by Jordan Pack

Created on: July 02, 2007

Thinking back to the days where man was forced to provide for himself and his family by hunting with the most advanced techniques of the time, there seems to be one basic theme that was ubiquitous throughout a given community: competition. Man was forced to compete against his brothers for the animal that would sustain his family through the long winter months. When one considers the forces of nature, and the astonishing developments that various species within Mother Nature's expansive kingdom have undertaken to ensure their survival, the theme of competition again comes to mind. If one species did not develop the essential tools that another species acquired that competed for the same food source, the species lacking the characteristics would be left to merely be a memory of the past.

By examining these situations within the context of competition, it would seem that competition has allowed the most superior species to survive and prosper for several subsequent generations, while the inferior species is left by the wayside. Competition within our educational system can be viewed in much the same way, although efforts have to be made in this area to allow the students without the best tools to succeed so that they may also be presented the opportunity to excel in a given field. Though the situation in our schools may not be most accurately described by comparing it to life-or-death situations, many experts do feel that education has become such an essential tool for success in the 21st century that the competition within our schools has become incredibly intense.

Due to these sentiments shared by individuals both within and separate from our educational system, many people have started to label the competition within schools as a necessary evil, and something that cannot be avoided. It is my opinion, however, that we should embrace this spirit of competition and use it to make our students better prepared for the challenges they will face in the real world, just as the American economy has used competition to provide better services at lower prices for consumers for hundreds of years. The responsibility falls on the shoulders of those students who consistently finish in the top percentages of their class to assist those that may be struggling through tutoring and other means of communication. This responsibility can then be shared by the students who are perhaps underachieving, and I believe that if they begin to succeed, then they will only continue to improve their skills.

Competition for me was always something that I felt was inherent in each and every one of us. It is something inside you that makes you want to do better, whether for your own good, or simply to enjoy the fruits of your labor. Finally, I would argue that in order to expect great things out of competition, we need to make technology available to our teachers so that they may produce the results that future employers want to see in a student and potential employee.

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