The Unhealthy Focus on Competition in Universities

The first thing I do when I wake up in the morning is secure my knapsack, ensuring that my rations are in their proper place: my biology textbook, notebook, and iclicker2. Then, I begin my long march into enemy territory. My blitzkrieg strategy will help me win this war. My ground attack is relentless (hand cramping but pen scribbling down the highlights of the facts about a prokaryotic cell’s genome). My aerial assaults, though few, are aggressive and well timed (Dr. Newman, question, if we remove the repressor gene, will the lac operon…). And all the while, I cleverly evade the snipers, positioned strategically by the enemy in the back of the room. They fire at me with deadly accuracy (iclickers ready to answer the lecture questions faster than me. It is no longer enough to apply my knowledge and answer the correct answer.). As needed, I return to base, exchanging old supplies for new. Then, I regretfully return to the war ravished grounds of Pittsburgh, fighting another senseless battle, determined to be victorious and beat the enemy (Just like every other warrior fighting on comparable terrains, armory displaying subtle differences…)

The fact is that most employers, graduate schools, and professional schools accept only students with the best grades (mostly As and some Bs). This makes sense; grades are a good way to both compare students and gauge effort or intelligence. But when did the fixation of earning a high grade monopolize education? Professors set curves, permitting at most thirty percent of their students to earn those coveted competitive grades. Students hope that others fail so that their earned grade remains as earned. If your peers are really as moronic and lame-brained as they must be (well, at ...

... middle of paper ...

... or pretzels at a pediatric clinic. Grades should mean something (and not just to employers and admission officers). Students tirelessly work, committing themselves to the pursuit of an education. They understand that they are responsible for their education. Students shouldn’t have to accept this responsibility in spite of the bellicose and destructive environment that many universities provide.

In times of serious economic uncertainty and political turmoil, shouldn’t teaching individuals to cooperate and collaborate be a prime objective? Instead, we teach the doctrine of competition. Instead, we alienate individuals because of our perception of their inferiority and foster unbridled arrogance. Instead, we suffocate. Competitive environments externalize our quest for self-understanding. If the cultivation of civilization was a cooperative effort, shouldn’t