by Alyson Irvin

Created on: December 18, 2009

  Philosophical advice comes not only in the form of a maxim, but sometimes in the form of an activity.  It was a normal day in the 9th grade, and I walked into my Social Studies class completely unaware that my whole life was about to change.  We all took our seats, and Ms. Hunter stood up at the front of the class and said, "We are going to do something a little different today."  She then explained that we were going to play a game.  And, that our final grade for the semester was going to be determined by how well we played this game.  She said that there would be a winner, and that person would get an "A" and that everyone else would be getting a "D."   There was a lot of shuffling then, as everyone sat up straight in their chairs.  We were "gifted" students, and everyone in the class cared very much about their grades.  There was also some glancing around the room as we sized one another up.  Who was the one to beat? Who was going to be the one to win?  I knew that I wanted it to be me.  Not only did I care very much about my grades, I also have a competitive streak in general.  I simply HAD to win.

  Ms. Hunter then laid out the rules of the game. We were to answer questions, and the first person to raise their hand would be called upon.  If you answered the question correctly, you got 5 points.  If you answered incorrectly, you lost 5 points, and if you had no points to begin with, you earned a deficit.   After you got a certain amount of points, you could add a rule to the game.  If you reached another threshold, you could make another, and so on.   Ms. Hunter looked out over the classroom, gazing at each of us in curious way, and then she said, "Alright, let the game begin." 

  Questions were asked and answered, and points given and subtracted. It did not take me long to pull ahead of the majority of my peers, but there was one other student  who was right there with me, we were tied when we hit the threshold for making the first rule.  Ms. Hunter then said that since we were tied, we had to agree upon the rule.  And so my classmate and I conferred.  I remember it clearly, my brilliant idea, and I said to him, "Lets have our rule be that if they answer correctly, they have to give us 3 of their 5 points."  His eyes lit up as well.  We looked at each other, and smiled.  Our rule would ensure that

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