We should stop the culture of competition at UT

Med School. Pharmacy School. Law school. For a student pursuing a career in these majors, the first words that often come to their minds is COMPETITION. How can I set myself up better than the other students? How can I outperform the student next to me? How can I butter up the professor to get a killer recommendation letter? How can I get the best insights, study guides and tips and avoid sharing it with anyone else?
Often times in these programs, it’s a dog-eat-dog world. I am lucky enough to be a contingent pharmacy student, meaning that I have a seat saved for me in the PharmD program as long as I keep up my grades in my first two years. For me, my only competition is my lack of motivation versus all of my coursework. However, with application season in full swing, I see the fires of competition brimming in my peers’ eyes.
Someone recently found a great website for studying for organic chemistry exams. However, since they feel that it will put them ahead, they keep it to themselves. Students sign up for a group project and, unbeknownst to the other group members, one member has already spoken to the professor and got the rubric for getting an A for their part, but does not share this information with the rest of the group. Friendships begin to crack and it becomes more of an “each man for himself” world.
This is the completely wrong way to approach undergrad. Instead of having a system where we are pitted against our peers, we should develop a system where we work together to develop new things and ideas.
Modesty check: we are all only human and incapable of knowing everything. Who knows what the student sitting next to you in calculus has to offer? Who knows what great insight that girl in your physics class has? Finally, who knows what a truly motivating friend your lab partner could be? Instead of withholding information and tips to ourselves, I believe that we should be more open to sharing and bringing classmates together.
I’m not saying to send a mass email to the hundreds of students in your class with study tips, but form a small study group of close friends where information can be freely shared. In just a small group of five people, each of you could have useful information that the others did not have. Combined, your knowledge source could be an arsenal.
By now, you might be thinking that if you form a group of you and four others, you are helping give away four seats in the program that could have been yours. However, if you all work together, everyone should be contenders at the same level and this will guarantee five seats for all of you, instead of just one for you.
Once you are in the program, wouldn’t you want a core group of friends to be there to suffer through it with you? The benefits to working together greatly outnumber the benefits to butting heads and making enemies. Why stress about putting someone behind when you could be alleviating your stress by working together with other like-minded students? I urge you, make it your resolution to cut the competition and find your core study and support group. Your seat (and your sanity) may just be saved.
Alexis Nieszcur is a second-year majoring in pharmacy.