Toxic Competition in California Education

By: Esther Kane

When I told my family I got accepted to Cal, they all joked, “Be careful of Berzerkeley!” I thought it was a pretty catchy nickname and jokingly put that in my Instagram profile. Then I got to the university and suddenly it all made sense. What seemed like a term of endearment actually was criticism for how overwhelmingly competitive Berkeley is. The campus hosts a strong one-upmanship culture where students pride themselves on being ahead of others. I think Berkeley’s hyper-competitiveness is a microcosm of the US’s own obsession with competition in education. Even without any form of administration guiding how student organizations should be run, we’ve naturally been drawn to exclusivity, whether it was for special opportunities, networking, or even just bragging rights. I myself joined a career-based fraternity and there were so many hurdles jumped to prove I was “worthy” of joining. When I got in and found myself on the other side, we critiqued the applicants for their attire, resume, and even grades to make sure that we were found the best of the best. This cycle of inequity and exclusivity can be found in the countless other clubs at Berkeley. 

This shows how UC Berkeley’s competitive culture is an accumulation of hyper-competitiveness that grips the education system in the United States. The pressure we feel to accomplish great things at Berkeley reflects the pressure children feel to succeed during their K-12 years. From the day we’re born, our parents must think about how to get us into the best colleges. Standardized testing makes students feel that they are only judged by the numbers on their papers. Education has become a battlefield, a competition that stifles growth and instead promotes anxiety. Many students fight their way through the nervous breakdowns, the long nights grinding out schoolwork, and their packed schedules to become the best of the best, and we carry that into our everyday lives without even meaning to. The high expectations and competition are not healthy at all. It is clear that our students are stressed out, and based on how things are run in Berkeley, the stress never stops. How is this the culture of our educational institutions? This isn’t the environment where students can properly learn and grow. There needs to be a shift in culture, both at Berkeley and in our overall education system. Otherwise, the next generation will be burnt out before they even begin.