Generous or Selfish? Helpful or Self-centered?

Before any examination, I often hear of such a saying: ‘Happy cooperation’. It’s not unusual to know that students, regardless of what level they are at, are very ‘cooperative’ and ‘helpful’ in sharing answers during exams. This culture, I dare say, is prevalent among students and pupils because they have a strong belief that ‘we should help each other in difficult circumstances’ or ‘having a friend is better than having a foe’. My set of attitudes and beliefs usually drive me out of the group.

Some people may perceive me to be a miser who is too self-centered, unhelpful, and uncooperative. Since I rarely or I don’t want to discuss, share, or allow people to copy my answers during exams unless I feel forced to do so. In addition, I’m not willing to let anyone copy my homework either by hand or by copying machine. Due to this behavior, sometimes I feel a bit isolated and not very welcomed; though I don’t regret for what I’ve done so far. People who know me well will understand why I tend to retain these behaviors.

Do I really help them if I give them the answers during exams or let them just copy my homework and submit to the teacher? Will they learn something? As far as I’m concerned, this is an indirect way to push them down to the valley. There is a good piece of advice saying ‘It’s better to teach people how to hunt rather than go hunting for them. For this reason, I prefer to give them explanations and directions in solving accounting exercises because it provides dual benefits not only for them but also for me.

What do we mean by ‘generous, helpful, and cooperative’? Absolutely, they are good terms that a person wishes to be described since no one is happy when they are called a miser. But, make sure we be generous and help at the right time or else they are simply terrible vices.