One of the most important lessons that students will learn from a competitive school is resilience. The ability to stand up and shake off a loss after everything went downhill will do a student better in the real world. When students learn how to lose gracefully and win magnanimously, these values will carry them over later in life when they have to build a career. In some way, the tough competition in some schools will help prepare students for the dog-eat-dog-world of the corporate world. But is that all there is to it?
Parents choose schools depending on how competitive the current student body is. Winning in academic decathlons matter to parents who are on the verge of choosing a school for their kids. It doesn’t matter if their kids are just five years old, parents already want their kids to learn the value of competition and how this will shape them for their future endeavors.
While there are some apprehensions about too much competition among students, experts agree that some degree of competition is important to push students to do their best. That’s why an IB programme is still one of the most popular academic programs around the world. The level of difficulty in an IB program trains students to give their best to their academic achievements. These kinds of programs help students hone advanced skills that fuel them to succeed in the future.
Losing
Students only lose when there’s tough competition in school. When they attend a program that coddles them, they’ll never learn what loss, humiliation, heartbreak, and frustration mean in the concept of competition. Knowing how to deal with these feelings will help them become better workers in the future.
They won’t always win in the office. Sometimes, they won’t even win over who gets to control the thermostat. It’s important for them to learn how to be resilient amid a loss; how to turn this loss into an opportunity. Once they know how to deal with the thought of losing, they won’t be afraid to try new things and think outside the box.
Winning
Stories about an athlete who stops to run to help an injured opponent over the finish line have made the rounds on the internet in the past. People love these stories because they teach you about humanity. They show the human side of winning. As mere spectators, people can be relentless, ruthless, and vicious. However, those who are actually in the field or the ring are more compassionate. They understand that true winners are gracious.
When these students begin their climb up the corporate ladder, they will face ethical and moral dilemmas all the time. Most of the time, they may want to choose winning over helping another co-worker. But when they know the feeling of winning and losing and competing graciously, they will make the better decision of extending a hand than stepping further on someone who already lost to them.
Risking
Competition brings out the best and worst in students. But one thing that everyone can agree on is that competition pushes students to take risks. Those who are not used to the competition in school stay in their comfort zones. They are not comfortable with new challenges. Students who attended competitive schools are more open to taking risks. This is an attitude that will get them to the top of the corporate ladder.
Those who cannot wade in the pool will stay on the sidelines. Only those who are willing to take risks have the tenacity and the competitiveness in them to try out new things. By trying out new things, they can discover things they wouldn’t have otherwise seek. This is the kind of attitude employers want to see in their employees.
Stress
Competition is stressful, indeed. Who said it isn’t? But competition also teaches students how to deal with stress. In the future, once they are workers or business owners themselves, knowing how to manage stress will make them better employees or employers. They won’t buckle underneath the tough competition in the market. They will even thrive in it. Dealing with stress and pressure in a competitive school will prepare them for adult life.
The world isn’t meant to be lived on the sidelines. This is true even for students and parents who are weighing between a competitive academic program and one that spoonfeeds the students. The ability to fail without losing and win without stepping on anyone’s toes are values that students carry to the workplace. These do not only allow them to succeed, but these empower them to thrive fairly.
