I grew up with two brothers and thirst for competition. Everything was a race between us - first one to the car, first one to finish our homework, and that doesn’t even begin covering our athletic competitions.

I love to compete. I thrive on battling out for a winner, whether it’s warring in the Axis and Allies board-game or denying a goal on the soccer field, and my highly competitive nature serves me well across the board - athletics and academics.

So why is competition good?

Competition inspires us.

We have a goal, we have an opponent, and we have a reward. We have incentive in seeking victory. When exhaustion or obstacles come, we see others persevering, and it pushes us. In team sports, especially, I see the benefits of teams coming together in achieving a common goal. Without competition, the goal of victory becomes less valuable.

Competition pushes us to exceed.

Setting high goals is often very effective at pushing the limits of our abilities, but nothing is like watching watching the back of a runner ahead crossing the finish line before you. Knowing you can be better and you can exceed pushes us to greater lengths.

In academics, it is easy to just float by with passing grades. However, when the competitive edge takes over, I push myself to do better. I challenge myself by not settling for complacency but shooting for bigger and better achievements instead.

Competition teaches us about overcoming failure.

In many facets of life, we fail. Failure is a part of being human. Competition in sports and other areas of our lives teaches us how about facing failure, accepting defeat, standing up, and trying again. As a wise man once told me, “There’s a difference between loving to win and hating to lose. Everyone loves to win, but not everyone hates losing.” If we truly hate losing, then we dedicate the time and effort in training and improving.