1. Rachel Said,

   Hey Professor Ciocchetti,

   What an interesting perspective on some of the issues with today’s youth. I shared this post with the teachers at my dad’s K-12 school. I think it gave them a little insight into why some students are so hard to motivate. We had a rather interesting discussion, as the difficulty in training students to be competitive must come with some balance. There also seems to be a connection with the age of the students and the ability to inspire through competition.

   I personally was raised with a type of killer instinct. Though that instinct has gotten me in trouble a time or two, it pushes me to be the best that I can be.
   Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this.

2. John Joseph Petrusich Said,

   Professor Ciocchetti,
   I agree completely with your opinion that my generation is lazy, unmotivated, and uncompetitive. I cemented my belief last fall when I was a freshman. I must tell you that I came from a very, very competitive high school. It is one of the top 5 schools in the state of Oregon in academics, #1 in sports for the past 11 years, and in 2007 was named the best high school sports program in the country by sports illustrated. Not your typical high school, but my God I loved it. It brought out the best in me (3.7 GPA, 5 varsity letters, 4 league titles, and countless lifelong friends). When I came to DU I was astonished at how many people just didn’t give a dam. It’s a crisis in our country, but not the world over. Over winter break I traveled to Asia with a group of 40 people from the Real Estate School. In Asia, especially China, the phenomenon is exactly the opposite. People my age in China ooze the competitiveness and entrepreneurial spirit that has made America the country it is today. All I can say is that if everyone new the reality of the world we live in, things would be different. I actually wrote a paper on this subject last spring.
   I disagree with your opinion that ultra-competitiveness is a bad thing. I am all for ultra-competitiveness in almost all aspects of life. Competitiveness is very close to greed. Although greed is one of the 7 deadly sins and does cause pain and suffering, “Life is pain…anyone who says differently is selling something” (Cary Elwes in The Princess Bride). The fact is, “greed — for lack of a better word — is good. Greed is right. Greed works. Greed clarifies, cuts through, and captures the essence of the evolutionary spirit. Greed, in all of its forms — greed for life, for money, for love, knowledge — has marked the upward surge of mankind. And greed — you mark my words — will … save … the USA” (Michael Douglas in Wall Street). Greed, in and of itself is a good thing. However, people like Gordon Gekko and Ken Lay sacrificed their character and honor to get what they desired. I must make an addition to the greed is good argument. Gordon Gekko left out that greed for honor, greed for strength of character, and greed for justice all fit into the greed is good argument. These are left out by most people who argue that greed is good because they are stuck in the greed is bad, but bad is actually good mentality. What plagues America’s youth is not a lack of money, lack of love or lack of life, but a lack of greed.

3. John Joseph Petrusich Said,

   Professor Ciocchetti,
   I agree completely with your opinion that my generation is lazy, unmotivated, and uncompetitive. I cemented my belief last fall when I was a freshman. I must tell you that I came from a very, very competitive high school. It is one of the top 5 schools in the state of Oregon in academics, #1 in sports for the past 11 years, and in 2007 was named the best high school sports program in the country by sports illustrated. Not your typical high school, but my God I loved it. It brought out the best in me (3.7 GPA, 5 varsity letters, 4 league titles, and countless lifelong friends). When I came to DU I was astonished at how many people just didn’t give a dam. It’s a crisis in our country, but not the world over. Over winter break I traveled to Asia with a group of 40 people from the Real Estate School. In Asia, especially China, the phenomenon is exactly the opposite. People my age in China ooze the competitiveness and entrepreneurial spirit that has made America the country it is today. All I can say is that if everyone new the reality of the world we live in, things would be different. I actually wrote a paper on this subject last spring.

4. Dorothy Said,

   Hey Professor C,
   I really enjoyed reading this story, and especially the part about a kid’s desire to win and the belief that ambitiousand competitive characters should not be stifled. One of the best gifts a parent can give his or her child is not only the ability to want something and be earnest, enthusiastic about it, but to also be given the chance to work for it. Your lecture on deontology really opened my eyes to hold a new perspective upon what one’s duties really are, thus granting motivation for our young generation to live, work, and learn.

5. Thomas Archer Said,

   Hey Professor C,

   I believe we are highly motivated generation, however, our efforts, as you say, are being wasted on the wrong things. So much of our energy is spent on our social lives, what clothes will I where, who’s going to be there, I wonder if they will text me… blah blah blah. The list goes on and on, but the point is our efforts are being wasted and I think it is due to lack of foresight.

   My generation is caught up in the here and now, I think we often fail to think about the future. Our whole lives we have been told that we are special, that we can do great things, that success will come our way. What we have failed to learn is that we have to earn those things now in order to enjoy them in the future. Because we have been told we deserve success all our lives, we have developed a sense of entitlement and seem to think that we deserve greatest. We don’t realize that greatness is something that must be earned.

   How do we solve this problem? The school of hard knocks, Dodgeball. We have to get hit a few times, sit out for a while and think about what went wrong. Then maybe the next time we get to play we won’t get out the same way and will be that much of a better player. I don’t think we ever stopped playing Dodgeball, I think we’ve been getting hit but have never had to sit out. We have been living in a world with all the rewards and no consequences and until that changes I think the sense of entitlement will remain.

6. Lexi Dufficy Said,

   Professor!

   This post made me smile as soon as I read the part about the classic 80’s music!
   This post really got me thinking about how certain things can inspire people differently. I grew up as an only child, with athletic parents (my dad hyper-competitive!) and followed in their footsteps. Being put into situations that require determination, practice and healthy competition have made a great impact on my life.
   It really pains me to see parents taking the competitive spirit out of everything. This would be like taking AP/IB programs out of high schools. Eliminating challenging courses and honors classes because they are too competitive.
   It’s all about finding the balance, the Golden Mean, in which to filter hyper-competitiveness, or lack of motivation. It’s hard to find a universal suggestion, because everyone is completely different. But apathy is completely unacceptable!

7. Jenny Lathrop Said,

   Prof C,
   It is so true that our generation lacks motivation to compete– to be the
   best they can be in any and all avenues of life. There are certainly
   exceptions, but too far and few between. I agree that parents and educators
   have been shielding children.

   In 2008 when thousands of “exceptional” students vie for limited college
   acceptance spots, are parents telling their children “others will have more
   credentials than you, so it is okay if you do not get accepted, there are
   other (less good) schools that will suit you”…? Are parents allowing
   their children a buffer zone of failure in today’s cutthroat markets that
   legitimize mediocrity? I believe parents should hold their children to
   higher expectations than this. They can encourage kids to be the best they
   can be at everything they do, thus fostering competition that makes us
   strive to be better. Parents are scared their children might fail at
   reaching their dreams, so they discourage their child’s all out efforts
   which has lasting detrimental effects and messages of mediocrity.
   I have been both encouraged and discouraged from competition, but my
   stubborn nature allowed me to “do it my way” and achieve successes of my
   dreams already in my short life this far. Competition is healthy. A very
   competitive world means hard work is rewarded, and laziness intolerable.
   Our generation needs to accept that the world can be brutial, but if you go
   out there aggressively to compete you will find life a lot on your side than
   if you do not try at all, and you will be rewarded.

8. Brie Said,

   Professor C,
   I feel that when we look at competitiveness and this generation, we see those who are lack a sense of competitiveness and then we see those who are way too competitive and can’t back down. There is no golden mean. Unfortunately, many kids in the generation have grown up just expecting to get everything handed to them. We see kids who have been taught to not be competitive because they don’t need to be. They don’t know how to get back up when they fall, because they have been so babied in their life and they’ve never really fallen. No one has taught them healthy competitiveness. Then there is the flip side of it. There are so many people in my generation that are over competitive. They don’t know when to back down and let it be. They just keep beating a dead horse. As much as we would all like to, we don’t win every time. And some people just don’t realize this. They don’t know how to gracefully and respectfully step down from their position. And this problem may be more of a pride issue than a competition, however the two don’t drift too far from each other. I think that this generation needs to focus on gaining a competitive edge as well as how to gracefully step down and then we will see some healthy competitors within this generation.

9. Mary Kate Said,

   Professor C,
   You bring up an interesting point about my generations lack of motivation or competitiveness. I think the fear of failing or losing is so great that we feel it is better just not to compete then to have the opportunity to fail. We don’t make the effort to try our best because so many of us are just coasting along that we see no problem with just being mediocre, because that is what everyone else seems to be doing. If everyone was striving to do their very best we all would feel the need to keep up. We are all so scared that if we show our best efforts and still don’t perform to the highest of our ability on a test or another endeavor, we will be seen as a failure. It is easier to say “I didn’t study at all” and then when you receive a bad score you have an excuse and don’t feel bad about yourself. If you gave the test your all and still performed poorly, unfortunately that is seen as more of a true failure. At this point, I think my generation has been conditioned not to have the motivational drive that we all should have and that it may be too late to truly change. The best thing is to try and go into the working world with as much competitiveness as we can muster and then not make the same mistake our parents made when we raise the next generation so they won’t lack the motivation that we lack.

10. Chris Griffiths Said,

    Hey Professor C,

    I completly agree that our generation lacks competitiveness, but for the most part isn’t every generation like that. I do not feel like it is just our generation that has lazy, greedy, and self centered individuals who do not feel like they need to compete to succeed in life. I’m not completly sure that the lazy attitude our generation maintains only applies to ourselves, but rather to humanity in general.

11. Matthew Kruvant Said,

    Yes, our generation does lack competitiveness but I don’t think it is there fault. Its the fault of their parents. I grew up playing hockey and I have seen several parents and coaches place a lot of pressure on their kids and players to win. I have seen coaches fight with ref after games, encourage the players to fight players on the other team and curse at their own players. I have seen parents fight in the stands and yell at there kids after games all at the expense of winning. Although I was never bothered by these events, I have seen several kids quit hockey to avoid this competitive atmosphere. Kids have lost their competitive nature because society has not found the balance between ethics and competition.

12. Kelly I. Walker Said,

    Professor C.,
    I am so glad that someone else has noticed this lack of competitiveness in my generation. I have been noticing this lately as well. The students I lived with in JMac my freshman year proved this lack of competitiveness to me. I saw them go to the bars instead of studying, settling with Cs in their classes, and even spending just as much time cheating as it would have taken them to actually study. Most of them either lost their academic scholarships or slid through freshman year. They are probably doing the same thing this year. I, on the other hand, do the reading assigned in my classes, spend hours perfecting papers, and even longer studying for exams. If I get an unsatisfactory grade, I become upset even though I believe I did all I could do. Although, many of my less competitive friends would be more than happy with my grade. I do not know why people just do not care, but I have noticed that a large part of it is a lack of passion, which directly correlates with a lack of competitiveness. If students are not passionate about the subject they are learning about, they will not care to put the work in and will not care about the grade they receive. I have tried to avoid this path, even in classes that do not matter to my major or to my life. I try and approach every class like it is important to me and find some way to become passionate about it. I only hope that not only can competitiveness be reinstalled in American youth, but passion as well.

13. Aubree Boul Said,

    Professor C,
    I agree with you that my generation is noticeably less competitive. It is very interesting to me that, in my opinion, our generation has had, and will have, to encounter the most competition. One such example of this is college admissions. This year is projected to have the most college applicants to date, making it very competitive to get in to even mediocre schools, let alone the most prestigious in the country. With the economy in the worst state it has been in decades, there is a large group of graduates competing for a small amount of jobs in the market. Not to mention that large markets such as China and India have the potential to, for the first time in history, become the “top dogs” on the world scale. All of these factors signal a ton of potential for competition. I think that once our generation realizes this potential, and the potential for personal success within it, they will be motivated to be more competitive.

14. Mary Cochrane Said,

    Prof. C,
    I grew up in a very competitive environment. I grew up playing sports all my life and have come to love them very much and sports will always be a part of my life. However, I was one of those kids whose parents came to the game and yelled, not cheered, yelled as loud as they could at every game. By the time I was in fifth grade my dad was banned from my soccer games because of the way he behaved on the side of the feild. Things became better as time went on and eventually he was allowed to come and support me in my athletic events. What this brings me to is that my parents’ actions infulenced the way I behave and the competitve drive within me. At points I have definitely been too competitive and gotten in arguments with friends, choaches, and my parents. The competitveness that has been embodied in my personality has driven me to be the best that I can, but it has also hindered me in that I somewhat expect too much of myself. Even if I do well, I always look at what I can do to make to be better. So I can see why there is a want to tone down the competitive nature.

15. Ashley Gross Said,

    Professor,

    You always seem to say things that really hit home and make me challenge my way of thinking, as well as myself. I’ve become one of the students you discuss in this post as I’ve progressed through college. I was far more involved in extracurricular activities in high school and was far more focused on academics. I wish I would have taken one of your classes earlier in my academic career as I think it would have done me a lot of good to have this reality check as a freshman or a sophomore.

    Generally speaking, your post is absolutely true. Being competitive is no longer viewed as beneficial, which in turn is having negative effects that were not previously anticipated on younger generations. I believe this is also related to America rating lower and lower on academic world scales. As someone who is about to graduate, this honestly scares me. I’m afraid that attaining a good job is going to be much harder than I had expected it to be, as people from other countries have more to offer a potential employer.

16. Alissa Thyfault Said,

    Professor C-

    This has been building up for a while but I have to say, I do not think you give some of the great students who you have had a chance to meet enough credit.

    I know that we have all seen them. Our fellow peers that literally just blow our minds because of how much they have accomplished. This post does say something about our generation I am sure, however who is to say that every generation isn’t scrutinized this way by the generation before? I know students who have sacrificed a lot to be here, who understand the beauty of everyday and who hold dear and close to their heart the desire to make something better of the world. These are the students that you should be acknowledging.

    Sure there there are people who are simply mediocre in their drive and it is sad when our limited time dwindles away on individuals like this. The world is filled with average people and it is the ones who put the effort in that will stand out even more brilliantly in the end. Give us time and I am sure you will see great things out of this generation.

    If the good students are to strive to be even better I encourage you to tell us about the students that amazing you more than the students that disappoint. If you are right about competition, the ones who have to drive will thirst even more for that challange.

    Many will not be in-your-face competative, instead they choose to bulid their fire gradually. When their chance comes to show the world what they’ve worked toward, you will be sure to know.

17. Kristina Said,

    Professor C.

    I couldn’t agree more with this blog post. I would like to say that it is true, for me, everytime I hear…Eye of the Tiger, I suddenly get this urge to improve my performance. However, being in gymnastics, I was not one of those kids that don’t have the competitive spirit in them. I am super competitive in school, gymnastics, and in overall life. I have that desire to come out on top. I love the feeling of winning, thats why I compete. There are times when I am not focused and I can’t wait to see who has sent me a text message or what I am doing on the weekend.

    However, I can see in our generation how many people don’t care to succeed and to work hard, to challenge themselves and become a winner. it is definetly a problem, and I do agree it starts with K-12. If your child is sheltered and not given any time or sport that requires a little competitive edge or desire to be the best, then you will not have that desire in your job. Overall, I think the desire, determination and competitiveness in kids, starts when they are little. Maybe we all need to watch “Rocky” to learn what motivation and determination is all about.

18. Matthew Watson Said,

    Hi Prof. C!

    I would have to agree with your observation of the generation of my peers and I. I think that it is only becoming more frequent in seeing young people not push themselves as hard as they can. Far too many of my peers are handed everything in life and don’t strive for working to earn their privileges. I feel that if the young people in my generation don’t start to realize this setback quickly, they will fall hard when they enter the job market. They will soon find out the hard way, that nothing in life is given to you, because life demands you to work for it.

19. Amy Pfannenstein Said,

    Hey Professor C!

    I loved reading your post. I finally found the time to come visit the website. And from now on, I am going to try and read these more often because I find them both applicable and insightful. I agree that today’s youth has lost their competitive nature in a lot of aspects. But, I think it is important to consider the fact that youth nowadays compete in a lot of other aspects besides who can get the highest grade in a class or the best internship at a firm. Sure, competition for many is doing well in school but what about those kids who just aren’t cut out for school: Kids who want to be firefighters or socialites. I think that everyone strives to be the best at something-people are even competitive with their friends and siblings. Maybe the question to ask is: “why aren’t kids competitive about their futures when the job market makes finding a job very difficult”? For me, its hard to want to do the best in every single class while one class (well a core of classes for accounting) is taking almost all of my time to pass the class. I don’t know, maybe I should try to give my all in everything I do, but then, according to your theory that you cant put in 100% to everything you do, what would I have left to put into the rest of my life; my friends, family, and hobbies? Thanks for the insight Professor C!

20. Stephanie Binder Said,

    I find that motivation is somewhat lacking in the younger generation.Throughout elementary, junior, and high school, I have found it easy to ease through school and admit that I have gotten lazy and underestimating becuase of this. Where I went to school, if you ever failed a class or got into excessive trouble (two things that thankfully never happened to me), you would be bailed out. Students went through school rarely knowing what consequences truly are and it is difficult facing the real world outside a textbook and notepad and that makes us ill-prepared for life.

21. Rebecca Embler Said,

    Prof. C,
    As part of this generation that holds a lessened sense of competition and accomplishment, it is interesting to read your take on it. I am usually not as competitive as I would like to be, maybe because I lack the confidence or force that is required to be assertive. However, I don’t think that is what other people experience with competition. I see a lot of people try for an objective and give it up if they don’t achieve it immediately. I think it has to do with our generation of instant gratification that has developed from the speed of the internet and other technologies. It is too bad that hard work and determination aren’t as important as they were in the past and aren’t as common of virtues. I coach young girls gymnastics and I see those attributes in them as well. If they cannot learn a skill the first time they try it, they become discouraged and less self-confident. After that, they don’t try as hard. It is hard to teach people that live in a fast-paced world that the real, important things in life take determination and time to accomplish.

22. Katie Tice Said,

    Professor Ciocchetti,
    I agree with your observations about our generation as a whole. I think that it is up to our parents to first instill a sense of perseverance and strong work ethic into us . Ultimately, however, there is only so much they can do. We grow up and move away. People ultimately learn from their surrounding communities. When laziness is ubiquitous, it carries over and affects everyone. Especially at college, it is common for students to skew their priorities. It is necessary for our generation to take a step back and re-think these priorities in order to cement a sense of competitiveness imbued in someone with a strong work ethic.

23. Allison Said,

    Professor C,
    I think what you have to say about my generation’s lack of drive, competitiveness, and motivation is very valid. In my opinion, lack of competitiveness is in part due to lack of interest. By this I mean that many people have not found what they are passionate about and therefore do not want to give their full effort to anything because they don’t think it will add up to anything important. For these people, there is no sense in being competitive.Those who do know what their passion is and do know exactly where they want to be later in life, are sometimes too narrow-minded and may fail to see the bigger picture and the values of being well rounded.
    Looking at it in another way, there are two unmotivated types that stand out to me. The first type includes some people who have had everything handed to them and have not had to put any effort into anything. For some of these people there is no need to be competitive, they have never had to be competitive before and they will never have to in the future. The second type is on the other side of the spectrum. These less fortunate people are not motivated to be competitive because for many it may seem like no matter what they do, it is never good enough, or will never stand out over others’ work.

24. Ross O'Rourke Said,

    Professor C,

    Your comments on the current younger people generation were quite interesting. Even more so were the rejoinders offered up by some of your other students. I cannot say I agree with all the points made in these responses. In fact, I vehemently disagree with one in particular. To say that America needs to embrace greed is outrageous. Competitiveness and ambition do not equate to greed. Greed has not served us well as a nation. The Great Depression, the S&L Crisis of the 1980s, and the ongoing subprime mortgage crisis were directly caused by greed. Excuse the tangent from the subject at hand but, I couldn’t believe that anyone would be make an assertion in support of such practices. Greed has proven itself time and again to cause undesirable results. Greed is selfish. It disregards all others and many times harms others to increase the advantage of the individual. I can understand why an individual from my generation would be making an argument for such a repulsive value. Growing up in the capitalist society rationalizations for greed abound. “I must get what’s mine or someone else will take it from me.” Often times those who are greedy get away with despicable acts. How many of those chief officers go to jail for their crimes? Not enough on my count, not by a long shot. They put their money in a Swiss savings account and post bail in a few months. The American public forgets about them leaving them to collect the spoils of their ill gotten gains. It makes me sick. In the land of the free, my home, the country that I love how can such a disgraceful institution such as greed be allowed such credence. It will never go away as history shows. American society must make a stand and make a change. Maybe then the younger generation will not make arguments for greed but, against it.

25. Marina Mungova Said,

    Professor C,
    You bring up a very interesting point that I have noticed myself. It seems that in school there are two types of students - the competitive who others are jealous of and the kids who “don’t care”. I think the kids who pretend to do not care are the one who are afraid of failure. In our society we are bombarded by the idea of winning and being the best. The fear of trying hard to win and then not being the best is paralyzing students and they prefer to be seen as the cool kids who have more important things to do. It is much easier to say I got a C because I do not care about a class than to admit that you studied very hard but you do not understand the material.
    As to the other group of kids - the competitive one – I am not sure that typically this group represents the right type of competition. I agree with what Ross O’Rourke said how competition can lead to the greed and shift in values in a very bad direction. Being the best should not be the focus but the road to becoming a winning person. Students should learn to be truly happy for their friends when they outperform them. They should not try to find reasons why their friends do not deserve the honor but look up to them and learn from them.
    So at the end the kind of motivation that is best for society lies somewhere in the middle – students should strive towards knowledge and curiosity about the world but being the best should not become the only important thing out there.

26. Cara Clemente Said,

    Professor C-

    First of all, I would like to start off by saying thank you. Thank you for realizing the importance and impact that a college professor, or really any professor can have on a student’s outlook and perspective, not only on a subject matter from the class syllabus, but on life in general. I think you know me well enough by now to be sure that I do not have a problem with competitiveness. However, I feel as though the person that I compete with the most is myself. I know, this may sound strange, but I do not get my drive and motivation to do well and succeed in my endeavors by “beating out” the other people around me. I find it is more important to outdo myself, to be better every time and overcoming every obstacle more successfully than I did before. I suppose I have always have been lead by example. Everyone in my family has the same working mentality, and I feel as though that has been instilled in me from the time I was a child. Interestingly enough, I never felt pressure or was concerned about not succeeding for fear of punishment from my parents. I was “my own worst critic” as my father used to say, and the only person who would get angry and completely disappointed when I did not produce the results intended was me. So, I hope you still have a little faith that people from my generation can still be motivated to be hard working, efficient and successful individuals, not only in the workplace, but in life in general. I know that, for me, I look at competitiveness from a different perspective, and in my opinion, it helps me to produce better results that most other people I know who are simply in it “to win”.

27. Dave Richardson Said,

    Nice speech Professor C,

    What you are saying is completely true, now and days people have forgotten what it feels like to win and have that desire to bet the other person. Parents today try and shelter their kids from how the real world really is, leaving kids that grow up unprepared to handle life’s challenges. Americans have started to lose the competitive edge that has helped our country stay at the top. Now and days people are content with second place.

28. Kaitlyn Barclay Said,

    While I do understand your argument that my generation is less competitive than those of the past, I disagree with the opinion that we lack passion. On a side note, I personally get frustrated when individuals gap an entire group of people together simply because they were born around the same time. But if we’re going to be making generalizations about my generation I’d have to say while the majority may lack competitiveness, I think there is something to be said about becoming more relational. While academic success is important, I find my personal relationships more fulfilling (obviously). The trick is finding a balance and I feel that is a struggle for every individual in every generation. While I know those that can outperform me academically time and time again, I inversely can achieve relationships with my peers, bosses, professors that they could never, simply because they lack relational drive. What I mean by that is that they invest little to nothing in the worth of personal relationships or simply getting to know someone. While I understand the importance of academics and dually work to achieve academic excellence, I have a greater passion for people than I do for grades. Maybe this is the “problem” with “my generation” but I really don’t see it as a detriment if we keep life in perspective. When I’m feeling down, my grades aren’t going to be the ones that cheer me up. Becoming a person that knows how to engage others and connect on a relational level is just as important as earning the grade. The balance is key, no matter what generation you’re among.

29. Elizabeth Morrissey Said,

    Professor C,
    I cannot tell you how much your Real Rabbit book and talks in class have been a wonderful reminder what is important and a priority in my life. I would have to say that I see a definate lack of motivation and commitment from my generation. The question is where does that come from? How does one fix it? I think there are many obvious factors such as family life, peers, school, and experiences. These factors all play a role in forming a person; however, I do not think the factor alone defines a person rather it is how they use them that counts. It is not unknown that DU is a wealthier community through seeing people’s cars alone, but just because someone has wealth does not mean he or she should rely on it. Perhaps it is just innate in me that I could care less how much things my family has rather I care passionately about achieving my own success. I like to think the best of people and believe they want the same thing. By going after one’s own future and succes, he or she will probably feel an intense feeling of accomplishment. Don’t we all want this? I would hope so, and, if someone does not, then I hope they realize it soon.

30. Alexandra Roath Said,

    Hi Prof. C.

    I believe that many of the games that you play when you are little, teach you lessons for later in life. With Dodgeball children can learn that no matter what happens, you need to get back in the game and do the best you can. This is the same in life. There are going to be many challenges and obstacles that you need to over come in order to be successful. With these games children can know what it feels like to win or loose and the consequences that come with both. Overall I think that a healthy degree of competition should be encouraged between children.

31. VIctor Nguyen Said,

    Professor C,

    I would like to sadly agree that you are correct about the current situation in society. The past generations are fostering a non competitive everyone is a winner attitude that just puts a band-aid on every scrape a kid gets. I would like to focus on underachievement and the older generations logic in banning dodge ball.

    In my generation the social norm has created a huge problem. Very few people actually have the drive to be something more. More and more people just want to memorize the facts to pass their test. The problem I see with the way people are approaching this subject is that they really do only care about the grade. The goal should not be the grade given but the knowledge gained. This is the key to one of my generations’ greatest flaws.

    The banning of dodge ball directly relates to how the previous generations have brought up my generation. They previous generation upbringing seems to have one goal in mind. They want to protect us and they want us to avoid developing a warlike attitude towards others. To the first point I would like to say life should have positive and negative moments. If parents never allowed any negative things to happen to their children in their presence, kids would just feel the positive side of life but of course, they cannot protect us every moment of our lives. So the problem with their protective attitude is that when their children fall they will not know how to deal with the situation and crumble under the new emotional and physical stresses. I would like to agree with you that it is true; how are kids going to learn to get up from a fall if they do not fall. That is something everyone could learn easily, but it seems that parents do not want their kids to learn. Honestly, their actions just make this life lesson harder to learn than it needs to be.

32. Tyler Pennington Said,

    I definitely would have to agree. Our generation is lacking in department of competitiveness. I am no exception when it comes to academics. I was a straight A student until I reached high school when classes began to demand a little more effort. Throughout high school I was always so unmotivated and never wanted to put in that extra time to get me from a B to an A. I promised myself I would work hard when I got to college “when it really matters.” And although I have been working harder, its not where I want to be. I have always relied on swimming to pull me through when I lacked on academics, and it has worked. But it won’t always work. I, along with my generation, must realize that we need a competitive edge.

33. Joe Welch Said,

    Professor C,
    I completely agree with you. I think being competitive is a good thing. It is what drives us to be better in life. For some people they need to be competitive on the job while others it is on the sports field. If you are not competitive you are only going to go so far in life. I liked your dodgeball analogy because I always looked forward to playing it in elementary school. I have caught myself loosing my competitive edge in college sometimes becasue I do not have the consistence of sports and routine in my life like I did in high school. I will keep your competitive spirit in mind next time I’m going out for a job interview or trying to score a high grade on an exam. Overall, I believe being competitive is a good thing.

34. Lauren Black Said,

    I completely agree with several of the points you’ve made. I think that competitiveness is a dying art and that society as a whole has become too much of a babysitter for youth. I remember being so distressed when they stopped letting us play dodgeball. While I understand that children have the right to be protected from some of society’s harsh glare and judgment, young people are being sent out without any idea of what it actually takes to achieve something. There’s minimal understanding that success, in any area, requires work and a willingness to suffer losses. Those initial losses should be suffered in a minor arena, like a dodgeball game, so that we can learn how to adapt and grow into success.

    While I think that a large part of this can be put on to the shoulders of “the adults,” it is ultimately our responsibility to turn this tide. Any change must come from within and it must be earned.

35. Kent McKendry Said,

    Professor C,
    I have never really put a great deal of thought toward the lack of competitiveness that is now prevalent in our country’s young people. In a generation that is completely immersed in political correctness, however, it is easy to see how this lack of motivation and competition is already the theme of this generation. When I started thinking about evidence that I have witnessed that supports this conclusion, I am first reminded of my experiences as a sixth grader in elementary school. I distinctly remember parents complaining that quiz and homework scores were being reported to the teacher out loud in class. Apparently, this was humiliating to students who performed in the lower echelons of the class population. We were even informed that we were no longer free to share our test scores with our peers, as this was “unhealthy” in the classroom, and promoted “too much competition.” When these practices stopped, however, test and homework scores decreased as a whole in my classes … I believe that this is due to the lack of competition associated with knowing that no one else would hear (or judge you) for your scores. I have difficulty understanding why we have such a hard time dealing with competition, and in many cases, we avoid it at all costs. There are three factors that I believe contribute to this societal “illness.” First, I believe that we have a fear of failure. Instead of using this fear to motivate us to perform at our highest capacity, however, we hide behind political correctness in order to shield us from the judgmental eyes of our peers. Instead of giving only the winner the blue ribbon, we give everyone a blue ribbon … because everyone is a winner. While this makes us feel good, it is counterproductive, and I believe that it will lead to serious consequences as this generation grows up and enters the workforce. Second, we believe that we are entitled to too many things. Rather than competing for the higher grade, the spot on the varsity team, or the high-paying job; we expect for the grade to be curved, the coach to play us equally, etc., etc. When things don’t go our way, we can place blame on everything from unfair grading to affirmative action. There is always an out for our failures. Finally, I believe that we have started a cycle of non-competition that is increasingly contributing to the problem. The students or job applicants who might still be motivated to compete, are dissuaded from doing so by the same policies and principles that are trying to make everyone a “winner.” Where there seems to be no opportunity for competition, there will be no one to compete. In order to increase the productivity of our generation and continue to be an intellectual and economic power in our world, we need to re-foster this competitive atmosphere that was one of the main foundations on which America was built. I completely agree with you Professor C., and maybe the first step in this process is to start playing dodgeball again!

36. Scott Nordlund Said,

    Dear Professor C,

    I agree with your imput. Many kids today are lazy and are looking for hand outs. People donot have pride and do not want to battle for their successes. They want hand outs and are always searching for that short cut. This flawd attitude starts with the parents. It is the parents responsibility to instill this determination in their children from a young age.
    Life is very tough and you are going to get knocked down a lot. You have two options, you can sulk and blame other people for why things did not go your way or you can hold your head up, shake it off, and keep battling. As long as you are determinded and unphased by failure, something will come along eventually. Things can often look dark in life, but opportunities are waiting out their and it is up to the individual to take advantage of them.
    It is sad and disgusting that the competitive spirit is being sucked out of schools and athletics. Schools today are indoctrinating the students and are teaching them to think like themselves. Sports are a very important part of life, especially team sports. You learn how to win and lose. You donot kick yourself when you lose and do not think you are “the man”, when you win. The best athletes are the humble ones. Sports teach kids about how to deal with the cards life throws at you. Taking that away is not doing these kids a favor. You cannot hide kids from the real world. There are many bad and unfortunate things out there. You must introduce them to those things though early, because they will find out and by that point it will be too late.

37. Monique Maciel Said,

    Hi Prof. C,
    Well to start off I would have to agree with the fact that many youth lack competitiveness. However, I think that some people do not feel like they have to compete for the best grades. Well at least I do not think so. I think that what is important is that student’s truly understand the material and can relate it to real life. I know that if I tried harder than I do now I would probably get better grades. But I feel that I am just fine with grades as long as I understand and am actually learning something out of the class. What good does it do to have a 4.0 and not truly understand the concepts?
    As for youths trying to compete in school, lets say High School, I think it all depends. I actually attended a high school were funding clearly was not enough, (books in shreds, not enough desks, chairs, teachers,) and students did not try to be competitive. Many students had other things going on in their lives that others have no idea about. Many were obligated to work full time jobs and attend school because of their economic situation, I had a friend who’s parents were so into drugs that she had no idea what she was going to go home to. How do these individuals find hope? I know few who have made it and actually graduated and only about three who were able to go to college. I know this may seem as an excuse and maybe it is, but life is different for many individuals and many are unable to find that desire, hope, or aspiration to be “competitive”.
    While being at the University I have seen and notices many individuals who say that inner city youth is at fault for not trying to better themselves. In all honesty it really bothers me that people think like that. Yes, they may have fault but we must realize that not all individuals are given the same opportunity. See in my high school the worry was to actually graduate not be competitive in grades, but to actually be the 1st generation to graduate from high school. I know in high school I did not care about grades one bit. I was so busy working and trying to help out at home that school was last on my mind. Then all of a sudden January of JUNIOR year in high school came around and I realized that I needed to do something with life. Then came college applications, I had no idea I would be going to college till the beginning of my senior year. I think that competitiveness is something that depends on individuals and some just think that in school the major point is to get ahead, not worry about being number 1. The again it does depend on the individual.
    In the workplace I would have to agree with you. I do believe the workplace is a bit different because you are trying to keep your job and return value to shareholders.

38. Lindsey Carli Said,

    Hi Prof C,

    I completely agree that this generation is lacking in competitive nature. I believe that this stems from an unwillingness to put in the time, effort, and sacrifice it takes to set ambitious goals for yourself and achieve those goals. First, many individuals are not goal-oriented in their life. It is crucial to future successes that we as students set goals that will bring about the greatest good out of our greatest passions in life. Many people do not want to take the time and mental energy that is required to contemplate passions in life and weigh costs and benefits of goals in that area. Second, perhaps people are setting goals but are just not reaching them. This comes from the way that this generation was brought up as children. Children are no longer taught to try your best to win but instead “try your best” and “everyone is a winner just for trying.” Personally, I think this is pathetic. How are you ever supposed to know what is your best if you never win? If you never try to win, but simply try “your best” how do you know what is your best? I believe that people are using the line “I did my best” as an excuse or rationalization for not reaching their goals. Freud hypothesized that in order to protect the ego, people create defenses. One of these defenses is rationalization and that is precisely what this “I did my best” does. It is a rationalization that protects the ego from knowing the truth. Instead, students should strive for the third option - set high goals and put for the time, effort, and sacrifice it takes to reach your ambitious goals. Know that all the sacrifices you made will be worth it in the end. Know that each individual is endowed with a gift to share with the world, they just need to find what that gift is. Know that when you set goals and achieve them, you will gain more respect for yourself and from others than any night of going out would bring you. And know that you are good enough to reach those goals - that you have the talents and gifts already in you to reach them, all you have to do is want it.

39. Austin Fowler Said,

    Professor Ciocchette,

    The non competition of this generation is leading to childhood obesity. Kids sit around the house and play video games that not only make them fat, but make them not competitive. At the end of the day it doesn’t matter if you won your video game or not because you always have a second chance to beat your friend - just press reset. In the realm of sports, you don’t get a second chance. If you lose your race or game, you not only lose for your sake but your teammates lose too. There is a lot more riding on your shoulders in the athletic realm than there is when you lose in a video game. Kids need to get out and play in the real world to learn the importance of getting it right the first time - the importance of winning. Because in all honesty, there are not second chances in athletic games or in the real-world. You get one chance to win, it shows you real fast how to be competitive. So kids - get up off your obese asses and play a game. Sweat a little.

40. Evan A Coon Said,

    To the University of Denver and its underachiever,

    In the August 28th post, The Eye of the Tiger, Professor C. proclaimed “[he finds] it odd that some very intelligent young adults find it difficult to motivate themselves to reach beyond the assignments.” As a student, I believe apathy is the source our lack of motivation. Students are often only driven by immediate self satisfying activities. For instance, studying for an exam will only benefit that student. However, sacrificing time to volunteer in your community does not provide immediate self satisfaction. Since fulfillment is delayed, students don’t view volunteering as a valuable use of their time. Clearly, the mentality of college students must be adjusted before any change ensues. Students will recognize the importance and rewards of volunteering only through experience. The University of Denver provides a liberal arts education but does not place enough emphasis on teaching the importance of volunteer work. Of the many mandatory and repetitive foundation and core courses, DU should simply employ one of true importance. If this university’s goal is to produce well rounded individuals, students should be required to take a young volunteers course so they are more incline to continue after graduating. Overall, only the collaborative effort of DU and its students will yield a solution to their apathy.

41. Ian Bingham Said,

    Professor C
    I agree to an extent what you are saying about the lack of competitiveness in our generation. However, i was raised to be extremely competitive in whatever I did. I was always on the winning teams and was always expected to perform at the highest level of any sport I played. I feel that it was the pressure from my parents and coaches to be overly competitive that has changed me into the person I am now. I lost all interest in competitive sports and quit all of them by my senior year in high school. I turned to surfing where there was no one to compete with but myself. I found that I could still get the satisfaction from succeeding but not have to compare myself to others. Maybe that is the answer to why we not as competitive as previous generations. We have found other ‘things’ in life that can satisfy us. We no longer feel the need to one up our peers to gain pleasure. I still feel the need to succeed for my own personal happiness. I study for my tests, apply for jobs, and party on weekends. I have done well for myself and have done it without trying to compete with anyone but myself.
    My high school was very competitive as well. It was the type of school where the teacher will pass back the grades on the test and everyone brags to each other who got the better grade. Classmates would treat you differently if you were not performing well in class. Yes. Bringing stereotypes into the discussion can be risky, however it is completely relevant.
    My high school was predominately Japanese. Japanese culture is polar opposite to the ‘American’ mentality for competitiveness and performing at the highest level. Japanese culture instills values of hard work, focus, and quality. It is as if a child’s grade is a reflection on the whole family. This was a great environment to be raised in because it really made you want to try harder. However, it gets to a point where you beat yourself up over the smallest things because you feel your parents would not be happy.
    Yes, I do agree with you but it may just be a generational phase that can be fixed with some unanticipated pressure. We have lived very comfortably in our 18-22 years we have been alive. Maybe being forced to step up to a serious challenge will put the kick in our step.

42. Lexi Winn Said,

    Prof. C,
    Hope your doing well!
    I agree with many of the things you said here about my generation, and I see it every day. I see less of it at DU though, as I have many friends that attend local community colleges. Most of them have dropped out, because they didn’t want to do school any more and felt like the dumb ones in the class for being in beginning algebra. (My roommate did this, and now works two jobs and has no real future set for her.) What I mean by all this, is that at DU the students are actually much better than many students at other colleges. I think part of the problem is that we have so many priorities, and many times these other priorities get in the way. Not necessarily partying, but a social life in general continues after college, grades do not. My social life and current occupation are pretty much the same, and I guess Im lucky for that, but am almost using school as my back-up plan, in case that occupation doesn’t work out. But I don’t believe I should re-arrange my priorities, as school and my “alternate reality” are both equally important for me. Im tempted to ask what you think about that.
    Lexi Fey

43. Whitney Said,

    Prof. C-
    I really enjoyed reading this. I can definitly see the lack of competition that you spoke of. I get frustrated when I watch people do less than their best simply because it is the easy way out. I think the youth is all consumed by themselves but in an unhealthy way. Interest lies in what one can get rather than what one can achieve.

    I was shocked by the dodgeball comment. That is ridiculous. I love dodgeball. But even besides that it’s the principle that a game could be unfair. There are rules and if someone doesn’t lose and someone win than what would be the purpose of any game? I found your perspective on the youth very interesting and I definitly aggree with you in many of you arguements.
    Whitney Petersen

44. Courtney Manlove Said,

    Academic Integrity, or, Competition?

    A person of integrity lurks somewhere inside each of us: a person we feel we can trust to do right, to play by the rules, to keep commitments. Doing well is the primary goal, but that isn’t what makes cheating wrong. What is wrong is that it disadvantages others who are engaging fairly in the same competition. If academics are not competitive, then prohibitions against cheating are nothing more than paternalistic rules. But academics are competitive (and apparently should be so), and prohibitions against cheating derive from moral rules. Furthermore, faculty and administrators must be clear that their function is as “referees” whose function is to protect non-cheaters from cheaters.
    Academic competition comes from one thing and one thing only; pressure from our elders. Here’s what we hear from our elders and mentors daily, “College education is a must thing to do in today’s fast pace world. It puts a lot of responsibility on one’s shoulders. One experiences an increased level of academic competition and makes one responsible for his/her actions, learning, and even their failures. Because of different environment than high school, it requires one to use more skills than needed in high school. Time management, reading skills and social skills are the most important skills needed to be successful in college.”…Woah, and you all wonder where this “pressure” stems from?
    Competition in education should only be with yourself, not with others. It’s like individual sports where you’re competing with yourself to better your previous time (i.e. swimming, running, skiing, etc.)…School is NOT a team sport, you’re not going to have your classmates there to hold your hand after you graduate and enter the real world.
    If competition is a fact of life, within academics is an ambiguous status. Non-academics like to imagine lecturers living a carefree existence beyond the rough and tumble of corporate competing. It’s a vision totally disconnected from reality but it persists because of lack of information and interest, perhaps combined with a nostalgic desire on the part of non-academics to fantasies about places of quiet contemplation untouched by the whirlwind of the rat race. As a freshman, I complained to my cousin about the pressures of my new position. She’s a big corporate wheeler and dealer and he just laughed at my worries: “Geez,” she said in her big “motherly” sympathy. “Stress in academia? Give me a break…wait for the real-world!”

    It’s an experience that makes me want to hang up my shoes and let my muscles turn to flab. Is the competitive drive no longer in my blood? Maybe, or maybe it’s just that I don’t want to compete in certain ways anymore. There must be more interesting academic games and better ways of playing them….and there is.

    I’m only living for me, because I came to college for myself…not for other people. If I came here for reasons other than myself, they would be the wrong reasons…

45. Brian Forrest Said,

    Professor C,

    I love the Rocky reference. That is one of my favorite movies of all time and I love to watch it to get motivated. I used to watch it the night before I had games to get myself in a mindset to compete. I see your point about our generation being less competitive, and I think the reason is exactly what you pointed out: that competition has been downplayed from a young age. I was one of those kids who always thought it was so stupid how no team “won” even if they scored more goals in youth soccer or peewee baseball. I think that attitude carries over into other areas of life, and this becomes a problem. People think its ok to be mediocre, and they cling to that instead of making themselves better. I will try to keep Rocky Balboa in mind as I go through school and life.

46. Lorinda Said,

    Hi Prof. C!
    I really enjoyed reading your Eye of the Tiger post and I think you have very good points that my generation needs to understand and address. I do believe there is competition within my generation but it is not directed towards the “real rabbits” in life. We have absorbed ourselves in the social scene and in the popularity competitions as opposed to competitions for the highest integrity or the most knowledge. I think even competing for the highest grade could potentially be destructive if not for the right reasons. As you mentioned, my generation does not sit down and think about how to get the most out of class or how to contribute to society. I admit there have been several classes that I felt were a waste of time and I regret everyone one of them. I wish I would have applied myself more because I can see know these classes could have been interesting and beneficial. In addition, I can see this lack of healthy competition and chase of “fake rabbits” more and more in my little sister and the younger generations below me. I feel that these kids are focusing on materialistic objects and progressively steering away from ethical values, family, schoolwork, and the important things in life. We all need to understand that the real competition is with ourselves to be the best we can be with the strongest ethical values. Personally, I grew up playing tennis and have demonstrated competition on the court. However, I think I could use my competitive nature more in other aspects of life as you mentioned. I enjoyed this experience and am interested to see the upcoming posts!

47. Ashly Robinson Said,

    love to compete

48. Jantzen Roth Said,

    Prof. C.

    I thought your blog brought up some great points. While reading I felt as though I myself was back in middle school in gym class. However, it is hard for me to see this ‘lack’ of competitiveness because I myself was so involved with athletics throughout my middle school and high school years. You mention that you believe parents are trying to shield their kids from the downsides of competition, and I agree, but I also think there is another reason.
    I once saw a news report that claimed my generation is too ‘wanting’ and ‘expecting’ of things to happen. It proclaimed that as more of us enter the work force (granted this was before the economic crisis) we expect more from our employers and for the business to revolve around us, and not vice versa. An interesting point brought up was that back in the day, a person only had one job and it was very rare to switch from job to job every few months (which is now quite common and socially acceptable). My generation can simple ‘quit,’ as the report, and start anew in a different organization until they find what they want. Now whether I agree with this report on how lazy and self - centered my generation is, I do believe it ties quite well into your disucussion of competition.
    By allowing a 2-1 soccer game to have no winner or loser, and having both teams celebrate afterwards, kids at a very young age get what they want. More examples include technological boosts and parents buying their children the latest and greatest whatever. My point is, kids today are not experiencing dissapointment. I believe that this lack of competition is a huge part of that. Having never experienced defeat, mom and dad ‘deal’ with teachers in high school when their child is unexplicitally given an A, or when they get exactly what they want, children are brought up believing the world revolves around them. It is a crime agaisnt the world when someone’s boss asks them to write a report, or even when they have to miss that Friday night because they have a presentation the next day they must prepare for. Kids today, as well as people from my generation, are so booked on their schedules that it astonishes them when things do not go their way.
    Now, by all means this is not a stereotype of my generation or anyone else, but a problem I see, and that clearly others see, that can be linked to this lack of cpmpetition you discuss. A little competition never hurt anyone, and learning to experience and ultimatley overcome defeat and dissapointment is a huge part of life.

    Jantzen R.

49. Will Said,

    Professor C,
    I do believe with your statement that the currrent generation of young adults lacks competitiveness. I played lacrosse and soccer, and I gained competitive spirit through my coaches. They are the ones that pushed us to perform at our highest level. If we did not succeed, then they were disappointed.
    The lack of competitive spirirt derives from our parnets. After a loss, my mother or father would come up and tell me “you played great.” In my mind maybe I did, but my team was still defeated. In hearing these words from my parents, I began to realize that losing was acceptable. I do believe that it is a goood lesson to learn that you cannot win every time, but you should also not go into a situation were you think or want to lose. I think that is the problem with youth today, because there parnets just want them to live life, but I want to live life and succeed.

50. Brett Kuhn Said,

    I would say that more so than lack of competitive drive is lack of caring in general. There is an overall lack of passion in this generation, and a willingness to settle for less and occupy the mind with baser pursuits. Ignorance is celebrated, and value is placed on things without merit or meaning. People lack the zeal and hunger that is necessary for a authentic and meaningful life, which for some could a desire for competitiveness, but a life of meaning needs to begin with yourself and a reevaluation of what you really want out of life.

51. Kenneth Phi Said,

    When I was in elementary school, yeah there was still dodge-ball, but there was an even greater competitive nature when we played hockey. I think I fell into the merging generation right before the death of dodge-ball, which is honestly just SAD might I add.

    Maybe because I’m Asian American and I have half of the Vietnamese heritage instilled in me, but there are several things that grew differently into me considering competitive nature. Since I could possibly remember, I was taught and forced to be number one (academically). It was always about being the best in my class. I was taught that I had the genes and that if I wanted, I could overachieve and actually always have the highest grades. Because I was taught this at such a young age, I think it was possible for it to be true for some time. That was my mindset until I got to DU (lol).

    On the other hand I was also always under-minded and told that I was weaker (physically) than Americans. My parents always told me that I had to wear a jacket (even though others didn’t) because we’re naturally weaker; Physically inferior. And so I was never as competitive as I could be in sports until Tennis came along. We all know tennis right? The sport designed for Asians to win. Finally, something I’m not inferior at…

    But ultimately, what’s all this about? I guess my life turned into a typical stereotype of a model minority Asian right. When it comes down to it, we’re all looking for that golden mean right. Where we take everything in moderation. Well while the fear of losing and competition has destroyed moderation between aggression and conservative-ness, I was being pushed to the extremes. It didn’t teach me much moderation, thinking I was weak physically, and strong academically. But ultimately from that I still learned the importance of competition. That when we lose, we must find the reason why, because losing should not be acceptable: survival of the fittest. So basically, my point is, even though I was pushed to the extreme ends of the spectrum, I ultimately found my moderation, all it requires is seeing the importance of the spectrum, and where you are and need to be.

52. Peter Lowell Said,

    Hey Prof. C.

    I find your post very interesting and being an athlete competition is definitely necessary for success. However, I also believe that competition for the wrong reasons can provide a lack of motivation. For example, doing work in a class that isn’t interesting to you or competing against something that you don’t find worthwhile is very difficult. Therefore, I think it is not only important to instill winning values in youth in order to motivate, but more importantly, give them the skills necessary that will help them find the worthwhileness to compete. Competing without knowing why is pointless. Success will be found when the right mixture of motivation and desire is met and I strongly believe when both come as the result of the other, the passion will truly win out.

53. David Lorish Said,

    I would contend that there many factors leading to this seeming change in this generation. The culture of parenting and competition has changed significantly. That being said, I don’t believe that its a lack of competition during childhood which has led to a lack drive. This generation is one of enormous changes in how we live our lives. At this point in time I am not entirely its for the best either. Only time will tell, how this generation will handle the seeming constantly changes in the way we live our lives. The question I pose as answer to this generations lack of drive is, are we better being as connected as we, with speed we are forced to live our lives, and are we better for this culture of instant gratification. It is undeniable that there has been huge change, in world, however, what you are questing is, is it for the best. There will always be change, but at which point is it too much?

54. Nick Dier Said,

    Some of my fondest memories of elementary school deal directly with physical education and, in particular, dodgeball. The game fostered a sense of competition and instilled within me a burning desire to be the best—to outperform my peers regardless of the task.

    We played a slight variation called Elimination that basically pitted everyone against everyone, and I took pride in being the last man remaining. When playing dodgeball, some of the students chose to stand to the side and wait passively until they were eliminated. The general lack of effort and competitiveness from these individuals contributes nothing to the game. Instead, they actually cause the activity to be less fun, alienating those that try by making it appear as though they care too much. This lackadaisical attitude forms early and is repeatedly manifest later in life.

    Apart from childhood habits, I think the reason that competition is so severely lacking in the recent generation is that we have grown up with the constant convenience of technology. With the Internet, a plethora of information is readily available for student utilization, substituting research skills with search engine skills. With this, we have come to expect a degree of instant gratification in all areas of life. We have been spoiled by technology and, in many ways, there is no going back.

    With computers, cell phones, and iPods invading the classroom, students are barraged with a constant supply of stimuli—Facebook, instant messenger, e-mail. This splits their attention over several activities and reduces the ability to concentrate deeply (and perform competitively) in regard to a particular subject.

    It is up to students to reverse this trend by selecting a genuine passion and fully applying themselves to it. At the same time, instructors must provide more interactive lesson plans that capitalize on the appeal of new technologies, rather than shunning them. With this, the country can gradually regain its position in the global economy, as, unlike us, the students of China and India have not slipped in competitiveness.

55. Jay Rathbun Said,

    Professor C,

    What you seem to be discussing is the “Millennials” today. I will be participating in a student panel for faculty here at DU about this. The idea behind the “Millenials” is that we are “bred by Mr. Rogers” and the feel good attitude he promoted. We are less focused on success and “winning” as you put it and more focused on being inclusive and that generation everyone finds to be, well, lazy. In many ways, I think the “millennials” are a huge part of the current society. We have a stronger grasp of technical knowledge than any other group of individuals and learn the workings of technology quickly. In that regard, we are exactly what many businesses are looking for. But you are right in your views of laziness. I disagree, however, with your view of this group as being unmotivated or lacking a sense of competition. On the contrary, I would say that this group is more competitive than ever before. These young individuals want to hit the work force and be thrust into higher paying jobs and thrust into the role of CEO because they feel they deserve it. This generation has a lot of knowledge and are very competitive, striving to rise faster than all the other “millennials.” However, these individuals do lack drive. According to a story by CBS, the “millennials” actually rely not on their skill sets to retain jobs and show they are the most qualified for a position, but rather rely on their parents. It is disgusting, in a way, to see these people that have so much talent “run to mommy” when an issue arises. The millennials at times do lack many things; the most pressing thing they lack is a sense of responsibility.

    Having said these things about the millennials, their views in some areas can be fairly insightful. Rather than focusing on such things as attire and formalities of the work place, they instead focus on the outcome or product of their work. Many companies, like the online shoe store Zappos have begun instituting things such as nap time at work. This may sound appalling to the older generation, but these millennials like the idea of getting the work done on their own time. Now, of course, they will not take a two hour nap and leave after an 8 hour day. They take the responsibility to stay 10 if they take a two hour nap, but the idea of having that freedom truly inspires them. The work hours are also seeing similar changes. This group has moved coming into work; it is no longer the average 8-5 job anymore. In many cases, employees that are in the millennial generation will not come in until as late as 12 or 1 pm. This is stressful for many older individuals, but the work has actually been shown to be of higher quality. The “rewards” the millennials grant themselves show in their product.

    I do not agree with all the ideals of millennials. In fact, I would not consider myself a part of the millennial revolution or generation. However, I do take some of their ideas to heart. I personally have tried to incorporate the ideals of both the new and old workforces. This, I believe, will be a way for someone with the same abilities as the millennials to put themselves one step ahead and regain that competition they have apparently thrown to the wind.

    Jay Rathbun
    Please credit 60 Minutes for much insight and information about the “Millennials”

56. Mary DeFanti Said,

    Professor C, you bring up many good points about our generations lack of motivation and competiveness. I agree with you that it is odd when you see a very intelligent teenager or adult find it difficult to motivate themselves to go above and beyond the assignment. Our generation is either motivated by pushing themselves to achieve bigger and better things, or they put in enough effort to get by. There needs to be a balance of both to achieve more. It is true our generation lacks motivation to become the best they can be in life. I do also agree that many young adults care about there social life as much or maybe even more then their academic lives. This is a major problem in society. I feel that because our generations grew up around technology this is effecting the results in motivation and competition. Growing up in an athletic family helped me learn how to motive myself and how to deal with my competiveness. The one phrase I live by day to day is, “Try, try, try again and never give up”. I think of this quote every day whether that’s on the playing field or in the classroom. Not many people in my generation put in a lot of effort to achieve their goals, there is something wrong with that. I agree with you when you say that when you put in a lot of effort to achieve a goal you adapt an attitude that provides motivation. Many young adults should listen to this statement and they will become more successful. I feel that many people within my generation may not have grown up in a family that taught these strengths to achieve more in live. I also agree with you and believe that parents and educators are shielding children from competition and this is one reason why it is effecting our generation.

57. Andrew P Said,

    The posited notion of competitiveness sounds similar in nature to the Greek term eros. Eros being a love for life, that which propels individuals forward. This love is not context specific, but equally applicable to all areas of life. To have passions and desires is to express one’s individuality and character on the road towards self-fulfillment. The main concern being not where we stand relative to other beings, but progress being measured against what we believe our selves’ to be capable of.

    For the first time in history, more than half the world’s population is middle class. Material goods are requisite, but not sufficient, for self-actualization. As we carve our paths through life, it is surprising the number of individuals who choose merely to survive; rather than engage in activities which they find to be meaningful and significant. Preferring sensual pleasures, to deeply symbolic or nuanced activities, can result in our being guided by whatever appears most attractive or interesting at the moment. This general lack of competitiveness is a failure to experience the full set of options available to us. I would argue staying true to values, attitudes and beliefs which are internally constituted, rather than socially inherited, defines that which is “worth winning. “

58. Kaitlyn Culliton Said,

    I adore these stories, but I might have to disagree with you here. Our generation is in a heap of trouble, but it’s not because we are not competitive.

    Look at Rocky. The Rocky stories motivate audiences every time they watch it. Why? Because he found a way to success. Rocky doesn’t teach us about winning, he teaches us about finding a way, about fighting for what we want, and about enduring. Sure, the story wouldn’t be as cool if he didn’t win, but it is not about the trophy-it is about how hard you sweat to get it.

    I hate the phrase “Be the best you can be”-it’s like there is some super-imposed limit on “best.” There is a term I fell in love with in high school: Magis. It’s the Latin word for “more” and it is absolutely unattainable. The Jesuits adopted it in a religious context, but it applies to secular circumstances as well. The idea is there is always something to strive for. Competition implies that you are against someone else. Magis is just you and what you have or have not become at the end of your day.

    Our generation is dissatisfied, but it is not because we aren’t competitive. There are so many situations in life where we can get really competitive. (Although, Prof. C., I agree completely about letting our kids get smacked over the head a few times with a dodge ball). Rarely, however, are we encouraged to be people, to have a face, or to do something truly extraordinary. Rarely are we encouraged beyond the threshold of what we can do. So often I have been encouraged to be competitive or “be the best.” Very few times in my life have I been encouraged to be more than what I am. “The Best” isn’t hard for someone who has been competitive for a long time-I will admit the second a teacher says he grades on a curve, I kick my feet up and coast. When was the last time, though, someone truly encouraged us to be better?

59. Monica Carroll Said,

    Professor C,

    I have noticed an alarming change in today’s youth and in society in general. It seems that nowadays it is rare to find people that are actually willing to work hard to achieve something. Imagine that! You actually have to WORK to achieve something! Too many people just have things handed to them and have developed poor habits of laziness and contentment. Don’t get me wrong, contentment is a good thing, but this is the wrong type of contentment. Being content is something you should have when you are genuinely happy with what you have achieved and where you have gotten in life. But the type of contentment I see nowadays is that young people are just content with failure. I see my friends getting bad grades and their response is, “Oh that professor is so unfair” or “Why did that teacher grade so hard?” No one takes any personal responsibility for their failures and even worse, no one makes any effort to change.
    What is lacking here is maybe not competition with others but competition with oneself. If people would challenge themselves, if they would set higher standards, then they would be getting a whole lot more out of school, out of life in general. But I think nowadays society has allowed people to be lazy, short-sighted and immediately gratified. People are not willing to work hard to get anywhere in life because society enables them to be failures! People need to find it in themselves to push themselves harder and be the best they can be. A little bit of self-competition is the answer- the inspiration to lead a better life is not going to come from outside, but from within.

60. Hannah Major Said,

    Professor C,

    While I agree with your observation I think you have missed one of the causes. I think the lack of competitiveness you have identified is largely due to fear. As a kid being told to avoid dodge ball and never receiving red pen marks saves kids from pain. They don’t learn to experience failure, and how can you experience success if you don’t know the reciprocal.

    This ignorance of success and failure ultimately leads to the fear of the unknown. The overwhelming tasks are safer to dodge than to attempt. This avoidance was practiced as a kid; rather than learning to take a chance and let a game get interesting it was halted and sidewalk chalk was provided as a safe alternative. As a kid we were sheltered and protected we never experienced a rough failure which won’t allow us to experience an authentic moment of success. The extensive protection as a child has bred a timid generation that doesn’t risk much and therefore doesn’t achieve much.

    Also I read a couple blogs that said our generation is lazy and unmotivated and I do not agree with that. We are deprived of a competitive instinct. You can’t be intentionally unmotivated and uncompetitive if you never even learned what it fully meant to be motivated and competitive. It is the same as the difference between a captive animal and a free or wild animal. A captive dog never learns to hunt, so they don’t hunt. A wild dog learns to hunt and it does hunt. If we don’t teach kids and expect kids to hunt for the things they want in life, and more importantly if we restrain them from hunting and competition, then don’t be surprised when they don’t hunt and don’t have a drive.

    The issue derives from ignorance and the crippling fear that is ignorance’s accomplice.

61. Janna Hoza Said,

    I really like your insight into the lessons children learn from dodgeball. It makes so much sense, yet I never would have thought of dodgeball as a learning experience. However, I think the vast majority of childhood activities are the same way. I believe that what we learn as children truly shapes the rest of our life. That is when virtues are first developed and they develop in oneself through the witnessing of virtues in others. Because of this I think it is important for adults and parents and strive for Aristotle’s golden mean, not only for theirselves, but also in order to help their children to reach the golden mean.

62. Ginny Petrovek Said,

    When I think of DU as having a lack of competition I think of all the people, many of whom I know, who don’t care to take an interest in anything outside of the classroom - I’m not saying join a club or senate or greek life or whatever, but finding a passion outside of the classroom can enhance your competitiveness whether it’sincreasing the amount of money you raise in a year, winning an election or having the fraternity with the highest academic. These are things to be proud of, and when you put yourself in groups or partake in outside of classroom activities competitiveness will arise - setting goals for ourselves can help us be internal competitors too - maybe you have a goal for your graduation GPA, or your career goal in 10 years, WHATEVER, light a match and get motivated whether it’s for yourself or for others the benefits will be well worth the effort!

63. Annie Amrhein Said,

    After reading this blog post, I definitely can relate to this type of mentality that has begun to sweep across the nation. Growing up, I was always a competitive person whether it was during sports or in school. I wanted to be on top and from an early age learned that being on top made me feel better. This may initially come across as a very egotistical, self-centered comment. But in reality, I feel this was a healthy way to grow up because it made me more determined when I didn’t achieve the results I wanted, as well as made me feel accomplished and proud of when I did reach my goals.

    My parents definitely influenced me to always do my best and work hard to what you want to achieve. My dad, the very athletic man that he is, was always there after an athletic game, telling me what could be better and how I can improve. Although, this sometimes was really annoying to hear because I was usually exhausted and just wanted to get home, but these sorts of conversations need to happen in families so that children can grow up developing a “winner’s attitude”. Through my upbringing, that type of thinking was instilled in my brain. I was one of the lucky ones though because if parents weren’t there to influence their children, the school was not going to pick up the slack in that area. In my middle school, dodgeball was banned along with basically any competitive game. For the exact reason that Professor C. mentions in his blog. To be honest, I think it took the fun out of every game because nothing was ever competitive. Everyone can’t be winners and although many want to believe, it’s an impossible mentality to live by in this day-in-age. You may fail, you may lose to the person next to you in a job interview, but that doesn’t mean your life is over. But if you are taught to think that everyone is given an equal chance or that even if you don’t get the job, the company will compensate for that in someway, then when that does not happen this person will not know how to pick themselves up from this defeat. People need to grow up learning how to deal with various circumstances, where there is competitiveness and if the person wants to win, achieve, etc. that they must work hard to do so because it isn’t always a fair playing ground in real-life.

64. Scott Nordlund Said,

    I agree that today’s generation lacks motivation and a competitive spirit. Kid’s now days feel a sense of entitlement and don’t know what it takes to earn things. We are the “trophy” generation, even if you win or lose you still get rewarded. I hear about youth baseball leagues not keeping score because they don’t want to hurt the other team’s feelings and that makes me sick. What kind of a message are you sending those kids when you do that? Life is tough and you are going to get knocked down a lot. Life is about how you respond to situations. Instead of trying to point a finger or crying about it you should step up and be a man. I have had some great wins and awful loses in hockey throughout my career. I have been cut from teams and it hurts. I am a better person for it though. If you can’t handle a loses on a playing field how are you going to be able to handle life? I have been knocked down before and I am sure that I will be knocked down again. But those loses in the past have helped prepare me to handle the tough roads ahead.

65. Blair Ransom Said,

    I see the same type of apathy that you describe in your blog. A lot of people don’t care and just go through the motions assuming their parents will always bail them out in the end, and at DU thats actually true for many kids, which is their loss in my opinion. I think the lack of academic competition stems from one source, academic dishonesty. I consider my self a very honest student and do not cheat at all, however I know that it is incredibly easy to cheat at DU. I can’t speak to other universities but I assume students cheat at the same level as DU. The problem is that I can sit next to a student in class, raise my hand more, attend more classes, do the readings and assignments and the other student will still get a better grade. In a world where grades are so overvalued, in my opinion, an honest student can simply not keep pace with the dishonest one. It is hard enough to keep motivated and with all the cheaters getting A’s while you work your ass off to get a B, its near impossible. Also cheating feeds on itself because people realize that if the playing field isn’t level they can’t compete. Its exactly like performance enhancing drugs in baseball. More and more students figure if they can get an A doing very little, why would they work to get a B, logically it makes sense right? In reality of course cheating is not worth it. You either get caught and lose, like Manny, or you graduate with a 3.8 and a terrible work ethic that will catch up with you.

    In terms of breeding competition from a young age I think that of course it is important to learn how to lose and fail but that gym class is probably not the place. I have played sports all my life at a competitive level and enjoyed it very much. However athletic competition is not for everyone and I think we should respect that. I also think that the virtue of competitiveness is very hard to balance, and if kids are forced to compete, especially when they have no chance of winning, like gym class bombardment, it is counterproductive for a kids development. However competition in whatever area a kid may be talented in is very important cultivate as it is the basis for the advancement of our world and economy.

66. Zak Madelen Said,

    Prof C-
    I grow tired of people from older generations continually saying that my generation is worse than theirs was while growing up. When you look back at you past I understand that its hard to remember all of the downfalls of your generation as the people in yours are too busy criticizing the younger ones as well. But I do agree with you when it comes to competitiveness, although I feel you have caught the wrong age group with this, I think it is more of the elementary and middle-schoolers today than the people around my age. It might have just been growing up in Kansas (which is really different than other places as I am slowly learning,) but I grew up in an ultra-competitive environment, playing football, baseball and basketball, all the while irately losing multiple games as a youngster. In fact it is because of my friends and I that dodgeball is banned in my old Elementary School. (too many girls getting hit in the head; we were mean little kids)
    I do see the issue that you speak of though, and I worry bout the future generations when kids are raised without tasting the sweet beauty of domination, or the bitterness of defeat. So for now we’re just going to have to wait. And when I go home and play my best friend Mike in some basketball or even NFL Blitz on my old N64, I fully expect something to be broken after one of us loses. Its just naturally for me

67. Jay Rathbun Said,

    Professor C,

    I think your insights are extremely valid on this topic. I think it is primarily a case by case basis when talking about a person from my generation and their “competitive drive.” I must admit, however, that I believe you are addressing a whole different issue that I have discussed on a panel here on campus. Your views of “kids these days” and their competitive drive, along with some of the stories in this post, move toward views of the “millennial generation.” The millennials are people born from approximately 1982 until 2000. These numbers are just off hand, so don’t quote me on that as the exact years. Regardless, one of the many qualms with the millennials includes a lack of competition and relying heavily on helicopter parents. Kids do not take responsibility of their actions and their parents do everything for them. I think this is a big reason for the decline in competition. Why would a person be competitive if their parents will handle any situation for them? Why would a millennial really commit him or herself to anything really, since their parents are going to work as hard as they can to achieve greatness for their children. It is really disappointing to me to see children rely on their parents as they get older. By age 16, I am not proposing that a student be completely independent, but that student should be able to handle his or her own personal problems. Having shown my disgust with my own generation of peers, I have to say, however, I am equally disgusted with my parent’s generation. I do not think it is all families, but every one must realize, my generation is a result of how that generation raised us. They say we are the product of Mr. Rogers and we think we are special. Well, our parents established that, when they tell us that everyone is special. I think a lack of the competitive edge can also be attributed to our upbringing. At young ages, there were trophies for everyone. Everyone was a winner. Well, if everyone is a winner, what is there to compete for?

    I hope you enjoy my view, because I know I thoroughly enjoyed this post.

    –Jay Rathbun

68. Claire Gray Said,

    Professor C,
    Despite my extreme desire to say, “you are wrong”, I agree with your assessment that my generation and future generations exhibit behaviors that reaffirm the general lack of motivation. According to Einstein’s definition you stated above- “Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results”; I am insane. I have yet to reach the “golden mean”, but I do believe myself to be a decent human who strives to live virtuously. However, I have continually found myself dealing with identical, reoccurring problems. I get upset, confused why it keeps happening and wonder what I did to deserve trouble? I lack competitive understanding.
    I am afraid of failure. I often want to play various sports and try new activities but I have yet to join because I worry I will be bad and people will judge me. I also decide trying and never knowing what I would have done is a far better option vs. the possibility of failing. I feel the general trend among families and society today encourages children to be lazy. Modern technology has improved the efficiency and quality of life in America, but has decreased self-reliance and motivation amongst U.S. citizens. Family game night and eating together at the dinner table has become a rarity. Parents now have T.V. to entertain their kids and many would prefer their child to be safe, and then suffer any harm a competitive game might inflict. Had I been forced against a bully (the worst possible outcome of a sport) it is possible I would have learned from my mistakes, recognized the situation, and would have tackled my habitual problem head on.
    Additionally, I would love to change the world but I have discovered that society lacks genuine support or faith of the idea. Today’s generation seeks money rather than striving to be great. I agree that the lack of competitiveness in the U.S.A is resulting in a drastic decrease of American passion and success. Your ‘consistent persistent’ method advances individual talent and motivation. Experiencing failure conveys the message that if a person falls down five times, they must get up six, to gain and succeed in life.
    ~Claire Gray

69. Harrison Hellner Said,

    Prof C,
    I strongly agree with you that my generation lacks the competitive fire that I believe is needed to be successful in life. Being competitive helps us all better ourselves, improve our skill sets and ultimately help us live up to our potential. I found an African proverb from the book The World is Flat by Thomas Freidman that helped me put into perspective the raw nature of competition and how I should perceive it in order to continue to push forward even when it’s tough.
    Every morning in Africa, a gazelle wakes up. It knows that it must outrun the fastest lion or it will be killed. Every morning in Africa, a lion wakes up. It knows that it must out run the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It does not matter whether you are a lion or gazelle. When the sun comes up you had better be running.
    I can read this over and over and every time it helps me to think about what I’m doing, and is what I’m doing going to get me where I want to be in life. My generation desperately needs to find that competitive fire, the desire to succeed, a motivation from within that drives them to live up to their potential. I would argue that one of the greatest tragedies or disservice to yourself in life is to not take full advantage of what you’re capable of. My generation’s lack of desire, lack of competitiveness, and lack of motivation is ultimately leading to us not living up to our potential.

70. Chris Chares Said,

    I’m so happy I made it through elementary school before dodgeball became a dirty word. That point you made about wanting to improve every time you got hit is spot on. Every single time I got out I would always pledge to do better and stay in longer the next time. It’s a feeling I felt again later when I started playing varsity sports in high school. To hell with the bench, I wanted to be in the game more, and if that meant running endless drills on my own, so be it. I wish I could say I applied these lessons to every facet of my life and benefited, but that would be a half-truth.

    I’m still a generally pretty lazy and apathetic teenager, but at least I know how it feels to really want something and work hard for it.

71. Kirsten Cangilla Said,

    I have very little historical perspective on this matter of a lack of competition. I can only comment from my position as a Millenial (DotCom-er, Net Kid, etc. Pick a name for the generation coming to age in this decade, I suppose). I tend to agree that the fierce academic competition I had anticipated college academia to promote, is most certainly lacking at the University of Denver.

    As a tour guide, I am often asked what my least favorite part of the university is. My response falls along the same lines as this post. I try to steer clear of negativity while speaking with prospective families, but I can’t help but feel that apathy runs abound on our campus.

    But I see a change on the horizon. With the current economic recession and a possible surge of military force in Afghanistan, not to mention a social security system that is sure to fail if not quickly amended and an education system producing students falling in the middle or end of the global pack, it’s time for the Millenials to step up to the plate. A huge void lies in place of our previous sense of entitlement. Entitled to what? There’s not much to be had at this point. We’ll have to work; we have no choice.

    Agree or disagree with him politically, President Obama has recognized the need for youth involvement. His policies might not always sit well with me, but I cry every time he calls out to our generation. I pray that his heightened rhetoric will motivate the youth to serve our country - to work hard in school, in training programs, in boot camp, etc to maintain America’s competitive edge in the global market.

    I enjoyed your dodgeball metaphor; how true that we have lost that spark to succeed. Maybe we can be late-bloomers though and develop those skills out of necessity. What better time than now?

72. Grace Carpenter Said,

    Hi Prof. C-

    Your comments about not being competitive and underachieving really hit home. All to often I feel that my peers are underachieving and just going through the motions. And then when something does not go their way they get really upset and try to bring their parents into the situation to make it right again. I sometimes find myself in this category but all the while realize that by not pushing myself to the limit as Rocky Balboa did that I am not struggling in life as you talk about.

    I think it is funny though how competitiveness does show through sometimes. I grew up in a very competitive family where board games, games of ping-pong and anything that could be made into a competition between my sisters and I was made into one. I did not realize the extent to which we were so competitive until I am with my friends or their families and they do not care who wins at hearts and gives up in the midst of a close ping-pong game. I think that although I have felt that being competitive can be harmful when feelings are hurt and relationships affected I believe that being more competitive than not is a good thing. It allows for children to strive to be better, keep improving and learning. Without that drive there would be no motivation for change and therefore no more learning. I know that someday when I have children I will allow them to be competitive but make sure I curb that competitiveness so it will not hurt their relationships and their future careers.

    I also believe that to be competitive does not necessarily mean that one is fighting and pushing other people out along the way. I think that achieving high can be individualized, with the help of others though. I for example have worked very hard at finding summer jobs and internships that will further the career path I have chosen so far and that involve things I enjoy doing. By being proactive and competitive in getting an these opportunities I am proud of myself and know that it will pay off later in life. I think all too often kids just wait until the last minute and believe that their life will work out well because their parents’ lives have turned out. I think this is a huge mistake to make and hope that our generation will be able to move away from this belief.

    Thanks-
    Grace

73. Bethany Morse Said,

    Hey Professor Ciocchetti,

    I must say that I greatly enjoyed this posting. Also, there is nothing wrong with liking 80s music! I’m not old enough to have heard the original, but I certainly enjoy the classics now - as a matter of fact, I just saw Survivor live a few years ago….Eye of the Tiger was one of my favorite songs!

    About the subject of competitiveness, I agree that it has gotten way out of hand in my generation - and not towards the competitive side! People today are way too concerned about feelings (and political correctness, to a certain extent). Although I do not encourage being overtly mean or rude, I feel as though being so careful in situations - such as dodgeball - can lead to kids not being able to grow backbones. This is a cruel society, plain and simple, and people need to learn how to protect themselves from getting hurt. However, they cannot do this if the only feedback they get is positive and weak. Weakness in produces weakness out. Dodgeball, in particular, is a very interesting subject. I recently took a writing class here at DU, and we read an article about this very issue - competitiveness in dodgeball! Like you said, parents are starting to demand trophies for everyone, or are not encouraging their kids to do anything that might involve emotionally hurting another kid. When I was a kid, we played dodgeball because it was a fun game; if I got hit, I knew that the person who hit me was only playing the game how it was supposed to be played, not because they hated me; I accepted losing. Getting a trophy if you haven’t earned it just doesn’t feel good! If I graduate with latin honors, I want to know that I earned it, not that I was given it because I begged my teachers to take pity on my sub-par work - that is the way I was raised. However, if a kid gets a trophy for every win as well as for every loss in life, he will start to expect that, even if it is not earned, and will be disappointed and confused if he gets reprimanded instead of praised for a mistake he made at his job.

    This downward spiral of expectations and sensitive feelings will lead to a disfunctional society in just a few years if something is not done right now. Not only will competitiveness go down the drain (along with all sports, auditions, applications, etc.), but the professional world will suffer too - since competition is essentially what business is.

74. Linna Goelz Said,

    Professor C -
    Although I have never seen any of the Rocky movies, this is the post that I relate to the most. Unfortunately, I am one of those underachieving students that you are talking about. School has always been really easy for me; I’ve never had to try hard or really try at all to get good grades. Because of this, I have acquired what I would consider a pretty bad work ethic. I procrastinate, and when I can find an easy way out for my homework I will always take it. In high school, this was not really a problem as I always got good grades and to be honest, most of my classes were not very interesting to me. But now that I am in college, I am starting to take more classes that I am interested in and that are important to my future career. Even though I like school a lot more now, I am still having a hard time motivating myself to work hard and do a thorough job on homework and to be an active student in class. I agree with you that it is very important for kids and students to be motivated and have a competitive edge. I’ve never liked competition because I (obviously) don’t like losing, but I also don’t like to see other people lose because of me. However, I think I can improve myself by being more competitive in my classes and by looking out for myself, even if it means other people might have to lose. As my freshman year is drawing to a close, I look back and I am proud of my grades and the work I have done to get these grades. However, I know that I have not put in my full effort this year, which I am not proud of. I have really enjoyed your class and the Real Rabbits, and I really do intend to push myself a lot more next year, and in all the other aspects of my life. Floating through and just getting by is not good enough. Grades, although they can make my parents proud, really aren’t an indication of who I am and what I’m learning. I really want to be successful in life and actually make an impact on the world, no matter how small that impact is. Next year, I plan on setting some goals for myself in my classes and in my personal life in order to improve myself and my work ethic. Thank you for taking an active interest in my well being and progress as well as that of the other students; I really do appreciate it, and I’m sure they do too.
    ~Linna

75. Linna Goelz Said,

    Professor C-
    Although I have never seen any of the Rocky movies, I can really relate to this post. Unfortunately, I would consider myself one of the underachieving students that you talk about in this post. There are some aspects of my life that I am really passionate about, but school just has never been one of them. School has always been very easy for me; I have never had to try hard, or really try at all to get good grades and because of this, I have developed a rather poor work ethic when it comes to school work, and also other things that are just not interesting to me. In high school, I don’t really think this was that bad of a problem as I always got good grades and to be honest, I just didn’t enjoy most of the classes I was required to take. Now that I am in college, I’m starting to be able to choose the classes I take and therefore I find them more interesting. However, I still find it quite easy to take shortcuts and skimp on my homework while still maintaining pretty good grades. As my freshman year is drawing to a close, I look back on the past 3 quarters and I am proud of the work I have done and the grades I have earned. However, I realize that I did not put forth my full effort, instead a lot of times I procrastinated and took the easy way out to get a good grade, instead of actually trying my hardest. This I am not proud of. I am so used to being able to slide by and not do all of the work and still maintain good grades that it was just natural for me to do that this year as well. But now I realize that this is not ok. I could be getting a much better GPA if only I did all my work and went to all of my classes! Therefore, I am definitely going to set some goals for myself next year regarding my school work and work ethic, and in my personal life as well. I really want to be successful, and I realize that this is not possible when you just put in the minimum effort and work. My parents are always proud of me, but I really want to impress them next year and for the rest of college by outdoing myself and getting not just good grades, but awesome ones. They are paying for my education and I really think this is the least I can do to pay them back.
    Also, thank you, Professor C, for taking an active interest in my well being and success. Most teachers just don’t really seem to care, but you really do and I really appreciate it.
    ~Linna~

76. Kaitlyn Culliton Said,

    As this class comes to an end I realize how truly fortunate I am. My life is fulfilling, I have been brought up to work with integrity, value relationships and do what I need to do in order to do what I want to do. I am happy with my relationships and work each day to maintain balance in my life. Real Rabbits, along with class lectures and discussions of ethics have made me realize that although I have so much more that I want to accomplish in my life, so far I’m on the right track. I am hopeful for the future and thankful that this class educated me about things I wouldn’t have otherwise encountered. The world of business may not be for me, but I hope to help the people in my life the way that this class and Professor C have helped me to realize what I truly value.

77. Tate Kendall Said,

    Hey professor,

    This is a very interesting posting and I think that it is completely true that kids do need to find ways of motivating themselves. You talk about our generation being the least competitive and I thought hard about this. Personally I am pretty competitive because I enjoy succeeding but I believe that most kids don’t think they can succeed and thats why. The problem is that many kids have tried things and have been unsuccessful and this kills people’s competitive spirit. Because of this, my interest in life is to motivate younger kids in elementary and middle school to become motivated and confident at a young age but to be calm and accepting of their results. It is important that our generation understands that having a competitve edge will benefit them in life and that they must be ethical and thoughtful with their competitiveness.

78. ryan mcintosh Said,

    prof. c

    i feel that we as a society and my generation have lost some of the competition and competitive feelings that we need to strive for greatness. if there isnt any incentive to win why should we go above and beyond like we are told to do by so many. i see this all the time and have seen it first hand this year by one of my closest friends who is on academic probation from DU. he is a very intelligent kid and has alot going for him but cant find the motivation to get the stuff he needs to get done accomplished. because he felt like no one was counting on him to succeed, he felt no reason to. he is currently coming back in the fall and i hope he can find the competitive spirit he needs to succeed

79. Courtney Manlove Said,

    Competition is an important element of young people’s development. By competing with peers, they are able to evaluate themselves among society essentially. At times, though, competition can be detrimental to someone in their teenage years. As competition, pressure and stress often co-exist, it is crucial for parents as well as teens to be aware of the role of competition in the life of adolescents. Even though I argue that “competition” is important, competitive young athletes are going to be most concerned about parents’ and friends’ evaluations of their performance, and other competitors’ and friends’ evaluations of their skills in general. These issues can bring a mass amount of anxiety to someone, along with insecurities, and fear.
    Not only is there competition among teens for jobs, but also inexperienced teens find themselves competing with experienced adults. In job market relations, the problem is the fact that teens are competing with laid-off adults for minimum-wage jobs. It’s a competition they often don’t win because they don’t, or don’t know how to act professionally. Another negative to competition is someone (like you say) can’t become a jack of many trades if they focus too much and being perfect at one thing. High achievers may be molded into perfectionists rather than into the creative and problem-solving adults society most needs.
    Many of the teens today are underachievers; although capable of the work, they lack the motivation to succeed. Today we worry about getting through high school, not to mention the competition to get into a good college. The teens that go to school for their social life, are usually the underachievers and lack motivation for academics. These are students that can do the work, are highly intelligent, but have decided that their friends are more important. An underachiever can also be the kid that doesn’t want to go to school. In some cases they are distracted by emotional issues, or are not challenged enough in school. There may also be some learning disabilities not diagnosed. I feel that all of us can be sucked into this at some point, but the real question is…are you strong enough to rise above it and move on with your life?

80. Ainsley Shannon Said,

    Do we push ourselves to a point of exhaustion or take the easy path towards everything and be moderately happy? What is the Golden Mean?
    I like others who have posted on this blog, came from an extremely competitive high school where goals of kids were to push the limits of their peers and themselves. Back then, I always saw those students as people who were constantly stressed, overwhelmed, and anxious over what their SAT tests scores were, how they did on AP exams, and when, WHEN would they hopefully receive those acceptance letters from their top schools. In my graduating class we had kids who were accepted to Harvard, Cornell, Brown, MIT, West Point, the Naval Academy, and many other respectable schools throughout the country. I found it interesting however that these kids sometimes didn’t even enjoy the rigor of what they were doing. What’s the fun in competing if you don’t enjoy doing it? Many times I would see them come to class half asleep, looking like they spent the previous night studying with what little time they had. It wasn’t just about classes either; what really motivated them was the extracurricular activities. I remember one conversation with my grandfather (a Princeton undergrad and a Yale Medical grad) where he convinced me I could easily get into an ivy league school (based on my grades and school alone). My simple response was, “Yes but I don’t have any extracurriculars.” His confusion still makes me smile today, as the competitive world of ivy league admission no longer relies on grades alone. The kids from my school who were accepted into the ivy leagues were just as good in school as I was (like them I graduated summa cum laude) but they were on debate team, math team, were nationally ranked in sailing, had internships with senators, volunteered at the soup kitchen, played a school sport, were class president, vice president etc, and STILL managed to pull that 4.0. No wonder these kids were exhausted! At what point do we stop doing things for the simple satisfaction to know that we could put it on a resume. One of my good friends who had worked her butt off since 7th grade to get into the Naval Academy (which she finally did but surprisingly declined) told me she was going to participate in some running event simply to put it on her resume. To this day she still has horrible leg problems that stem from that one event. She doesn’t even enjoy running! Seriously, aren’t the potential to receive life-altering physical injuries enough to keep you from doing something solely because you can, “put it on your resume”? Maybe I am being a tad harsh because I participated at the moderate level in high school only did one fall sport and one extracurricular activity of theater (which believe me was still time consuming), but still I feel that in our youth society there is either an extreme end of over-competitiveness, so much so that someone will break down because they were not accepted into one school, or on the other end a complete lack of drive at all?
    Nothing bothers me more when I see people who have potential but instead waste their time doing nothing of importance. I may not be the most competitive person at times, but that does not mean I am not lazy or have a lack of drive. I have a drive to do well, put my efforts toward something I love, and know when not to participate/engage in something for the sole purpose of saying I did it. To me, that is a waste of time and effort of something you could be developing better skills at something you love. This is not to say that I am discouraging trying new things, however I am discouraging doing things know you have no interest but do so anyway because it is appealing on a resume. Back to my points of people with effortless potential, I have never understood why these people do not take opportunities in front of them, and make something of it. One of the smartest people I know cheats his way through exams, and claims he is so good at such, he recognizes patterns on a paper to know the answer. Why, I ask this person all the time, did they feel it was necessary to do so. I have noticed a great pattern in life that those who are the smartest often fail the most because of their unrelenting drive to do better. They justify that being smarter than 90% of the people in the room will simply get them places; WRONG. I have also noticed that some of the less intelligent, but harder working, and more compassionate people often do better because they know what they want and may not have the specific brain capacity to be the smartest, but certainly have the capacity to push the hardest. Overall I think I am not necessarily a fan of competitiveness, but rather a drive, a force that compels you to do the best at what you know you are able to do and WANT to do. To me, competitiveness evokes a dirty sense of ruthlessness that sometimes will lead people to destructive and harmful means just to say they are the best. I think to have a drive to do something worth doing and worth being proud of is so much more fulfilling than any piece of paper will be able to measure.

81. Suren Ranchhod Said,

    I agree with your opinion. Competition is a very important idea to learn as a child. When I was younger and we lost our coach told us that we lost, he said there was room to improve, and thats what we worked on. If kids are not taught about failure when they are young they won’t know what to do when they are older. I won’t lie our generation is lazy but, there are always people to blame as in the generations above us for babying our generation. That someone else can do the same thing and its not a big deal. People have to be competitive to differ from the pack. I was raised to be better than my siblings and do the best I can, because if I failed I could honestly say I did my best. What I have also learned is that people tend to blame other people for mistakes. Regardless, My brother said when you point a finger there are three pointed back at you. People need to be responsible for their own actions. My dad told me when I was young and said stuff was hard he said if it was easy everyone would do it.

82. Kara Peters Said,

    I have to agree that a general lack of competitiveness and willingness to overcome obstacles has struck my generation. I am culpable of this on one occasion in particular. When I entered high school, it was my goal to make the Varsity soccer team as a freshman. Up to that point, I had experienced many successes in my soccer career and I thought that I was indestructible. After all, I had made the top-level club team for the past three years and had been awarded the Most Valuable Player Award for two seasons in a row. When I failed to make the Varsity squad, and instead made the freshman and sophomore combination team, I started to make excuses. I blamed the Varsity coach for not conducting try-outs correctly and failing to see me play. Additionally, other people started to make excuses for me, further enabling me to blame anyone but myself. I remember a player a year older than me saying, “You should have made the team.” After blaming everyone but myself, I seriously considered quitting the team that I had made.

    But I decided to stay on the team, and I learned some valuable lessons along the way. Throughout the season, I learned the value of teamwork. As appointed captain of the freshman and sophomore combination team, I learned to put the team before my own self-interest. Over the course of the season, I also learned that I could blame no one but myself for failing to reach my goal. My arrogant attitude about my skill level and ability ultimately hindered me from training the way I needed to in order to reach my goal. This realization gave me new motivation and inspiration and I started training at a new and higher level- refining my foot skills, improving my stamina, and studying the tactics of the game. The next year, I came back to make the Varsity team as a sophomore.

    This time, I had truly earned my spot on the Varsity squad, which held so much more value than if I had reached my goal right away. I realized that everything worth attaining in life will not be handed to you, but rather is earned. My initial reaction to my failure, however, is an example of how our generation is often more ready to give up and blame others than to take responsibility and overcome any obstacles we face. I must agree that this trend has arisen amongst our generation, and is often enabled by the people around us.

83. Dion Martinez Said,

    I do not believe that there is a lack of competitiveness in this generation, rather I find a lot of friends of mine and other students my age want to perform at a high level. What I do agree with though is that it seems difficult to find avenues to be competitive in when there are adults and others trying to limit the places where someone can be competitive. I know that parents want to make things fair for all children, but children as a whole naturally want to be the best they can be. Instead of trying to make things “fair” for everyone, we should recognize and be proud of the children who try their best and do win. When everyone is treated equally for not an equal amount of work of course it will feel as if our generation is uncompetitive, instead if people feel that their hardwork is getting paid attention to and appreciated they will try harder. This is true in business as well. I feel that the point of business in general is to wholeheartedly make an effort to have your business grow financially for you stakeholders, thus be competitive and look forward to winning. What I have found through all of this is that even though competition is limited by parents and other adults, children and young adults still are competitive if its something they care about and know that others will appreciate as well rather than condemning them.

84. Brandon Titus Said,

    I’m not so sure I agree with this concept of a “non-competitive generation.” Perhaps our generation is less competitive than others but, overall, I have not witnessed a considerable amount of that. The problem I tend to see is that the competitiveness is not directed at the same things that it has been. I think, with the advent of social networking tools and broader social circles, it is becoming very commonplace for competitiveness to be manifested more in the social arena than in the past. I don’t think this this is necessarily a bad thing but something that should be channeled to more constructive competition.

    I also think this problem has a lot to do with the quick access of information. Many schools are finding it increasingly hard to keep rigor up when students feel as if it is pointless to memorize information that can otherwise be found online within mere seconds. I think this is the fault of curriculum and course structure that should be adapted and changed to fit critical thinking skills which better utilize the speed of the networked age.

85. Blake Harvey Said,

    The millennial generation defines a lack of competition perfectly. Kids these days are not out there striving to be the best of the best because this generation needs instructions to make it through life. We are idiots. We have to have that “guiding hand” to help us through everything. Like you said, there is no winning in youth sports anymore because we don’t want to hurt kids’ feelings or make them feel like they LOST. The dodge ball example is perfect; we get rid of these sports because they are apparently to “violent” and don’t teach our kids anything useful. In reality this is just what these kids need. If you get pounded in dodge ball you’re going to learn from your mistake and go back out and do better the next time. If you never truly lose then how are you ever going to win?

    This is only getting worst. Today’s kids are walked through life with mom constantly holding their hand. These kids can’t be competitive because mom did all the competing for them. How are these kids ever going to learn for themselves how to do things on their own with that hand always there to walk them through all situations? I can see it now; 40 years from now our future president will have a major conflict on his hand and the first thing he is going to tell the joint chiefs once he is briefed is “well, let me consult with my mom on this one”. Great, this is just what we want in the future leaders of America.

    I don’t want to be babied through life. I want to learn from firsthand experience what does, and does not work. If you fail a class at school you should analyze what you did wrong and work to correct it the next time around. I think everyone needs to stop worrying about the pointless crap they worry about everyday and figure out how they are going to live the rest of their life. People go through college thinking jobs are just waiting for them when they get out of school. They might want to look at the latest unemployment numbers.

    Jobs are not just handed out to you on a silver platter just because you got a really expensive piece of paper. You actually have to earn them through hard work and competition!

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