Competition

23Jan12

My opinion on competition: I love it. I thrive on it. It motivates me. It’s been a part of my life since I can remember….especially in colorguard and now with running. Competition is a good thing, otherwise, you wouldn’t want to get any better. If a person thinks they’re the best at something, they may be pretty good, but there’s always someone better.

After reading the Wikipedia article, I do see where competition is a bad thing. When competition and the pressure to be SO great (or the best) in education gets so bad that students commit suicide in Japanese culture, it is a bad thing. And the point when competition crosses the line between being a motivator and being a life or death situation, should be monitored and addressed as soon as possible.

The second article “Competition vs. Cooperation,”  (the one with Courier-ish font) was a bit lengthy but had interesting points. I feel that cooperation and competition should be separated though. Cooperation should happen within teams and groups. Competition should happen between teams and groups, not within them. “Additionally, individuals who develop a cooperative stance tend to feel more in control of their lives and do not live for approval from others.” I found this interesting because a friend of mine made a comment that while I don’t seek the approval of others, I do relish in praise from people regarding my work.

The third article, on Psychology Today, I can relate again to colorguard. “Across four studies, we found clear and consistent evidence that kids enjoyed shooting free-throws more when they were part of a team in competition against another team (intergroup competition) compared to when they were simply cooperating, competing, or shooting alone. This led us to conclude that both competition and cooperation can provide unique benefits to individuals (and that each may have some drawbacks when experienced alone).” When we were together at competitions, we all united together and wanted to beat the other teams. However, during practice times, there were occasions where I would try to (mentally) compete against another team member to make sure I was either just as good or better than them.

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Tags: competition, n250, team building