Competition in Design School - Case Study Example

in Amacher 30). However, whether competition is actually beneficial or deleterious to students remain controversial. This same argument exists in design schools. Jen Chei, a product designer who graduated from Art Center College of Design, is an important supporter of competition in schools. She says that competition in school is important to set standards of performance, hone the skills of students, and instill a sense of professional dignity between students. Some feel competition helps each person to hone their creative skills.

For students who study in design schools, the nurturing of individual creativity is important because they must continually innovate. When competition is involved, students take risks they might not otherwise take to create something unique enough to be noteworthy. It means students summon their most creative talent. Many students like Elizabeth Young, a former student of the University of California, argue that students learn more about their natural talent in competitive environment. It is considered as the "whetstone of talent.

" Competition also helps the students to work as teams and create success together. Nevertheless, talented advisers such as Michelle Fabio believe that even though competitions undeniably help elevate the criterion by which we measure performance, too much competition could negatively impact less capable students. Hence, even if some wholeheartedly believe that competition is the best way to hone creative skills, it is not without its disadvantages.One drawback of competition is that it may cause students to lose sight of their main goal.

Educator Mary Pat Lynch shares that in excessive competition, winning becomes the focus, instead of learning. This has been supported by the interview regarding competition conducted by Bergins and Cooks wherein forty-one academically proficient students conveyed that "they focused on grade point average to help them improve their grades" (443). No mention was made about any desire for competence by augmenting their knowledge and skills. This means that in a competitive environment the students' center of attention has shifted to the endpoint, which is the grade, rather than on the main goal of education which is to make students actually understand the ideas being imparted.

Among designers, this will cause many to focus on finishing only those ideas that have the greatest promise to make them win with very little attempt to bring out the life and emotion of their creations. Moreover, students might not be able to enjoy their lives the way they should if they think that they always need to perform better than others.Next, competition can affect the general welfare of a person and the society in several undesirable ways. First, competition, in its very nature, requires only a single or a very small number of people to win while the rest of the competitors will lose.

If a person ends up losing most of the time, this will only undermine his/her self-confidence, foster feelings of inferiority and eventually lead to depression. In fact, up to 8.3 percent of adolescents in the U.S. suffer from depression (Birmaher 1427). Since, the height of depression and low self-esteem in adolescents