Since entering Le Moyne, I’ve noticed a change in the way I conduct myself. It’s as if there’s a hidden sense of urgency behind everything I do. There’s the need to get the 4.0, to attain the credentials to boost the résumé, to be the best…

As I look around campus, I see all of the new friends I’ve made in the past two months, but I also see something else…my competition.

It’s really easy for people to understand the purpose of a sports game like lacrosse; the objective is to win. We understand that losing emits negative feelings, while winning emits positive feelings. Those truths are easy for us to comprehend, but it seems that people have a harder time realizing that the competition doesn’t end when you leave the field.

Not all aspects of life have to be competitive, but in the grand scheme of things, life is a game whether you believe it or not. And we’re all playing it right now.

The moment we entered Le Moyne, we started a new game that will take up the next four years of our lives [and it might take longer for some of us]. Today, it seems as if good jobs are few and far between, and everyone here is looking for one of them. It is very possible the people you are now smiling at in the hall will be the people you are staring down across the receptionist’s office while you wait in line for an interview.

There needs to be a sense of urgency behind everything you do. By successfully completing those tasks, you’re jumping a few more spaces towards the winners’ circle. And isn’t that what we really want in the end: to come on top; to say we won the game of life?