By Jordan McNeil
Do you know those people who get annoyed at their Facebook friends who post their end-of-the-semester grades or other seemingly bragging posts about accomplishments of all sizes? Are you one of those people?
I used to be like that a bit. I would join in the regular jokes about “Oh it’s that time of the year for the sea of grade posts,” and I’ve been careful myself on what I post on my account to keep myself from becoming one of those Facebook users.
Lately, though, I’ve been reconsidering my outlook. I’m involved in quite a few projects and organizations on campus, and I like to think I do a good job with all of them. Ultimately, I’m pretty proud of the work I do with Jenny Magazine, Penguin Review, these columns for The Jambar and even the assignments I have to do for my graduate assistantship. And sometimes, I just want the world — or, at least, my small section of the world — to know that.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with taking pride in the work you do. This is the goal, after all, isn’t it? To do work you enjoy, to feel good about what you do? I hope to keep this feeling about my work after I graduate and move on to the adult world, because it’s rather great.
If you’re proud of your grade on that chemistry test, or speech class, or history presentation, who cares what those Facebook friends from earlier think? Share your pride, own your talent and abilities.
A lot of times, I find myself focusing more on my shortcomings, and I know I’m not alone in this. I do believe it’s good to admit that you do have shortcomings, that you can’t do everything, but you shouldn’t focus on only that. You have skills and talent and abilities that you do rock, and you should remember that. You should take pride in that.
Recognize your achievements, no matter if they appear to be small to others. Don’t worry about those people. We all should be able to share our pride in what we’ve accomplished without worrying about whether we annoy our friends or come off as bragging or not. Really, there shouldn’t be anything wrong with “bragging” online every now and then about what we’ve done well that day or week or month. It’s just showing that we have some self-confidence in what we do, that we’re proud of the work we spend most of our time doing, that we made it through something that we were worried about.
What’s so wrong with that?
