There’s a difference between happiness and joy. Happiness, Catholics say, is external. It emerges from the everyday contests: when you get the job you wanted, make it through a yellow light, or earn admission to your dream school. Joy, on the other hand, is internal. It fills us when we are at peace with ourselves. It cannot be changed by a bad day, or a bad week, or a bad life.

Nick Genovese, BC ’16, walked into the offices of ESPN in 2017 and had a feeling he was about to be very happy. He had been communicating with an executive of ESPN for several weeks, and was invited in to the Manhattan headquarters for a tour. Anticipation built as he saw the studios and met his potential co-workers. When he was sent up to the vice president’s office on the top floor, he knew “something” was going to happen.

From across the table, the executive slid a folder toward Genovese. Inside was the contract for a position at ESPN—the only thing that Genovese can remember ever longing for. Genovese said that as he sat there, making small talk, he started to buy into the ESPN lifestyle more and more. The executive asked him what he studied during his time at BC. Genovese replied theology and film, and told him that he was currently working for a Catholic media company, prompting a reply that shook Genovese straight off the course he had been planning for so long.