I am a very competitive person. If you challenge me to a chugging contest you better believe I’m going to drink so fast that water comes out of my nose (I’m sorry. That’s gross). I’m not afraid to get out of the car at a red light and dance around in my school uniform to prove that I’m not just “all talk.” And don’t even get me started on board games.
However, one regard in which I cannot tolerate competition is in the classroom. I’m not talking about the friendly competition among friends that motivates each of you to study harder, and in turn each to earn a better grade (I’m also not talking about the secret competition you have with your professor when he or she says “This is not a paper you can write the night before it’s due,” to which you say “Watch me” and submit it four minutes before the deadline. That, I am the queen of).
I’m referring to the egocentric sort of competition pervading many of the nation’s top universities. That is, the need to tear others down to build oneself up—the lying about test grades to make oneself appear smarter, the refusal to help peers study so there’s a better curve, and the infamous “I beat you.” Excuse me, when did school become a competition?
Before going to college I had heard the horror stories of academic sabotage—like purposefully spilling coffee on a classmate’s paper—at institutions of higher education. Having attended a high school where each finals week a Facebook page was made so students could share the study guides they had created with the rest of the school, the idea of academic sabotage seemed to me like a distant myth. While—thankfully—I have not witnessed any such acts at Notre Dame, I have observed many instances in which students use their knowledge only in self-service and are unwilling to assist their peers. Although this is not a general pattern and I realize that others might not agree with me, it bothers me nonetheless and I believe it needs to be addressed.
The root of the problem as I see it is the shift from an educational system centered on learning to one focused on grades. Many students feel that in order to succeed in such a system, they have no other choice than to manipulate it by studying merely for the test and not for the future and by working to ensure that their work is better than that of their peers instead of expending the effort to do their best. Simply put, a function of the system is that students start to believe that the success of others will bring them down, which is silly.
Here’s how I see it. Let’s pretend I spend ten hours making this killer study guide for finals, and it is pristine. If I study it thoroughly and learn all the material, I will be golden for the exam. It’s up to me to study the study guide day in and day out until I know it like the back of my hand.
So if I do all that I can to prepare for the exam, I should not have any qualms about letting others use my study guide. It benefited me so greatly, why would I not want others to benefit from it as well? I’ve reaped what I can, so why not share it? After all, I put so much time into working on it, it should be put to good use! If I’ve truly learned everything I’m supposed to than the success or failure of my peers won’t make me and more or less intelligent. So why not wish for their success? Maybe it’s just wishful thinking, but I’d like for a possible future surgeon of mine to know where my gall bladder is located, per say.
Meredith Grey got it right in the first episode of Grey’s Anatomy. When all the new interns are betting money on George, another young and nervous intern, screwing up his first appendectomy she says “$50 says he pulls the whole thing off. That’s one of us down there, the first one of us. Where’s your loyalty?”
We students are in this together. Actually, we people are in this together. Human beings are social creatures. Unless one becomes a hermit and lives out his or her life in a secluded desert cave, there is no way to avoid social interaction. The day will come when you can no longer rely on your intellect alone. You will need teamwork, which is a two-way street. Unless you are willing to share your knowledge in order to help another succeed, you will both fail.
That is life. Real life. Real life I experienced just last night at work when I was flustered, on the verge of tears, and money was flying in all directions (I work as a server in a dine-in movie theater and was trying to frantically close all the customers’ checks before the movie was over). My co-workers had already closed out their checks. They would earn no benefit by helping me out, but they did it anyway. And once it was all over and I was graciously thanking them, one of my co-workers turned to me and said, “No problem. That’s what co-workers are for.” And then another one, “Yeah, that’s why we’re here.”
That’s what people are for. We are here to help one another succeed. To build each other up. And if you’re unfamiliar with how to do this because you’ve spent your whole life gathering accomplishments for yourself only, then you, my friend, will eventually fall short of success.
The HCND application is now open! For more information contact Rebecca Rogalski at rebeccarogalski@hercampus.com or Katrina Linden at katrinalinden@hercampus.com
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