University of Pennsylvania senior Callan Parra chronicles the stories of people she’s met who’ve triumphed over adversities and offers insights on coping with stress and finding life’s “perfect moments” in a new blog called “Happy for Happyness.”

The “Y” in “Happyness,” says Parra, underscores the importance of finding a personal “why” to be happy. That has helped her maintain a positive attitude and handle life’s challenges. Her memories and “perfect moments” volunteering in the community at Penn and interning in Botswana form the basis of many of her blog posts. 

Parra, was born and raised in San Diego. She was a standout on the soccer field in high school and Division 1 schools lined up to recruit her. She chose to attend Penn and play forward on the Quaker women’s soccer team.

Parra spent the spring semesters of her freshman and sophomore years hobbling across campus on crutches after breaking her foot, not once, but twice. The second time ended her soccer career, leaving her with permanent scars on her left foot and heel.  But the self-described eternal-happiness chaser’s spirit is indefatigable. Her scars, she says, are a “reminder tattoo that major setbacks make for greater comebacks.”

Parra’s spirit sunk after the injury. She missed the camaraderie she had shared with her teammates. Suddenly she had lots of free time. The political science major began working with the Fox Leadership Program, volunteering at Huey and Lea Elementary schools.

She loved working with the children, experiencing the first of many “perfect moments,” a term she uses to describe moments in her life that feel like perfection.

“In those days I spent at Huey, walking to and from Penn’s campus, I felt truly and genuinely happy, ” she says.

Many of the children were growing up in difficult circumstances, inspiring Parra with their resilience. Through the Penn Global International Internship Program and Fox Leadership Program funding, she spent part of the summer between her junior and senior years in Botswana on a nine-week internship.

Working at the Kamogelo Orphans and Vulnerable Children's Project for HIV-vulnerable children in Tsalomoses, she drafted grants to local organizations to provide a half-year of food to the school.

“I taught the children English, I helped clean and cook for the children, I did house-visits to the community to recruit more children and discovered I love meeting new people, and I love listening to their stories,” she says.

She also shadowed two fourth-year medical students from Penn at the Ramotswa Clinic in another village outside Gaborone reviewing doctor-patient notes, doing medical rounds in the maternity ward and helping tend to about 15 patients. She also assisted local physicians in dermatology, OB-GYN, pediatrics and internal medicine.

This experience “truly changed my outlook on life for the better,” Parra says.

Her field notes reflect how much she immersed herself in African culture and learning about people’s lives and work and how they cooked and cleaned. She would strike up conversations with vendors, cooks and fellow passengers on a “combi,” 12-seater white taxi van.

In Africa, one memory she relishes was walking home from work on her second day at Kamogelo.

“It was quiet but not too quiet, “ she reflects. “It was warm but not too warm. The sun was shining and people were smiling. It felt like a true euphoric moment.“

After returning from Botswana, Callan produced a video of the experience as well as a “happiness” video showcasing the many ways Penn students have fun. She dubbed it her“HapPENNess” video.

She is now fundraising to be able to expand her blog into an Internet site, a virtual “Hub for Happiness” for college students, especially students at highly rigorous universities. The online site would be a place to share stories about life challenges, accomplishments and daily gratitude.

If she could take a gap year between graduation and medical school to work on this project, it would make her very, very happy.