It is a fact that people brag. Children brag, Adults brag, Lafayette students brag. This boasting could be due to winning a game, achieving an academic award or even from getting a new pair of shoes.

We as a society are used to people showing off. We find it acceptable (in small amounts at the very least) because every one of us has bragged sometime in our lifetime.

The problem is certain things should not be shown off. At all.

None of us should be hearing conversations that sound like, “I spent my entire Saturday volunteering for a barbecue for Key Club, “says one friend to another. The other friend responds, “Oh really? That’s cool. Yeah, I was singing for my church for the whole weekend.”

It is so slight, but these two “friends” have seriously just had a conversation trying to one-up each other on the amount of community service they have done. And I hear conversations like this all of the time. I am so tried of people passively trying to tell each other that they are better and more caring people than everyone else.

Let me get one thing straight. If a person is volunteering or doing any community work, that person should be doing it solely to make a difference and to help other people out.

It should not be for self glory or to prove to your friend of how “great” of a person you are. Instead of getting arrogant about your work, humble yourself.

 Let the work you are doing change you as a person instead of simply acknowledging the fact that you have impacted someone else’s life.

 It doesn’t matter if you spend an hour keeping score free of charge at a sports game or a week down in Haiti rebuilding a broken nation. Each moment is important. Each bit of help counts in the end.

Let us keep that in mind the next time we do community service or hear others boasting about the work that they have done.