How a philosophy lesson inspired an article in Oprah Daily Magazine
Zora Lee ’28 had just submitted her paper for Modern Philosophy — on the class reading, “Discourse on Happiness” by Émilie du Châtelet — the morning before she interviewed for her summer internship with Oprah Daily Magazine.
As she spoke with her would-be manager, she realized that this enlightening treatise on happiness by a female philosopher aligned seamlessly with the magazine’s focus on mental health and women’s health.
“People on the Oprah Daily team describe the magazine as the happy corner of the Internet, and that really resonated — I think it's important to have a happy corner of anything,” Zora says. “I gave Maggie a rundown about this philosophy of happiness, and she was really receptive to it.”
Several weeks later, the English major and philosophy and French minor found herself pitching her idea — and others — to the whole Oprah Daily team in their Manhattan office. “I was able to bring my own ideas to the table, and that’s where the article came to life.”
Zora’s article, “This Female Philosopher Penned a Recipe for Happiness — and 278 Years Later, It’s Still Relevant,” was a hit.
In it, she writes of du Châtelet, “The 18th-century author was an accomplished Enlightenment
mathematician and physicist. But in ‘Discourse on Happiness,’ which she wrote in 1748,
she leaves behind her beloved numbers to discuss emotion.
“Unlike the dense self-help books on my shelf, du Châtelet’s answer was clear and simple. She argued that there are five key elements required to ensure happiness: passions, health, virtue, illusion, and freedom from prejudice. And the more I read, the more I was convinced that this antique text could help me break through my 21st-century ennui.”
Zora proudly shared her recently published work with the mentor who introduced her to du Châtelet, Philosophy Professor Larry Jorgensen.
Another inspiration for the article emerged from the engagement and active listening she experienced in English Professor April Bernard’s class on Russian writer Anton Chekhov.
A recurring theme in Chekhov’s stories and plays was the boredom his characters experience, Zora notes.
“We would find ourselves trying to translate it into modern-day terms and wondering what that boredom is for our generation, and it would sometimes lead to us to telling stories about our own lives,” she reflects. “What made me want to put this article about happiness out into the world was watching this sadness and modern-day form of boredom affect a lot of people in my social circle. I wanted to help give them the tools to pull themselves out of that.”
In addition to having such rich experiences in the classroom, Zora has enjoyed working in Skidmore’s Writing Center and hopes to return to it in her senior year, after she studies abroad for a year — in Montpellier for her French minor in the fall and in Dublin for English and philosophy in the spring.
“Being a tutor in the Writing Center is somewhere between peer-to-peer and teacher-to-student, because I was able to help people with their writing but also be friends with them and learn about their ideas. It was a great balance.”
The experience also prepared her well for the editing process at Oprah Daily magazine, she says.
In the internship, Zora also wrote features on travel, digital decluttering, and the surprising benefits of nostalgia, based on an interview with a clinical psychologist, among many other projects.
On the heels of such an impactful summer opportunity, she says she’s hoping to do more with magazine writing in the future, including contributing to Skidmore’s Lunchbox Magazine.
“To be honest, I’m kind of hooked on it.”