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Let contests reign

Let contests reign

It’s Early Decision season again and I think I found the source of all that college competition. But first, an anecdote:

According to the decade-old trophies, medals and certificates in your room, what’re you a champion at?

Because according to mine, I’m a hitter on par with Joe Dimaggio, a star in Spanish, and I ought to have a full basketball scholarship to Duke about, like, right now. What do all of these things have in common?

I’m awful at them.

In that case, who decided to give me all those awards? People, mainly parents, the type you see chewing out P.A.L. coaches or complaining at Back to School Night, who hate real competition. People who scathe it, shun it and try to chase it out of every corner of Fairfield county. And I admire those people, at least, to some extent.

But there’s one thing they fail to recognize: competition is going happen whether you like it or not. It’s a natural instinct, it’s a driving force of our entire society. Competition isn’t a grenade you can hop on to cover; it’s a powder keg that only gets fed the more it’s suppressed.

Now, you pretty much only hear about peers winning academic awards through whispers in the hallway (usually passive-aggressive comments or insults). But did you know they used to publish the Honor Roll in local papers every time it came out? How about that there was a time when (Gasp) not everyone get a trophy? Both of these things were stopped for kids who were “left out,” but academic competition is just as bad. In fact, strike that, it’s worse than ever.

You know why? Because it’s the only outlet anymore. More specifically, college competition and all of the grade-grubbing that comes with it is is. It’s the only time kids can realize their talents in some way and aspire to reach the level of their peers.

Even worse, it’s so rabid because their hunger for achieving, for being better has been repressed under a mountain of participation awards and hollow honors: many don’t have any idea how to handle themselves in competitions or deal with them healthily (yes, that includes the losing part). They’ve taken to clinging to stigmas, aggression and overall arrogance (which is loud)  rather than respect and confidence (which is quiet).

Let students hone their talents, let them lose and let them win. You can’t stop competition but you can distribute it.

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