Cooperation over competition.

We have big dreams when we join a college for under graduation. Mostly we are hoping to establish a career in the field of our study. I remember dreaming of becoming a hotel general manager someday. The campus placement drive has started in our college. Being a transition period in life, it is one of the most exciting times. From being an academic student to becoming an industry professional, the journey happens in filling applications and giving interviews. For sure, this is one of the most important transitions of our life.

I often heard from people that during campus placement your friends become your rivals. I find this thought to be stupid. But if you are willing to stand against your comrade due to certain extrinsic factors, it talks a lot about your personality and how you build and maintain human relations. I can recognize how often we are asked to compete with our comrades, right from early schooling to campus placements in college. We are asked to be better than others but nobody tells us to be better than ourselves. Imagine if others are achieving in negative, then even performing at zero would be better than others.

Every time the vacation ended and I came to boarding with edibles and goodies, I would not share them with others, because everything would get finished early. Then I will have to bear with the cyclic menus of our mess. I used to eat my goodies secretly as if they were treasures. One day I saw someone with cookies that I didn’t have. I wanted to eat that cookie, so I offered him some of my cookies. He offered me his cookies, which I accepted happily. That day I learned a very important lesson that, a hand that gives is the hand that receives. I then started sharing my edibles with all other students in the dormitory and in return, I got so many different things to eat.

In my school, I have received several academic awards and I still remember the message written on them. "DON'T COMPETE, EXCEL." This simple and crisp message had a positive influence on me. I realized that we are here to excel and not to compete with anyone else. This idea is often missed by many of us. I remember, earlier I used to study alone and keep academic learning to myself. After accepting the excelling mindset, I started sharing my learning with my classmates. Any student who needed help could approach me and I loved exploring and understanding their perspective towards the lessons. We would discuss so many things and study the chapters or topics in a very introspective manner. Not only it helped me understand the lessons more clearly but also helped me in making more friends. 

My grandmother would often tell me that seek knowledge from cradle to grave. All the wealth and riches of this world can be stolen or destroyed but our knowledge is something that no one can take away from us. Don't keep it to yourself only, because knowledge multiplies by sharing. The more you share your learning with others the better you understand. I always believed that we all share the responsibility of assisting and empowering one another. We shall seek opportunities that would allow us to contribute positively to each other's lives and excel along the process.

Our outlook defines the way we perceive things in our life. I could have chosen not to share my edibles or not learn other languages, but I saw opportunities in the challenges. There are possibilities all around us, we have to perceive them as opportunities for growth rather than obstacles.