Is college just a contest to see who can suffer the most?
Last semester, I took my easiest course load and have never been happier. Of course, there were other factors, like taking trips with friends and going out more.
But I couldn’t help but wonder: Why did I spend my freshman year as a workaholic?
I skipped too many hangouts and picnics in favor of dedicating more time to my studies or my design team. But why did I continue to do that?
Fall 2024 was my worst semester yet. A 14-credit course load on top of a job that overworked me and a design team was too much on my plate. It was more than I could chew. But there always seems to be another Gator jumping on the opportunity to say, “Wait, I could do more.”
The other night, while attempting to study, my friend Bee couldn’t help but compare herself to her other club member counterparts: the Harvard-MIT PhD-MD candidate or the student with a startup.
I’m sure we’ve all fallen prey to the silent propaganda of impostor syndrome and feeling like we don’t belong when we see a classmate score higher on an exam or receive a new accolade. Who has it worse? The sorority girl taking business finance and accounting while juggling planning her formal? Or the microbiology major taking organic chemistry, studying for the MCAT and working in a lab?
Does being a pre-med student automatically mean your life is more difficult than that of a humanities major? Are you a better engineer for staying up until 3 a.m. for your design team?
Neither is better nor worse than the other.
So, what can college students do? Friendly competition shouldn’t go out of style, but at some point, we need to call it quits. The game of comparison only has one winner: the person not playing.
How does a student achieve this? Last week, I realized I’ll never know who my peers are outside of the classroom. Who knows if they are acing organic chemistry and then DJ-ing on a Tuesday night? Maybe they have an obnoxious neighbor who always seems to party the night before a big exam.
They say comparison is the thief of joy, but what about when you have it better? Is it healthier to never try to one-up others’ challenges, or is it easier to compare yourself when you are doing better?
College in The Swamp is a constant game of competition.
It does have some merit. It drives ambition. It unites us, especially during the Sunshine Showdown. It’s not all terrible.
Yet, this unspoken game of who can do more and who has it worse is unproductive. Gators are meant to rise to the challenge, not stoop to its level.
Grace Tran is a UF mechanical engineering sophomore.
