Since we were young we’ve had it engrained in us to be the best. Not the best that we could be, but the best in general. As kids we strived for the first place trophy in the YMCA soccer league. When we didn’t win, we were given a consolation trophy that would sit on our shelf, a reminder of our not-good-enough effort.
In elementary school we were presented with our first major competitions. We took our first tests and hoped that we got the highest grade in the class. As 5th grade came around, many of us went through the competitive application process to get into Trinity.
When we got to Trinity, the competitive environment did not end, but rather it flourished. Presented with the awards assembly at the end of the year and teachers who openly acknowledge students who get A’s on a test, we are thrown into an environment that tells us doing our best is not good enough. We must out perform those around us in order to succeed.
As we grow older, the competition becomes more heated. No longer are we competing for trivial things, such as the highest grade on a 6th grade English test. We are now competing for things that “matter.” We need things such as the highest PSAT score, the greatest number of AP courses, the acceptance letter to the most prestigious college.
Our society has this idea that in order to be successful, you must be the best. It tells you that you won’t get into a good college unless you are the best in your grade. It tells you that unless you go to an elite college, you will live an unsuccessful, miserable life. None of this is true, so let’s stop thinking that way.
Let’s stop this needing. Let’s stop competing against the person next to us in class for the best grade on the quiz.
Although it is important for us to acknowledge our achievements and those of our classmates, we must not let it blind us from what really matters.
By competing against each other, the only things we are creating are tension and an atmosphere that is not conducive for what we are here to do – learn.
We are not here to take the most AP courses. We are not here to earn A’s on every assignment. We are not here to win academic awards at the end of the year. By focusing on things other than learning, none of us end up winning.
As we focus on things other than learning, we begin to determine our worth based on things that are out of our control. Even though it appears that you can always earn the highest grade on that English quiz, there is always someone who has studied more. As many times as you read the passage, someone happened to read that book every summer. When you apply to college, there are students with stronger resumes applying.
We cannot always win, so it would be best if we stopped competing. Break out of the cycle of competition and start competing with yourself. Challenge yourself to read every assignment. Improve each of your quiz grades. Come out of every class period having learned something, instead of spending it trying to figure out what will be on the next test.
Instead of viewing the person next to you in class as the opposing team, look at the person as what he is—your peer, your collaborator, your equal.
We are all at Trinity. We are all amazingly hardworking and smart. You are surrounded by more than 800 of the brightest middle and high school students in Central Florida. Let’s make it us against the problem, not us against each other.
