I have always despised competition, I have always seen the atmosphere as unwelcoming and hostile when people of all kinds and of different backgrounds are fighting, sometimes needlessly from my perspective, to prove that one person, alone, is the best.

To put every person in their peg and rank, where they belong, or as though that fact alone is all that you need to know about that person. In case anyone reading this cannot tell, I am a typical, elite Gen Z young adult that Fox News warns my peers from “de-evolving” into and is incessantly reminding older folks why the younger generation is a batch of sissy, special snowflakes. I would like to add and say that I think participation trophies are a requirement for any competition.

This does not mean that I see competition as wholly bad or inherently evil, and the people who not only enjoy but revel in their competitive accomplishments, be it in academia, scholarship, recognition of work, or sport, are not people that I consider bad or untrustworthy solely due to their association with this quality.

In fact, there is an admiration and envy that I know proves addicting for many people young and old who go head-to-head with their peers and are consistently forced to watch their nemesis walk up on the stage to collect their winnings with thunderous applause echoing around them. The emotional toll expended over a loss may be suffered through shame, embarrassment, frustration, and dismay, while physically lowering or unconsciously hiding himself or herself in their seat, in the stands, or at the table.

History is written by the winners and does not take into account the sheer force of energy, habit, and time (a person’s highest precious commodity) that is dealt out in an investment of bettering themselves in an attempt to receive any recognition for what they do.

This is the meat of my argument as I speak personally about clubs that I have been a part of that involve high amounts of stress, taking time away from my homework (stable Wi-Fi connections are never certain while traveling), waking up at 5 a.m. to practice my case, and working a fourteen-hour day to be told by a stranger that I needed to try harder.

This is how life works, no? Training all day, quantity does not guarantee quality, I may objectively suck from a purely technical perspective, etc. people study all week for an exam only to bomb it, people spend time away from their families to work on their project only to have it rejected at every turn.

There is a merit to all of this that says that those who "have the right stuff" would never let simple rejection get in their way. The crazy thing is that this line of thought can exist in the same universe as believing participation trophies ain't that bad and are actually pretty nice.

However, these words are dedicated to those who do put their heart, soul, and time on the line time and time again only to be met with hardship and more daunting obstacles they didn't foresee. I write to remind those who face these challenges that your efforts are not in vain, and anyone can be a critic who has a brain and functioning verbal capabilities.

Do not let others' confusion and misinterpretation of your work allow your spirit to harden and your creative well to shut off. It costs zero dollars to form an opinion on someone's work, but at the end of the day, only one person did it: you.