Facing Life Despite Competing

On Competing And Surviving

Some people think that school should use teaching methods that encourage students to cooperate, other people think that school should use teaching methods that encourage people to compete.

As students, throughout the years, we have had different types of teachers that use both methods according to their own beliefs, due to this fact we have experienced both approaches, enjoyed the benefits of both, but also suffered its consequences.

When a teacher encourages you to compete, it is undeniable that it motivates you to be the best, to continue improving in order to surpass the one that is better than you, but at the same we both have had awful experiences caused by this competition, that we firmly believe are harmful to the student and the work environment.

For instance, a few years ago I was talking to a friend about

extra work we were supposed to deliver the next day, it was only a favor to the teacher so it would not affect our grades. That day we had an enormous amount of homework so it was almost impossible to do it that afternoon if we wanted to sleep well and rest, due to this we agreed to ask the teacher for one more day. I trusted my friend and the next day I showed up to school without the project. But out of nowhere my friend showed up with this beautiful project, the teacher congratulated her and it made me feel like trash, all because she wanted to stand out before the teacher. That day I felt terrible, and cried for hours as soon as I got home, I felt worthless. But thanks to my parents I was able to pick myself together and I did an amazing project that even my teacher was impressed with.

After that day I was never able to trust my friend again, I was left with a feeling that everything was a competition, that I always needed to be the best, distancing me from many of my friends, thankfully, now I feel that it doesn’t matter and I should never feel that way again, that friends are more important than a grade.

Another personal experience its one that I live day after day in class, teachers make us compete between each other for extra points, the problem is that it is a time competition, where in the end it doesn't matter that you have solved the exercise if you weren't the first, and where help does not exist because everyone manages how they can. Even people who don't need those extra points compete for the simple fact of wanting to win, leaving others halfway and without the opportunity to demonstrate that they can do it too. This is why always the same people win, it is not a problem for those who know how to handle adrenaline and time, while others lose interest and at the end they don't even try. 

Due to this, we forget to help others because we are so focused in only helping ourselves, this is why we truly believe that nowadays it is most beneficial to use and encourage a system that makes you cooperate, not only to avoid all the consequences of a competition, but because you learn to work in teams, which is really useful in today’s society, you learn to help the other and  together, we can accomplish great things that alone would have been impossible.

By Camila Orozco, Step 10