As a journalism major, it feels like everyone in my class is actively competing with me to get the better grade/be the better journalist. In reality, all of us are talented in different ways and we should learn to support each other's work while doing the best work we can.

I understand being inspired by someone else's talent and using that to motivate you to work harder, BUT that should just be a motivation. When someone is competitive, they tend to tear down the other person's work and constantly talk about how much better their work is. That's not the way I want to go about my life. I'm happy when other people are successful and I use their success to motivate me.

Competing in this negative way only hurts YOU. So, what's the point? Being SO competitive about every assignment isn't going to make me like you. It's not going to make me think you're a great journalist either.

Let your work speak for itself!

There's really no need to tear down other people's work and make yours seem better because ALL of our work can be good, but that doesn't mean we need to rank everything either. Why does someone need to be the best at a particular assignment/test? Maybe I'm just not competitive at all, but I really don't understand this. I was never involved with sports in high school, although I did attend choir competitions; I was there to have fun though, and winning was never all that mattered to me.

Life is about more than JUST winning or JUST being the best journalist.

My goal is to live my life the best way that I can and work as hard as possible. That means I try to submit my best work on assignments and present my best self. We are all constantly improving ourselves and your grade on an assignment doesn't define YOU, just how well you understand the concept and how much effort you put forth. Just try the best you can and stop comparing yourself to others!