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College Admissions Competition
"As much as I wish we could all relax, competition is really what drives me to success. "
By Janna Kaplan
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For most high school seniors, competition is something they are forced to deal with on a daily basis. However, for Youth Radio Atlanta’s Janna Kaplan, competition isn’t viewed as something stressful and unnerving, but as “the energy of success.”
My aunt called from New York recently to see if Georgia was really going to run out of water. I told her that I didn’t know much about that, and frankly I cared more about finishing my college applications than reading about the drought. She told me that my priorities were messed up! And I told her she was wrong. But after we hung up, I wondered if the competitive world in which I live has altered my priorities for the worse.
Thinking about how much time and thought I give to my school grades and to applying to college, I realize that students are consumed with competition. We are competing with each other with every test we take, every extra-curricular activity we do and with every college application we submit. The question becomes: is all this competition bad? While I regret that I spend much of my time building my resume and trying to raise my SAT scores, I think that competition may be a good thing. As much as I wish we could all relax, competition is really what drives me to success.
I truly think that competition is the energy of success. I can only hope that in the future, I will remain motivated by competition. Maybe I will also find some time to learn about impending natural disasters, and I’m sure my aunt is hoping that’s the case.
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