never done before, so I was like, “Hmm, what is this class all about?” Turned out loving meditating and doing it every single day before we started our class conversation. Being the new kid in Optimistic Mindset I was nervous, but everyone welcomed me and I quickly became a part of our everyday conversations. Being in this class just taught me how supportive a well rounded environment can be. This class was surrounded by positivity and it was a judge free environment. Everyone in class feels like they can speak their mind and we can have a conversation without being judged on our opinion.

This class was very interesting every day. This class included both seniors and juniors so we got to hear about different aspects of the school from different perspectives. Everyone’s voice was heard regardless of whether we disagreed or did not like what someone was saying. I learned that in any situation people are going to have different opinions than you and that is okay. When I was younger I used to think that my opinion was the only one that mattered and the people that disagree were dumb. This was awful of me, but now that I have taken this course, my whole mindset has changed 100%. 

What stood out to me the most from this class was that we talked a lot about happiness. People think money, straight A’s, a dream car, a dream house are things that are going to make you happy, but we saw the research showing that these things only make you happy for a short period of time. In the long run, materialistic things will not make us happy. Instead, you will become happy by surrounding yourself with people who care for you, giving to others, making time for friends and family, meditating, developing new relationships, smiling, having gratitude, and more. It is not all about money and who has the nicest car or biggest house. It’s truly about who enjoys everyday and lives like it is their last.

This class really encouraged and inspired me to branch out and do things that I usually would not do. It made me speak up more and talk in a group setting rather than just keeping everything to myself. This class has made me realize that there are many people out there who do not have a teacher like Mr. Shelton who takes the time to sit down and talk to everyone about different topics and everyday situations that happen. I had the privilege to really understand and dig deeper into topics that I would not normally talk about. 

Optimistic Mindset offers many different awesome topics and worldwide perspectives on different ideas. This class has really brought me closer to understanding everything happens for a reason and to be grateful for what you have because there are others who are not as fortunate. It taught me to make the best life and make a change because you only get one life to make a difference in this world. Sitting back and watching everything happen around you will not make a change in the long run. There is positive in every situation; Choose to see the good when there is bad. Overall, I highly recommend taking this class and giving yourself the ability to learn as much as I did. Taking this class will benefit you in many different ways!

By DMA Junior Leslie Barrell

I want to share three strategies that I learned in Optimistic Mindset that I’ve integrated into my life. First, I’ve been going to sleep early. I like to go to sleep early because it makes me feel more refreshed and not as tired in the morning. It makes me want to do more things in the morning and not just sleep past my alarm. It keeps me more focused in class and not just trying to keep myself from falling asleep. 

The second strategy is understanding that I will always have areas to improve in. No one is perfect so everyone always has something to improve on. In softball, there is always something I can improve on because I’m not perfect at a sport. At practice there’s always some type of drill I can do to help myself become better than I am.  

The third lesson is trying to be there for others. You never know what someone can be going through even if they don’t show it. Someone can look like they are really happy, even though they might be going through a bunch of stuff at home or just in general. It’s good to be someone a person can talk to when they feel upset and have no one to talk to. It’s always good to be friendly and kind to people you have never talked to.

By DMA Senior Chase Snavely

Optimistic Mindset has honestly changed how I feel about life. When I came into this course, I didn’t know how it could help me, but as I gave the course a chance I could see that it was changing me as a person. I’m going to share some of the techniques that we learned that helped me the most. The first technique is meditation. I never meditated a day in my life before taking this course but now I’ve added it to my daily schedule. Meditating has helped me perform better while relieving some stress off of me. This course has also helped me really understand how good I have it in life. Keeping a gratitude journal helped show me that you never know what can happen next and that you should really be grateful for what and who you have.  There are other people out there that don’t have nearly as much as I do. I also really liked the “Savor a beautiful day” rewirement because I have never really taken the time to look back on a day and just be grateful for how good the day treated me. Keeping an exercise log of when I would workout helped me to gain muscle better myself. Overall, I believe this course had a very positive impact on me and the people around me because it really pushed us to be better and do better. I am going to continue to share what we did in this class so it can help others, and hopefully some of them will get to take the class in the future.

By DMA Senior Paris Robinson

In Optimistic Mindset, I have realized the importance of being comfortable with the uncomfortable. There are many problems in this world that we believe are better going unspoken. We ignore them because the conversations that arise are uncomfortable. This could mean anything from meeting a new friend, sticking up for someone who’s getting bullied, or trying new things out of our comfort zone. It is imperative that we begin to recognize that uncomfortable feeling and lean into it. 

We must become familiar with change. The mistake we often make is believing that life is about preventing or postponing change, but really it’s to learn how to embrace what you cannot control and make the best out of your situation. Being so focused on the possible future outcomes will ruin what you have right now. I have learned to be grateful for the life I live and for the small events that take place everyday that prove I am alive. I show this by using a gratitude journal. Everyday I write down something I am grateful for and have found that I am grateful for a lot more than I realize. The goal of life is not to be perfect, not to have the nicest things, or to have the most followers on social media, but to feel what’s happening in the present. To feel is to live, whether you are sad, or happy, or angry, or excited, or scared. These are all living proofs of being alive. To identify these feelings and learn to navigate them is one of the hardest but most important things we can do. 

Due to the time I have spent in this course, I have begun to look at change and life with different lenses. I have learned ways to navigate the confusing emotions of high school and how to help my peers do the same. I now am able to spend less time on social media, where unhealthy comparisons and criticisms live, and am able to put my phone down for the benefit of more sleep, and a healthier mind. I have become appreciative of every little thing in my life. In the Optimistic Mindset class, I have learned the way that I think and why I think that way, and how to better myself for the benefit of the community. I believe I will continue to live through these learned guidelines even after I have completed this course.

By DMA Junior Antonia Alvarado-Riquelme

At the beginning of my Junior year all I wanted was anatomy, but my future had another path it wanted to take. So at the beginning of the school my class schedule said “Optimistic Mindset”. It was not my first option of science, but it was science. It’s the science of how your mind and body work together and work against each other. Over each week I learned how our minds get the reaction and how we express these reactions. Our reflection papers made all of us think out of the box and more in depth on how we feel about certain subjects. The class discussions about topics we once were uncomfortable talking about became a “normal” conversation. Learning that happiness doesn’t come from how we see ourselves but how we treat other people and that happiness comes from within. The society we live in today allows the younger generation to believe and be thought that the way you should be prorationing yourself is to please everyone around you. But on the contrary, most of the people we have around us could care less on how you look, how you dress, and even how much money you have. The only person putting these thoughts into our heads is ourselves. We make it out to seem as if we need to be perfect for a boy/girl to like us or a group of people to get along with us. In this course, Mr. Shelton teaches us not only to be happy with ourselves but to be happy with what we have. That not everything has to have a price tag, or even that not everyone has to like you. At the end of the day you should be happy with yourself and what you have. Mr. Shelton will do exactly that, he will make you see yourself, how you treat others, and much more in a different way. Lastly, most importantly you will see that not everything has to be looked at the same way as everyone else. It is alright to have a different perspective or idea on things. It’s alright to be you.

By DMA Senior Giovanni Teoli

I decided to take Optimistic Mindset because I heard it was easy, but the class has exceeded my expectations by offering much more than that. I find myself looking forward to walking into class everyday. At first I wouldn’t really pay attention to what we would talk about, but as the year has gone on I find myself listening to everything being said. The class’s purpose is to make the environment here at DMA better and I would say that in this class I have seen the environment we are talking about. The class is peaceful. You’re able to be yourself and just take a load off. 

This class has introduced me to many things, but the key thing for me has been meditation. I now use meditation before I go to sleep every night to help me fall asleep faster. This keeps my mind and body relaxed as I am focusing on nothing besides my breathing. I am able to clear my mind out and get all the negative thoughts out of my head. I also think being in this class with my friends makes it better because we get to connect and have fun in a non-traditional classroom setting. It’s a breath of fresh air when it comes to school classes. 

I don’t like to talk much in classes as I don’t really like sharing my opinion or just talking in general, but this class is a safe space for me to be able to express myself. I was able to share what I was thinking about the topics we were talking about. The reflection papers also helped me get out what I have inside my head. Since only Mr. Shelton reads the reflection papers, I was able to sit down and write how I felt about everything and it felt good to get things off of my chest. Taking Optimistic Mindset turned out to be a great decision.

By DMA Senior Ella Pyle

I have really enjoyed learning tools and skills to better myself in Optimistic Mindset that I can now bring with me beyond high school graduation. This class made me question why we behave the way we do and has given me tools to help me be happier and help regulate my emotions. I’ve already started incorporating most of the things we learned into my everyday life, and want to share more about my experience with meditation, the Community Building Agreement, and the importance of social connection. 

We learned a lot about meditation and the effects it has on you. We also watched the documentary called Dhamma Brothers to learn about the impact a 10-day meditation retreat had on inmates in a high security prison in Alabama. This is what really opened my eyes about the effects of mindfulness and meditation. The inmates all benefited in the end and learned how to control their emotions and feelings before acting upon it. Meditating for me has been a great tool in my life. It’s a great tool I’ve used when I’ve felt like emotions, including stress, anxiety, and anger, are taking over. Meditation has always helped calm me down and helped me reset my mood. Being in high school, having a part time job and juggling college applications has been really overwhelming, and having mediation to go to in this stressful time of my life has been more than helpful. 

This year our class made the Community Building Agreement which we shared with the whole school. Our class agreed that our school isn’t much of a community and we don’t know each other as well as we should. We felt like the different grades were too disconnected and we wanted to be less separated. We started the Community Building Agreement to bring people together. As this project grew momentum, we went as far as meeting with the Commandant, presenting at a faculty meeting, and reading the Agreement to the whole school at Parade. I personally talked to some teachers individually and they all supported the idea. I have anxiety especially when talking in front of others, so I appreciate that this project helped me to grow as a person with the opportunity to present something that I actually believe in to a room full of people that I look up to. This project gave me and other students an opportunity to step up as leaders in a non academic or athletic way. 

Another thing we learned is that social connections really benefit you and others you connect with. This made me reflect on how much I hold  back on social connection with strangers because of the distraction of my phone. It’s made me realize how much society has changed because of our cellphones. Being a teenager my phone is always on me and I spend a good amount of time on it, but it’s important to know the ways that it negatively affects us and how we should regulate our cellphone use. I’ve really liked completing a gratitude journal in class. We talked about how much it’s normalized to complain and about how most small talk is complaints. Complaining does make our mood worse, always focusing on the negative. Gratitude journaling is a way to reverse this common action and focus on all the good moments we usually look over. This class gives you a bunch of life skills that usually aren’t taught in school that could benefit your everyday life. If you have the option to take an Optimistic Mindset, I strongly suggest you do.

By DMA Junior Emily Tzonkowski 

Optimistic Mindset is all about cultivating a positive outlook on life and embracing a “glass half full” mentality. It’s about training your mind to focus on the good things and to approach challenges with a hopeful attitude. Three important lessons we learned include the value of approaching all situations with love, the value of gratitude, and that our minds trick us about what will actually make us happy.

One of the key lessons we have learned is that we should approach all situations with love and an open mind. It allows us to approach situations with empathy, compassion, and a desire to make a positive impact. Reflecting on how our motivations affect our relationships, it is important to recognize that negative motivators like anger or greed can often harm our connections with others. On the other hand, when our motivations begin from love, it tends to strengthen our relationships fostering understanding, trust, and kindness. We learned that a subtopic of love is forgiveness. It is an important component of having loving relationships. By shifting our mindset towards positivity, we can actually influence our emotions and overall well-being. It’s like a mental workout that helps you build resilience and bounce back from setbacks. 

A second lesson is the importance of gratitude. Practicing gratitude allows you to appreciate the little things in life and find joy in everyday moments. It was a great way to shift our focus from what’s going wrong to what’s going right. We even did a gratitude rewirement that made us think about what we were grateful for everyday. A third valuable lesson we learned was that our brain is constantly trying to trick us with things we think will make us happy, but actually won’t. We think a good job, money, looks, a family, and materialistic things will make us happy. However, helping others, setting and meeting goals, and maintaining healthy relationships with our community actually make us happier in the long run. 

Overall, Optimistic Mindset is a fantastic opportunity to develop a more positive and resilient outlook on life. It has taught me many strategies that have helped me become a more positive and happy person.

Below is the link to a video created by a group of DMA seniors to help promote a positive school culture.

https://www.facebook.com/100051792951844/videos/7106389379382752/

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8SKk5F3/

By DMA Senior Adrienne Esterling

Junior year, when I was deciding which classes to take for my senior year, Optimistic Mindset was one of the first classes Mrs. T offered me. I’m not going to lie, at first I was a little skeptical of it, but some of my friends who were taking that class at the time were saying nothing but great things, not just about the class, but the teacher as well. I figured I would give it a shot and see how it goes. The first day I was in the class we meditated which I had never done before. I never thought that doing something that simple could have such a strong impact on me, mentally and physically. Optimistic Mindset is just a healthy class in general. It is a judge-free safe zone. Speaking on behalf of my class, I know we all feel pretty comfortable with each other which takes a lot of stress off right from the start. 

This class was interesting at first because it wasn’t just strictly a senior class. We have all grades from freshman to seniors here which I enjoy  because you can see the maturity levels in each person, and how certain situations are handled. Regardless of our ages in the room, all of our opinions are heard, every voice matters, and nobody’s feelings are minimized. I learned that it is okay to have different opinions from people, but that shouldn’t change how you act or present yourself towards that person. It is okay to disagree which is something I’ve always had a hard time accepting. Just the simple things such as getting exercise, getting good sleep, being kind to others – it all sounds cliche but these are all life skills which are important to practice. It caught my attention that these lessons were taught in this class. The Random Acts of Kindness Requirement encouraged me to actually do something kind each day. I learned that the simple things in life are the best things, and even the littlest things can go the longest way. 

This class has also brought great attention to the mental health of teenagers and even just people in general. Social media is a huge factor in teens’ mental health. Basing your happiness off of how many likes you get, how many followers you have, and who viewed your posts takes a huge toll on people and it’s becoming easily recognizable. Optimistic Mindset offers many solutions to fixing this problem including deleting social media, or even just taking a break from it. It’s crucial to not give in to the toxicity of social media, and to know you are worth far more than the amount of likes you get. You have to be able to love yourself before anything. This class has taught me to make the best of life and each situation, and to see the positive in everything because there is always good in every bad. I highly recommend and encourage everyone to take this class. It has great benefits to offer you!

By DMA Sophomore Arianna Gordon

When I started taking this course, I thought I would be learning just general strategies about different aspects of a teenager’s life. Instead, I have been learning tips that you can easily do and are more important to improving your quality in life than you realize. For instance, meditation. I have heard about meditation many times in the past, even from my close family members, but never really put interest into it. Now that I have actually practiced it a couple times in class, I can say that it helps me relax a bit and takes my mind off of everything that is going on for 5 to 10 minutes, especially on stressful days. Another topic that I found value in was writing in a gratitude journal. Sometimes I tend to worry or complain about small things that are irrelevant compared to what is really important in life. We can easily lose track of the great things that we have that are right in front of us. I would recommend this class to all DMA cadets because it is nice to have a class in your schedule that is different from other classes where you can take a mental pause in your day and disconnect from schoolwork, but at the same time, learn how to be a better version of yourself and live a better life.

By DMA Freshman Thomas Esterling

I have had a great time in Optimistic Mindset. From the first day of class, I knew it was going to be a block where you can talk freely and discuss things with the class that you usually wouldn’t in another class. Mr. Shelton taught the class how to have civil discussions about confrontational subjects without getting upset and learning to understand where the other person is coming from. I have made new friends in this class too that I think will stick with me throughout high school. This class never stresses me out with a crazy load of homework or an insane amount of classwork. Walking from my 3rd block to my 4th block lightens up my day because it gives me a break from the classic school style and puts me somewhere where learning new things is fun. We have watched many videos in Optimistic Mindset that go perfectly with the lessons and genuinely help me in my day-to-day life with just little simple tips. Some important values that this class taught me are: how to keep your composure when having discussions, how to improve your well-being with social connections, and how getting more sleep can lead to countless benefits. Simple things we have gone over each day have led to a monumental impact on my day-to-day life. Me and my classmates all have a similar goal now and it’s to help the mental health of our generation. We need to start with spreading the word and listening to and understanding others’ problems to help. I want to thank Mr. Shelton and this great group of students for this opportunity in my freshman year. It’s also crazy how I was able to have a class with my sister who is a senior and I’m a freshman. My sister introduced me to a couple new friends and cool classmates that I wouldn’t have been as comfortable talking to if she wasn’t there to introduce me.

By DMA Senior Dha-Feir Watts-Henry

This class helped me a lot when it comes to my mental health. In class, sometimes we meditate 10 minutes before class. Now I’m not going to lie. I didn’t stick through with it every time. In the beginning I was all in, but then I started to not participate with the rest of the class. It was only due to what I was going through outside of school, but after doing our reflection papers (another topic we do in class), it reminded me that I should’ve participated even when I was going through a rough time. I say this because when I meditated, I felt relaxed and unworried. Meditation helped me relieve stress and realize not everything that’s bad now will be bad forever. 

When we did an exercise rewirement where we had to do something active for 30 minutes, it helped me physically. I would take these 30 minutes to just stretch. As an athlete in season it is important to stretch coming from a person who didn’t take stretching as seriously and had a lot of dumb injuries during the season. I was still able to play through them, but I do know that if I stretched more I would’ve been healthier. I would say to anybody who wants to learn about mental health and ways to get through it, you should take this class. Mr. Shelton is a great teacher who is unique because he has been around all parts of the world, he’s seen it all, and he carries a lot of wisdom with him. This class has made me realize you can’t change something without putting the effort in to change it.

By DMA Sophomore Samantha Kowalski 

In my sophomore year, I joined a class called Science of Happiness. I didn’t really understand what the class was about when I first signed up for it but I’m glad I did. Science of Happiness taught me that not everything you think will make you happy actually makes you happy. For example, if I asked you right now what would make you happier you would probably tell me money, better grades, or your dream house/car. In reality, those things only make you happy for a short period of time, and then you’re back to where you were before you got what you thought would make you happy. This class has helped me look at a lot of things differently. I’ve also helped others cope in better ways by sharing with them how I look at things now. Meditating in this class has also helped me. I personally did not like doing it in school due to the distractions but Mr.Shelton made us do it as an assignment at home and as I started doing it for a week it really helped. It helps reduce stress and stop the mind from wandering. At our age this is a big due to all the things going on in today’s society and all the things us teens worry about. Overall, this class has taught me to make the best of life in every situation and that there is always something good in every bad situation, even if we don’t realize it at that moment. I would definitely recommend this class to anyone. It has great benefits for you personally and teaches you ways to help others.

By DMA Senior Serenity Wagner

Live authentically. Those two words are what I have learned most from this Optimistic Mindset class. Embrace all of you and all of your faults, but enhance the good parts and create good habits. One way to understand your thoughts and your body is to start meditating. We all tried meditating to have a few minutes of focusing on our body and breathing, and not letting distractions get in the way. Meditation has many benefits like self-awareness, focusing on the present, patience, and gratitude. All these things are what can lead us into living with love and authenticity. Gaining all these things from meditation can also help build better relationships and make more social connections with new people. Instead of staying on your phone and avoiding people, you should start conversations. Also, while in conversations with people, you should be open to sharing different opinions. We as a society have learned to steer away from certain topics, but why not embrace those topics. Why not be understanding and loving to new opinions and ideas. In Optimistic Mindset we were able to be open about “controversial” topics and became comfortable with having very civil and understanding conversations. We also learned ways to make our mental health way better by doing simple things like working out more, not using social media, just getting sleep, and practicing our signature strengths. Our signature strengths are characteristics that are most essential to who we are. For example, if one of your top strengths is kindness, you should do some kind acts. Doing more kind acts will lead to you feeling happier because you are doing something that is a prominent part of your character. Just putting the things you enjoy into action will lead you to be happier. These new techniques have helped me to become more authentic, loving, and happy.

By DMA Sophomore Madeline August

The point of Science of Happiness is to learn ways to protect and help people’s mental health. Having Science of Happiness in the middle of my school day is definitely a positive experience. It gives me a chance to just reset and have a good end of the day. This class has also taught me a lot. I’ve learned ways to help control my mind and the best way was by meditating. In the beginning of the year, we would start class by meditating for 5 minutes. I saw a big decrease in my emotions and it was a huge benefit in my days at school.

I also really enjoyed learning PSYCHPROTIPS. Mr. Shelton introduced us to 27 PSYCHPROTIPS and I learned a lot from them. These 27 tips just give you suggestions on how to live your life. The ones I liked the most were: #21 Just get some damn sleep, #5 Increase the variety in your life, #16 Savor your important connections in high school before it’s too late, and #18 Start meditating and turn it into a practice. These and many more psychprotips gave me daily reminders on how to have a happy life.

Overall, I’d say that taking this course was a big benefit to the first half of the school year. As a high school student, taking a 40-minute class to just learn ways to control your mental health is very needed. I also feel that Mr. Shelton teaches this class really well and without his lessons and this class I don’t think I’d have the better perspective on my life that I do now.

By DMA Sophomore Benjamin Bartol

Going into this class I was confused. It was a class that I didn’t sign up for nor knew anything about. I learned on day one it was exactly how it sounded: the study of how one enjoys life and makes it worth living. Mr. Shelton told the class about himself and the things he does to become happy: family, friends, hiking, teaching, and finally meditation. The first ones stuck with me since they were very similar to mine, besides the last one – meditation. I heard of it before but I never tried it. I thought it would have no effect on me, until he had us try it out. I found it nice how quiet it was to just rest. He had proven me wrong. The thing that I thought wouldn’t affect me turned out to do the opposite. Mr. Shelton opened my mind up to new opportunities to be happy, so I listened more to what he had to say. He gave us these activities every week called Rewirements which made us try new things every day and record how it made us feel. The ones that affected me the most was “exercise at least once every day.” I had already done this so I decided to push myself to do even more each day. It felt rewarding everyday knowing that I was bettering myself each time I exercised. Going into this class, I thought it would be like all the others – do the work to get the grade and move on – but I was wrong. It did more for me than I could have ever expected.

By DMA Sophomore Sophia Falasca

My experience with this course in the beginning was very rocky. I didn’t like doing work and I thought this class was going to be doing fun stuff. My opinion has changed throughout the course. I think that it is very helpful in an unknown way. I didn’t know how much this course has changed me in a positive way until writing this. I became a way nicer person and started realizing more things happening around me. I was reminded to treat people the way I want to be treated, and that I am not the only one going through things at home. There’s a lot of people going through harder stuff than me. It is not ok to treat people with disrespect when I know dang well you wouldn’t want to be treated like that. If everyone had the mindset to treat people the way they want to be treated, it will make this world a way better place to live. I am very concerned about mental health and this class teaches some concepts to help you if you are struggling. It is ok to not be ok. But it is not ok to suffer in silence. Bottling up your emotions will only make them stronger; speaking out will help you in ways you don’t even know. Overall this class has a bunch of potential. I just think if we want to make a change we need to bring this to a bigger audience. For right now I like being in this class and I am excited to keep learning.

By DMA Sophomore Alexandra Kirby

In my sophomore year of high school, I signed up to take a course called Science of Happiness. In this class, I learned helpful tools to use in my everyday life going forward. I learned fun facts about our brain and how it tricks us into seeing and thinking certain things. All brains are different and therefore different things will make different people happy. Our brains make us think that certain things will make us happy, but when it comes down to it, they don’t. If I were to ask you right now what would make you happy, you would probably say a large amount of money, good grades, or society’s expectations of a “perfect body”. We learned that in the moment, these things would most likely make you happy, but no matter what, you will always want more. You just got a better job as the boss? Well now you can aim for being the boss’s boss. The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. In this class we are taught to make memories and relish in the small moments that make us happy. We learn that not every piece of happiness has to do with big changes in your life like being the boss or getting plastic surgery, but the small things that we remember for the rest of our lives. Science of Happiness will teach you to be proud of where you are in your life right now, and to take advantage of the opportunities that are currently available to you. Science of Happiness will change the way you perceive happiness in many different ways.

By DMA Freshman Emmerich Miller

Going into school on my first day of high school I was wondering what classes I would have. When I saw one of my classes was Optimistic Mindset, I was wondering what it was about because I had never heard about it. When I got there on the first day and heard what the class was about, I was surprised because in this class we get to talk about things that we would never really be able to talk about like mental health, meditation, and how to just be happier. 

We learn a lot of this through psychprotips which basically teach us ways to live a happier life. One psychprotip I’ve liked is, “Start meditating and turn it into a practice.” I have started to meditate more, and now I feel less stressed and more happy when doing things. Another one of the other psychprotips that I liked was, “Just get some sleep.” As I have started to go to bed earlier, I have noticed a difference in how focused I am in class and everything else I do. I have also felt better about doing the things that I like to do after school because I am not as tired.

Each week in class, we get a new Rewirement to focus and it makes us really do some of the things we talk about in class. So far we’ve done a Gratitude Journal Rewirement which makes us think about all the small things that we are grateful for, the Meditation Rewirement which makes us meditate once a day, and the Exercise Rewirement which makes us exercise for a little bit each day. These are just a few of the amazing Requirements we have talked about so far.

Overall this class has taught me so many things that I would never have learned anywhere else. I am extremely thankful to have been in this class. It has taught me so many things that I will be able to use in high school and as I go through life. This class has been one of my favorite classes I have ever taken. I can not wait to learn more ways of becoming happier in the next few months. 

By DMA Sophomore Kate Hines

Taking this course has led me to implement strategies and new habits in my everyday life. The slideshows and videos we watched informed me on different ways to improve my well-being and also provided facts about things that increase your happiness. There are many things that I learned that are helpful but I believe the rewirements are the most helpful. We did many different rewirements throughout the marking period including signature strengths, gratitude journal, and exercise. These rewirement let me look back on my week and reflect on the good things I did. For example, the exercise rewirement let me reflect on the activities I did and it created a habit to always get at least 30 minutes of exercise a day. Doing this could increase my happiness and well-being. Another rewirement we did was the gratitude journal. This one is probably the most helpful to me because I was able to think about things that I am grateful for. If you do this every day and really think about what you are grateful for, I believe that you will be more appreciative of what you have. For example, if you are super grateful for your family, the gratitude journal gives you the chance to think about them and be more thankful for them and all they do. I believe that reflecting on things that are important to you can help you be a better person. You can see what you need to do to work on yourself while also seeing what you accomplished and should feel good about. For me the rewirements were very helpful and contributed to making myself a better person. I am glad that I took this class and was introduced to habits and information that can be used to increase my well-being.

By DMA Sophomore Kellen Roberts

I found this class really interesting and unique. Out of all the classes at DMA, this is the class that surprised me the most. I think it’s because I’ve never taken a class like this before and the topics are somewhat intriguing. One thing I found helpful is meditating. Just meditating 5 minutes a day helps me relieve stress that I collect throughout the long tiring days. I also find keeping my phone away from me when sleeping helps me with my mental health. It helps me fall asleep faster, and also get better sleep, which as I found out in this class, is super important to your mental health. I also think doing random acts of kindness is great for everyone. It makes my relationships with others better, and makes me feel better. For example, it makes me feel good knowing that I helped out my sisters with their homework which makes them more relieved and happier. One final thing I found super helpful in this class is splitting my gains and combining my losses. It’s a lot easier to get an assignment done if you do it all at once and just get it done rather than splitting it up into 15 minute sessions and then having breaks in between. This helps me because I have less distractions to worry about. In this class, I found these exercises and activities to be helpful for me and also for others.

By DMA Senior Molly Manley

I feel like the Rewirement activities in the Optimistic Mindset class have helped me in multiple ways. For example, while doing the Signature Strengths Rewirement, I found that I am focusing more on cheer and school rather than myself, and I need to take care of myself. While doing the Random Acts of Kindness Rewirement, it felt nice at the end of the week to look at the things I did for people. It made me feel like a better person. When we did the Gratitude Journal Rewirement, I learned about things I am truly thankful for, like my mom, as she does so much for me. It made me feel like a better person for realizing how much I appreciate the people who support my life with their actions. When we did the Social Connection Rewirement, I realized how little interaction I get with people outside my household because I am always home. I realize that if I start talking to more people I will gain more confidence. I really enjoy this class because I’m learning content that will help me as I pursue a psychology major in college. I also like how laid back the class is compared to others. It’s a refresher because it’s close to the end of the day, and after having stressful classes, it’s nice to relax and take a break where it’s not stressful. It’s definitely one of my favorite classes this year, so I would for sure recommend it to others when they choose their schedule.

By DMA Senior Avery Kryspin

In my senior year of high school, I began taking a course called Optimistic Mindset. Now, I have never heard of such a course and I had no idea what to expect going in. Honestly, I really enjoy the class, and I actually find what I learn to be quite useful in my day to day life. We learn about different aspects of human psychology as well as how we can use them to our advantage! For instance, did you know that you will most likely relieve a lot of stress by meditating on a regular basis? I actually started meditating more, and I really did notice a decrease in my stress levels. Another activity that I found to be beneficial to my mental health was recording things that we are grateful for in an online journal. Personally I found the reflection aspect of this practice to be really happy and uplifting. I love looking back at all of the happy things that I’ve been grateful for in my life. For example, it makes me really happy to just think about how grateful I am for my friends. I have so much love for people, and I love to let them know, so this exercise is a nice little reminder for me.

By DMA Senior Peyton Brannock

When I first heard about Optimistic Mindset, my first thoughts were, “This class will probably be a study hall or a free period.” I soon came to realize that this was a pretty interesting class to have. It goes into depth about the dos and don’ts to living a stress-free life and teaches you about the invisible bad habits we all seem to have. From owning social media accounts to watching a lot of TV; these things just aren’t good for the brain. I wouldn’t have even known that if this course wasn’t on my schedule. This has caused me to cut down on not only watching T.V but using apps like twitter and snapchat. I’ve started to try to cherish my experiences rather than waste the memories on my phone. I’ll take a quick picture or video, then put it down and go back to doing what I was doing. I began having a lot more fun with my friends when I started being more grateful for the time I have with them. I am going to have to learn to live without seeing them as frequently because I will be going off to college to play baseball. It’s a hard time coming to realize that this will be happening, but this course has made it a lot easier.