Chase your passion, not the competition
Something all college students can agree on is that stress consumes our everyday school life.
Classes occupy our weekdays while studying engulfs our weekends. I, for one, am always stressed about the next exam or paper that I work far more than is necessary to receive a good grade.
Every now and then, I think about my peers who are studying the same majors as me, and I wonder what they are going through.
Do they stress about the same exams and papers I stress over? We are, after all, in the same classes. Or do they find homework a breeze to finish? Am I doing as well as them?
Constantly, I obsess over the fact that my journalism degree is an invitation for competition in the media field—only the best survive the job. The same concept goes for other degrees. Medical degrees are high in demand, but if you are terrible at your job, that’s it—the game’s over. All the hard work you put into homework, studying, papers and exams goes down the drain along with the money spent on tuition.
We mistakenly think we are going to college to become the best in our field, and the competition to be the best scares us.
Recently, I asked a peer if they had anything fun planned for the weekend. In response, I received a ten-minute lecture about how the weekend is meant for studying, and I should consider devoting more time to studying.
The speech concluded with the words, “My major is harder than your major.” These words raced through my mind for a week. I could see where my friend was coming from. Certain degrees do require more work and more schooling, but am I not working just as hard? Am I not pouring my days and nights into the homework and papers constantly assigned to me?
Aren’t most students here to do the same thing—study hard and receive the degrees in our chosen fields? Pay an arm and a leg for a degree we want to be the best at?
The competition is real. Not necessarily between journalists and doctors, but between other students within the same major. The best thing to do is to work hard to become the person you want to be. Study the material you find interest in. If you are not the best, that is okay.
College is not a competition. It doesn’t matter whether you are the best in the field, and it doesn’t matter whose major is considered the hardest. As long as you are doing what you love and what makes you happy, then so be it. We all work hard to do what we believe in. If your hard work is not enough for the “outside world,” then it doesn’t deserve you.
