Keeping competition in check

The fast pace of modern life often requires lunch on-the-go, if it isn't skipped altogether, and attaches an agenda to every hour of the day. Rest and relaxation are considered unnecessary, even wasteful, explaining why although the government will outlaw marijuana, it will never touch caffeine.

For example, children are often taught that "winning isn't everything" and given an "A for effort," but at some point, "good try" and "just for fun" lose meaning. Especially here at Princeton, slogans like "Give 110 percent" and "second place is the first loser" take over our mentalities, until we operate under a constant sense of pressure without even knowing from whom or what that pressure comes.

The Princeton bubble, while protecting students from many other harsh realities, often incubates these ambitions like a greenhouse.

While everyone praises our amazing productivity, we often overlook its negative consequences. Many students worry more about grades than learning, networking than relationships, resumes than personal growth. Though academics can be challenging enough, athletics have become a battleground. Training like soldiers for war, sports teams leave no room for mellow, "just for fun" play.

For many of us, every part of our day, from the shapes of our bodies to the clothes we put them in, has become grounds for insecurity.

Perhaps the cruelest place for competition is in close, personal relationships.

Do we really need to define ourselves by our friends and significant others? Many on campus seem to think so, even beyond networks and nepotism. The eating clubs — an upgraded version of judging people based on which lunch table they eat at — embody this competitive friendship most directly.

Of course, ambition can be a very positive thing. Big dreams precede big accomplishments and hard work should be encouraged and rewarded.

But we must know where to set our limits. Not every part of our lives must be a masochistic competition. There is no reason to compete for the toughest semester schedule or the least amount of sleep. Work for work's sake benefits no one.

In our constant self-scrutiny, many of us have noted the uber-competitive inclinations of the average Princeton student, perhaps even marking its detrimental effects. But as much as we complain, most us are unwilling to change a thing.

Therein lies the self-perpetuating twist of competition.

As much as we wish we could relax and take a step back instead of elbowing our way to the front of nowhere, not one us wants to be the first to back off. We have even learned to enjoy triumphing over our neighbors, motivated almost exclusively by the capitalist spirit.

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Perhaps instead of using our talented Princeton peers as grounds for self-abuse, we should instead take away an important, if humbling, lesson. Respecting ourselves for our accomplishments instead of only berating ourselves for our faults will also alter our treatment of others around us. If a clumsy-looking kid with thick glasses and scrawny legs can play Rachmaninoff's Third Piano Concerto like an angel while you are painfully banging out "Chopsticks" one note at a time, refrain from making yourself feel better by remembering that you can beat him in a basketball game. Just respecting him for his musical talent does not somehow make you less of a person.

But if you do need a reason to feel better, try to remember the number of people you envy probably equals the number of people that envy you, for one reason or another. Allow sergeant-like commands to inspire you, push your limits, and strive to excel at whatever you do — but don't forget to occasionally stop and smell the ivy. Sanhita Sen is a freshman from Yorktown, Va. You can reach her at sen@princeton.edu.