Issue Task Sample 1

I suck at writing, HAHAHA. Again, sorry to subject you to my crappy writing but I really need the practice.

Prompt: The best preparation for life or a career is not learning to be competitive, but learning to be cooperative.

Cooperation and a competitive nature are both necessary traits to be successful in life or a career. As with everything in life, both traits have positive and negative aspects. A healthy balance of the positive aspects of both traits is needed in order to have a successful and fulfilling life/career.

When we were young, we were taught to be the best we can be in every endeavor we face whether it be school, sports and any other extracurricular activities. From a young age, we are taught to be competitive – to strive for the best. As we get older, this competitive nature is applicable in all aspects of life. We compete when we apply for college, we compete when we apply for jobs, we compete to get promoted. Competition is an inherent part of life, one that we have been preparing for at an early age.

It is also important to remember that we can never do everything alone. Hence, cooperation is also an integral part of being successful. Athletes are the best example of a healthy balance of competition and cooperation. In team sports, a team strives to win but if they don't help each other to achieve that common goal, they ultimately lose. Each team member knows that they can't ONLY look out for themselves. They are one team with one common goal. Their competitive spirit shows because they are out to win and cooperation is shown in their actions to achieve their goal.

Another example is politics. All these candidates from different parties compete against each other in an election. Although they are from different parties, they understand that they have to work with each other in the end. Ultimately they are coming together for the good of the people and they have to work together to achieve that goal. They may not reach an outright agreement. Each of them are still competing to push their own agendas. However, most of them reach a compromise and a compromise can only be reached in the spirit of goodwill and cooperation.

Life is a series of struggles. Without a healthy sense of competition, we might get lost in the shuffle. Too much competition and we alienate people. We all want to win and be the best but we have to realize that we can't do it all alone.