As of late, the main thing on my mind has been, to no one’s surprise, the start of school. Depending on who you are, this can arouse different reactions. Some years, the idea brought me joy. Others, dread. This year, senior year for me, something else has struck up. I have the feeling that the next nine months will not be without trial and tribulation, but that I’ll be just fine. I’ll flourish, even. I’m almost an adult, I have a loving support system, and have found my passions. All that’s left now is to pursue the future with all that I’ve got. I can almost taste the triumph now, and it tastes fantastic. Best of all, there’s a word for this preemptive relishing.

Nikhedonia (nɪkhɛdoʊni:ʌ) derives from the names of not one, but two Greek goddesses: Nike, goddess of victory (you may recognize her from a certain sports brand) and Hedone, goddess of delight and pleasure. It’s what surges through our veins when we’re at our best, or when we know that we’re about to be. 

Nikhedonia is what I feel for us. All of us. The year is only just dawning, but already, when I look around, auspicious activity is everywhere. Freshmen are finding their people, old friends are cheering over shared classes, practices of all sorts are in full swing, and the air is alive with the crackling vigor of more than 2,000 minds ready for a new chapter in their lives.

Carpe diem, Wolverines! We’re fresh, capable, and more eloquent than ever. This nikhedonia is not unfounded. Let’s make the year glorious. 

The world is, as Louis Armstrong once put it, wonderful. So much to do, to see, to ponder, to feel-and so many people to experience it with. Little, if anything, can match the elation of an engaged conversation, where everybody is on the same page and words are flying back and forth, filling the air with “I see what you mean” and “This makes so much sense! Wow!”

Unfortunately, though, what we say doesn’t always come across the way we intend. Oftentimes, it doesn’t. Words, no matter which language, are only rough conveyances of feelings, and the nuance of their true meaning tends to get lost in translation. 

As a logoleptic, I’ve long made it my personal mission to learn as many words as I possibly can, in hopes of understanding and expressing myself better. Whatever seemingly ineffable scenario life hurls my way, I comb through the profusions of our world’s languages until I find the needle in a comically large haystack: a word for exactly what I’m talking about. 

I want to share these words, as the universe brings them into my life. They’ve been cathartic to me, and, if you’ve ever found yourself in my shoes, good or bad, I hope they’ll do the same for you. Our time on the mortal plane, in this wonderful world, is too short to mince meaning, so I’ll be giving you wonderful words to describe it.