As a child, I was raised in the Catholic religion. My mother taught me about Catholic traditions, and in addition to that I attended Catholic school from pre-K until 12th grade. Something that makes me proud of my faith is the fact that there is an emphasis to treat others with kindness and respect, while giving as much as you can to those in need. The great part about this principle is that you don’t have to be Catholic to live by it. In fact, picture now how much of a better place the world would be if we all chose to treat each other in the way I’ve described above. Seems ideal, doesn’t it?

On my way home a while ago I was listening to 88.5FM, one of my favorite radio stations. At the time when I was listening, a study about spending habits and happiness was being discussed. The study revealed that people are happier when they spend money not on themselves, but on others. So let’s say you were at happiness level 7 and you came into $5 on the sidewalk. If you chose to donate that $5 to a homeless person, then it would raise your happiness level to an 8 (not too much, but still an upward trend). If you had chosen to keep the money instead, you’d feel indifferent, the logic behing this being that you’d spend the $5 on the same cup of Starbucks you’re already very familiar with.

USG is giving students the opportunity to to participate in Community Service Day on March 22 from 8am – 4pm. While this does not entail monetary donations, it does deal with you giving your time back to the community in a hands-on way. Consider participating for the simple fact that you’ll be helping society, but also feeling good about something you did.