Competition is everywhere; East High is not an exception. We compete against each other for places on academic teams and sports teams, for scholarships, and even to get into colleges. Intense competition exists in all classes. There are plenty of freshmen taking APs, planning out future schedules, and swearing off social lives with the intention to get ahead. The majority of students at the first FBLA meeting were freshmen. At least five freshmen are taking Chemistry Honors (a sophomore course). Last year, current sophomores (who were freshmen at the time) ran for every officer position on Student Council, and there was an unprecedented number of students running for class officer positions for the class of ‘17. Sophomores and juniors are shoving all the APs in their schedule that they can. Two years ago, there were four freshmen in AP Biology. And that was two years ago; competition is just getting stronger. Five juniors are taking AP Physics, while the rest of the students are seniors. One anonymous junior reported that she had originally planned to take seven, but only five would fit in her schedule. A top notch East student is rumored to have sixteen AP credits when he or she graduates.
But what does this competition really do to some of us? Well, there are positive and negative aspects of competition. One huge positive is that it motivates us students to do their best. It also encourages us to try new things and get involved, which allows us to create friendships and connections. Furthermore, it helps students for developing time and schedule management skills, and learning to make important decisions about their priorities. We will all end up deciding what’s most important and what’s worth it.
But with these positives come negatives as well.Time management clashes with the amount and difficulty of coursework, causing some students to get extremely stressed. Sleep deprivation can cause all kinds of health problems, including, but not limited to: irritability, cognitive impairment, memory lapses or loss, impaired moral judgement, hallucinations, impaired immune system, decreased accuracy, and increased reaction time. (So that’s why you’re supposed to get those nine to ten hours of sleep.) Another negative is that while looking for ways to improve their resumés, their grades, and their ranking, some students take shortcuts. Maybe it was finishing that paper instead of eating lunch, or sacrificing sleep for those cram sessions. And maybe it was glancing at someone else’s answers to that chemistry lab that was so difficult, or copying that summary from SparkNotes. Sometimes these shortcuts are very costly; a path without obstacles usually isn’t the right path. Another negative impact of competition is the effect it has on the actual student. In Honor’s Track, a realistic short story by Molly Patterson about the competition in high school, students begin assuming things about each other, gathering in groups to hypothesize about different students. A short excerpt of the piece states, “Gretchen had been scared off by the reputation of Mr. Everett’s class. She was taking Stats instead, so her GPA wouldn’t suffer.” Do the students know that? Did she say it herself? What if she just likes statistics? I know personally that it’s easy to assume. Also, even though all rankings aren’t visible, class rank may can cause jealousy and can break friendships in addition to making us assumptious people. Honor’s Track’s narrator says, “Every quarter, we went to the Guidance Office to check our class rank. Cindy Boranodski was number one, and we hated her.” Even though it’s somewhat understandable to be jealous, I believe it is not worth the effort to be hateful toward someone that is outperforming others, while we could be focusing on achieving more. With all of these stressful classes, I don’t understand how students are able to maintain their social lives. Additionally, some students are being pressured into being the best by their parents, being taught that it’s the right thing to do or the only thing that matters. Maybe it’s not a bad thing after all to try to be the best, but it does cause additional stress. Remember that all you can really do is to just be the best that you can be.
Is competition worth it? You should decide for yourself. Who are you doing this for? You? Your parents? Your dream school’s admissions officer? Is the idea of being the best appealing? Yes, of course. But is it realistic? Make sure you create limits for yourself and know when to draw the line for your own benefit.
Remember still that high school comes only once and you should decide what comes first so you can enjoy what’s left of your high school life to the fullest. Best of luck to you and all you do!
by Ann Wang
